Town of Princeton, Mass. PLANNING BOARD Minutes --– April 19, 2017
In Town Hall Annex. Present were: Chairman Tom Daly, John Mirick, Richard Bisk, Tom Sullivan, Rud Mason, along with alternate Ann Neuburg..
7:30 PM Chairman Tom Daly opened the meeting and reviewed an ANR from the Fieldings for 35 & 37 Leominster Road. The plan moves some lot lines to create a 3-acre lot around an existing house and leave about 11 aces in the remaining parcel. It also moved a lot line over next to the house to accommodate a new septic system.
The board voted all in favor to endorse the plan and signed the Mylar and some paper copies; paid fee of $200 as two lots were “re-created.”
8 PM Business property owner Bruce Jacobson and Bob Mason were in, concerned about the signage bylaw, noting flags, promotional and temporary signs such as sandwich boards. The proposed bylaw puts a time limit on these and business people are concerned. The group discussed several options, including having property owners set rules for their commercial tenants, but consensus was that they didn’t want to get caught in the middle, plus absentee landowners may be oblivious to local needs or preferences. There is concern about too many sandwich boards in a limited space.
John M. proposed three choices: Try to pass the article as currently written; amend it on the town meeting floor; or, request a vote to pass over it and work on it further over the coming year. The group agreed that passing it over was most amenable choice, even though it meant one more year of sign regulations that are more restrictive than the version proposed in the ATM article. They plan to vote that decision at the regular, May 3rd PB meeting so the decision will be clear at the ATM.
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8:15 PM Members discussed the issue around the Littlefield property on Sterling Road which received an ANR endorsement at the last meeting on April 5. The details addressing the summer home on the back land, which is possibly landlocked, may be crucial during future development, but cannot be addressed directly on the plan, as any future development is speculative, and the individual parcels have different members of the same family on each deed. The board scrutinized the minutes of that meeting to try to explain the issue, and tweaked a few words.
8:25 PM Board then voted to approve minutes of April 5 as amended
Board members confirmed that any local control required by the Mass. Recreational Marijuana Act (2016) should be handled by BOS in same way as ABCC licensing. Any moratorium on this activity is being done on the state level right now, relieving the need for a moratorium on the local level.
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8:30 PM Voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully Submitted: Marie Auger, Admin. Assistant
Referenced Documents: ANR plan for Littlefield property. Zoning amendments for signage proposed Section XXII
Upcoming meetings: May 3; May 17
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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