Town of Princeton, Mass. PLANNING BOARD
Minutes -- Regular Meeting – July 20, 2016
7:30 PM Chairman Tom Daly opened the meeting with John Mirick, Rud Mason, Richard Bisk and Tom Sullivan along with alternate member Ann Neuburg.
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Doug Andrysick brought in form A and plans for ANR lots at the corner of Merriam Road and East Princeton Road, property owned by Alexander Trust. Charlie Cary was in for Princeton Land Trust which is receiving one of the two re-figured parcels as a land donation. The front parcel, with new lot lines, will become a building lot.. With John Mirick and Tom Sullivan on the Princeton Land Trust, they both recused from the Planning Board for this action. The remaining three members signed the ANR Mylar and paper copies. Payment of $100., as per Charlie C., has already been submitted to Town Hall from PLT—Marie will track it down and refund the Land Trust $100 if the check was for $200.
7:50 PM Group turned to zoning issues, with Building Inspector John Wilson in to air his concerns and interpretations of the Business Zone sign regs. He is requesting that Town Hall provide a check list for anyone opening a business in town. He asked the board to consider better definitions under Section IV 1. (I) in the Zoning Bylaws. He doesn’t believe that hanging/projecting (mounted on a building and perpendicular to it) signs are allowed under zoning. The board members noted that no particular type of sign is spelled out in the bylaws, it only states that “not more than one” is allowed (with an exception for flush-mounted signs) so any type must be allowed. Group agreed that more clarification is needed to help John W. with enforcement.
Nina N. explained her confusion with temporary signs. It was noted that Town Bylaws contain a section under Chapter X (B) which deals with “temporary signs.” It has a condition: 5) “The sign conforms to the size requirements set forth in the Zoning Bylaws.” After riffling through all the references in the Zoning Bylaws related to sign size, the board concluded there was no clear consensus, only references to a limit of 40 sq. ft in Sect. IV 1. (I) down to 2 sq. ft. in Section III (H) (b). Since these sizes were conflicting and impossible to apply, the group agreed to ask selectmen to strike out the condition under Chapt. X (B) 5 altogether and possibly leave size limitation to the discretion of BOS. John M. noted that the BOS may be allowed to adjust conditions on a case-by-case basis if
the bylaw text includes a “Statement of Purpose.” The board decided that since temporary signs are addressed under Town Bylaws, they don’t need to be in zoning. The group also discussed “sign” in the definitions section of the Zoning Bylaw on Page 14-15.
8:40 PM Tom D. asked all members to comb through the definitions section to provide input for more discussion at the Aug. 10 meeting.
8:55 PM Board voted all in favor to approve minutes from June 1.
9 PM Board voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully Submitted: Marie Auger, Admin. Assistant
Referenced Documents: Form A and plans for ANR; zoning and town bylaws
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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