Wellfleet Planning Board
Minutes of Meeting of April 2, 2003
Town Hall Hearing Room
Present: Dennis O'Connell, Chair; Alfred Pickard, Helen Miranda Wilson,
David Wright, Gerald Parent, Lisa Brown; Rex Peterson, Assistant
Town Administrator
Excused: Mark Berry
The Chair convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Kelley Way Curb Cut (ANR #02-02). Chet Lay of Slade Associates (distributing a map of the area in question), along with Diana Crooks and Brad Kaplan, presented information to the Board about a problem they have encountered in attempting to have the opening of Kelley Way widened by the state in accordance with the condition imposed upon ANR #02-02 by the Planning Board (see minutes of 1/2/02, 1/16/02, 7/17/02, 2/5/03, and 2/19/03). Lay noted that permission for the necessary curb cut had been sought from and approved by the state with the requirement that the two abutters to the cut sign a state consent form. Abutter Sue Oliver had signed and returned the consent form immediately; abutter Cynthia Storer had ignored the request and refused to speak to Mr. Kaplan concerning the matter.
Therefore, Lay, Crooks, and Kaplan were appearing before the Board to request a waiver of its road-widening requirement.
David Wright asked whether the Board could contact Cynthia Storer and request her to reconsider before it took any other action on the matter.
Brad Kaplan stated that he had tried continuously to speak with her for two months and was refused entrance to her property. (Ms. Storer claims this property is owned by her brother, Tobin; he, however, states that it belongs to her. Lay informed the Board that Ms. Storer is the owner.) Lay noted that there was no reason for anyone not to sign the consent form.
Helen Wilson asked how the Planning board found out whose signature was needed, if it was really needed, and whether it was important who owned the Storer lot.
Chair O'Connell agreed with Wright that it was worth an attempt to help in the matter and asked with which state agency the Board should check to determine if the consent form was state policy or state law. Wright added that the Storers should be invited to a Planning Board meeting and given the opportunity to have their say.
Both Lay and Kaplan were of the opinion that the state would answer inquiry by saying that its hands were tied and that it needed the signature on the consent form. Wilson asked if someone from the Planning Board could call the state and explain why the road widening was necessary--for the safety of the public along this dangerous section of Route 6.
Alfred Pickard suggested sending a certified letter, return receipt requested, to Cynthia Storer, and if the receipt were not back by the next meeting, sending the state a letter asking if there was another solution for creating a curb cut. The Chair stated his willingness to go both ways at once rather than waiting for one in order to deal with another.
Lisa Brown felt that no one should dictate safety.
Wright reiterated that the Board should go ahead for public safety: give Ms. Storer a platform and simultaneously contact the state.
Helen Wilson felt that the answer to the policy/law question should be determined, since this was a state road and a safety factor was operative here.
The Chair stated that he would call Carole Delia, the State Permit Engineer whose name and phone number Mr. Kaplan supplied.
Gerry Parent asked if the road were being widened; Lay replied that it was being brushed back. Parent, feeling that the Planning Board's request would not impress the state enough to cause it to waive policy, wondered what the Board would do if the state refused.
Kaplan stated that he felt that Ms. Storer's refusal was tied into the land issue (see minutes of 7/17/02) and that the Storers did not have a problem with the curb cut. Wright asked if another avenue was to have everyone on the road agree that the curb cut was a good thing.
Wilson felt that the state would listen to a request on a curb cut application which did not come from an "interested party."
Chet Lay stated that the curb cut could not be moved from its proposed location because of the way the original narrow curb cut had been constructed by the state; the situation for moving it would be prohibitively expensive.
The general consensus of the Board was that the Chair would call the state and that a letter would be sent to the Storers inviting them to share their objections to this project with the Board.
Board Discussion of 3-14-03 Draft of Wellfleet Subdivision Control Regulations. The Board, along with Chet Lay (who had been invited to attend and contribute to this discussion), turned to Ms. Patty Daley's suggested revisions of the subdivision regulations. Before the discussion commenced, Gerry Parent asked the Board if there were anything in the SD Control Law used for the past 20 years which was totally ineffective. The Chair replied that some elements were not ineffective but confusing. He felt that the Board would get some additions from the process of reviewing the document. Parent concluded that there was nothing blatantly wrong with the document but there was a need to plug holes. It was decided to move through the document item by item; the following section of
the minutes will briefly cover major points of concentration, with small corrections and language changes having been noted on the draft without comment.
Section 1.1.5 Variation--discussion of waiving of regulations, whether waivers should be voted upon singly or could be considered together. Alfred Pickard moved and Gerry Parent seconded that the final sentence of this section should read: "Waivers shall be granted upon vote of a majority of the Board." The motion passed, 5-1, with Helen Wilson dissenting because of her belief that each waiver should be voted upon separately.
Section 1.2 Definitions--The Chair felt that definitions from the Zoning Bylaw should have precedence over those in the subdivision regulations. Helen Wilson, stating that she had checked with Town Counsel Betsy Lane, stated that it was acceptable to have differing definitions for different town organizations. Wilson distributed a sheet of further definitions of terms for consideration for this document: ANR, Subdivision, Adequate Way, and Frontage. Parent inquired of the Board if it wanted these four terms added to the definition section; David Wright stated that it was consensus that they should be included.
It was suggested that Ms. Daley be asked to fix the language on the definition of Applicant.
Wilson asked that a diagram be included with the definition of Corner Lot; the Board concurred.
Regarding Lot Frontage, Wilson cited case law to illustrate her points concerning access and suggested an amendment to the definition which included the element of water, appropriate for Wellfleet as a seaside community: "A way that is at times under water due to seasonal flooding or tides will not be considered frontage unless there exists an alternative, vehicular access to the lot." She also proposed to get the Conservation Commission definition of Mean High Groundwater from Health Agent Emily Beebe.
To the question on the inclusion of Mining of Land in definitions, Gerry Parent pointed out the necessity for excavation in subdivision construction.
It was determined that clarification for the definition of Quorum should be gotten from Patty Daley.
Section II - Procedure. It was decided that the administrative staff would rewrite the sections on procedure pertaining to number of copies, timing of submission, and submission procedure. The Board will consult with Ms. Daley as to the submission of ANR plans to the Board of Health.
In 2.1.4.1, another question for Ms. Daley involved the reason for inclusion of "registered landscape architect" in plan preparation. Discussion covered the suggestion that all significant trees should be noted on ANR plans.
Discussion ensued regarding the suggested amendment of 2.1.4.2.12 to include submission of a topographical map in an ANR; it was noted that such maps are very expensive and are additionally asked for only in special circumstances, not as a blanket requirement. The section was amended to read: "Location and area of any wetlands on the lots being created by the plan (including the lot being created by the remaining land) shown on a Town of Wellfleet topographical map."
Chet Lay pointed out that 2.1.3.2.14 was a departure from previous practice in that it requested that the applicant notify abutters by registered return mail; he pointed out that such notification had always been done by the town and was done for definitive subdivisions only, not ANRs. Other comments on the item included the fact that registered return mailings were expensive for the town and that the time element for an ANR (decision to be made within 21 days of submission to the Town Clerk) made timely notification of abutters a difficult process. The original item was amended to read: "All direct abutters should be noted on the plan."
Item 2.1.5 refers to the automatic approval, after 21 days, given to ANRs on which the Planning Board has not acted; Helen Wilson requested that Patty Daley include in this item whatever the state mandates concerning ANRs.
Discussion ensued concerning the completeness of the application, e.g., correct number of copies, submission of all required information, etc. Questions arose as to whether the Board could deny an application because it was incomplete (Helen Wilson answered yes, but only at the appointed meeting); also, did incompleteness of an application stop the clock ticking? It was suggested that Town Counsel be contacted on this. Gerry Parent felt that the Board should inquire of Ms. Daley first, since it had retained her to prepare this revision and she was being paid with grant money allocated for the purpose.
Changes were made to the Preliminary Plan section (2.2.3), among them Helen Wilson's suggestion of a merge of 2.2.3.5 and 2.2.3.8. and the omission of 2.2.3.13.
Chair O'Connell inquired as to whether the Board should require Mass Coordinate data on plans; Chet Lay replied that the Wellfleet Atlas was accurate and Mass Coordinates could be gotten from that. Rex Peterson added that the Atlas data would be updated yearly.
The review of the draft revisions ended with a discussion of tree-cutting leading from the suggested location on plans of all trees of 8 inches in diameter at breast height.
Minutes.
Minutes of March 5, 2003--David Wright moved and Helen Wilson seconded approval of the 3/5 minutes as amended. The motion carried, 4-0-2.
Minutes of March 19, 2003--Gerry Parent moved and Alfred Pickard seconded approval of the 3/19 minutes as amended. The motion carried, 5-0-1.
Other Business.
Discussion of zoning maps and reduced assessor's atlas ensued.
Helen Wilson reported favorably on her attendance at the workshop entitled "Keeping Current with Chapter 40B" held on 3/25 in Hyannis. The Chair stated that a case in Dennis concerning Chapter 40B had been in today's paper.
Mail.
The Chair noted that the Amsler hearing on an affordable accessory dwelling would come before the ZBA on 4/16; he further noted that Elizabeth Lane's letter of 3/6/03, referring to the Amsler application, states: "When any landowner proposes to decrease the rental fee of a lawfully existing unit to a below-market rate, no special permit is required under any provision of the Wellfleet Zoning By-law."
The Planning Board has received a letter (3/14/03) from Umass' Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department requesting help with a project concerned with "beautiful points in the (seashore) park"--a landscape character study for the Cape Cod National Seashore.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_____________________________ ________________________________
Frances J. Castillo, Assistant to the R. Dennis O'Connell, Chair
Committee Secretary __________________________Date
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