Town of Princeton, Mass. PLANNING BOARD
Minutes -- Regular Meeting – December 7, 2016
7:30 PM Chairman Tom Daly opened the meeting in Town Hall with John Mirick, Richard Bisk and Tom Sullivan along with alternate Ann Neuburg. Rud Mason was absent.
Members discussed the new Charbrook Shop on the ground floor of 2 Mountain Road. It was noted that “Retail” is included in the Special Permit as well as the Site Plan from early in 2014 which was issued to the Stimsons for their landscape architecture office. Potential issues related to sale of food products there is under the purview of the Board of Health.
A copy of the level-funded proposed budget for the Planning Board for FY’18 was distributed. Board voted all in favor to accept it as written.
They also voted all in favor--with Tom S. abstaining--to approve the minutes of Oct. 19, 2016.
Discussion continued on signage regulations—Building Inspector John Wilson had been solicited for comments on the proposed signage bylaws and he returned a list of comments. Board members went over the list and agreed with some but not others. In Sect. XXII, 2. John W. proposed that signs in all districts (exclusive of the Exemptions in #6.) require a building “installation” permit issued by his office. The board preferred this only in Business and Industrial zones. Sign square footage was addressed in several sub-categories and John W. suggested all proposed sizes be scaled down. The PB members had based their sign sizes on existing signs in town which are considered acceptable, such as Post Office Place, and agreed that smaller sizes were not useful or easy to read from street distances. In #3. D., the
board agreed with John’s idea that projecting signs need a location approved by the building inspector, as they surmised the reason to be safety and/or line of sight. John had proposed requiring a permit for temporary signs but the PB didn’t support that idea. The board agreed that sign bylaws do not apply to interior space, including the inside of windows .
John M. offered to update the working draft for the Jan. 4 meeting and suggested collecting outside opinions from business owners after that draft is accepted—this “final” version will be used for the public hearing with date to be set.
Richard Bisk reported on a recent meeting of CMRPC dealing with the new recreational marijuana law in the state. He noted that it’s anticipated that the current medical marijuana laws will morph into guidelines and laws addressing the recreational use.
Next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2017
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8:25 PM Voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully Submitted: Marie Auger, Admin. Assistant
Referenced Documents: Proposed zoning bylaws, John W. list of comments, proposed budget for the Planning Board for FY’18.
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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