Wellfleet Planning Board
Minutes of Meeting and Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Senior Center Duck Pond Room, 7:00 p.m.
Present: R. Dennis O’Connell, Chairman; Barbara Gray, Stephen Oliver, Gerald Parent, Alfred Pickard, David Rowell
Absent: Ronald Harper
Chairman O’Connell called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m.
Road Name Change
Patty Larkin came forward to explain the proposal to rename Way #11 to Narrowland Road. She had the Fire Department approval and signatures from the abutters. Parent moved to approve the name change. Oliver seconded, and the motion carried 6-0.
Local Comprehensive Planning Committee’s Plan
Paul Pilcher of the Local Comprehensive Planning Committee (LCPC) came forward to request Planning Board’s recommendation of the LCPC plan to Town Meeting. The plan, which has received preliminary certification from the Cape Cod Commission, reflects the comments received from the committees and people of Wellfleet. The update is not a regulatory document that needs to be implemented step by step. It is more of a reference map to guide the Town, Pilcher said. He expressed the hope that the major issues had been identified. He also said that the intent was to present the relationships between issues. The LCPC suggests an Implementation Committee be formed to work with various Town boards, including Planning Board, to follow up on the Comprehensive Plan.
Chairman O’Connell asked for an explanation of “adopting” the plan. Pilcher said it did not mean that every goal had to be implemented. The earlier plan had been accepted but not adopted, Pilcher said. Selectman Dale Donovan discussed the advantage of adopting the plan which would rank the Town higher for receiving grants. Donovan pointed out other benefits that the earlier plan provided. Pilcher explained that full certification by the Cape Cod Commission (CCC) could be granted after Town Meeting approval. The last LCPC plan did not get approved at Town Meeting but still served as a valuable resource, he said. Barbara Gray pointed out the “Responsibilities” listings at the end of every section of the LCPC. The various Town boards are encouraged to implement the
listed responsibilities. Discussion that followed dealt with Cape Cod Commission’s certification of the plan. Martha Hevenor from the Cape Cod Commission said the Commission could not enforce any of the suggested actions outlined in it. O’Connell expressed a desire to see a statement with an understanding that the plan is an advisory document, not binding from Town or CCC viewpoint. Donovan said that the motion at Town Meeting could express this.
Parent asked about the need for another committee – the Implementation Committee. Pilcher said it would most likely be the same committee that had drafted the plan. Martha Hevenor assured the Board that of the 10 towns have certified plans, the CCC had never decertified a plan. O’Connell moved to recommend the adoption of the Local Comprehensive Plan subject to an understanding by Town Selectmen, voters and CCC that it offers guidelines, not binding regulations. Parent seconded the motion. The motion to recommend carried 5-1.
Site Plan Review
O’Connell said that Planning Board had prepared a draft Site Plan Review (SPR) and had received comments which he read from Town Counsel, Lauren McKean of the National Seashore, and Ginie Page of the Conservation Commission.
Planning Board (PB) began discussion of SPR with consideration of the Building Inspector’s denial of a project, a first step in Eastham’s process; the challenging nature of cubic foot calculation; control of mass by considering volume; and cubic foot application for commercial properties.
Discussion and questions from the audience concerned: calculating habitable space; criteria for mass, determining neighborhood character; triggers for Site Plan Review, including impervious ground covers in SPR equations; volume determined by exterior measurement; average house size of Wellfleet; cost and time concerns to homeowners; and provisions for changing plans. Bruce Whitman recounted a story of a New York town which had lost control of building size.
Planning Board members continued to address the Site Plan Review draft bylaw. O’Connell said that a 50,000 cubic feet allowance would have to be defined carefully, but the Planning Board had to start somewhere. He noted that height is not covered if you make a determination by volume alone. Rowell said he still favored lot coverage. O’Connell said you have to consider mass for determination of Site Plan Review. Pickard had concerns about neighbor influence in SPR.
Gerald Parent said PB needed to have a clear objective to make a Site Plan Review bylaw. O’Connell restated the need to control mass. Parent expressed the opinion that the new interest in a Site Plan Review bylaw was the outcome of one controversial home. He discussed the subjective nature of Eastham’s Site Plan Review. He said he did not like the ambiguous nature of the SPR process. He said he always returns to square footage for determination of size. Gray stated a SPR objective that structures “do not stick out like sore thumbs.” Gray said she wanted to see that natural terrain is protected as much as possible. Parent asked for a defined “reasonable size” for a house on a three-acre lot, something that Eastham’s Site Plan Review does not specify. O’Connell reviewed lot coverage’s drawbacks. Rowell said there are maximums in place, but Site Plan Review would give more options for the way the structures are configured. Pickard said he had two concerns: 1.) individual
taste and 2.) time frame for a SPR.
Rowell asked about a different approach, using an overlay district along waterways. Parent also considered the overlay district according to vistas near ponds, waterways, bay and ocean. O’Connell said the impact of Site Plan Review was greater than an overlay.
Martha Hevenor offered some visualization tools that the Cape Cod Commission could provide. Hevenor noted that Eastham had two different triggers, which Wellfleet does not yet have in its SPR draft. She did not consider Eastham’s criteria arbitrary, she said. Site Plan Review and Special Permit differences were also concerns that she mentioned.
Gray expressed her opinion that PB had made a good beginning. She said she was eager to establish some mechanism in order to move forward. O’Connell said the Board members were still wrestling with how and if to go forward with Site Plan Review. Parent stressed that Planning Board cannot be arbitrary in decisions on styles and architectural aspects and views.
Members of the audience suggested use of the horizon as factor in SPR; offered praise for Eastham’s SPR system; noted that self censorship is often achieved because of terrain; recommended care in the “Purpose” section of Site Plan Review draft; and stressed protection of vistas.
PB continued their discussion of the proposed SPR for Wellfleet. O’Connell said he could update the SPR draft based on the comments that had been received in advance and at the meeting. He also mentioned a mechanism in Eastham’s SPR for the exemption of sheds.
Parent expressed reservations about a cubic foot approach for SPR and considered use of an overlay district as an alternative approach that would create fewer problems. He said the middle section of the Seashore could still be covered with size trigger if an overlay by water was in place. Pickard also said the overlay concept might be the route to follow. This could work with triggers inside and outside the Seashore, he said. Eastham’s system requires Site Plan Review in advance of a Special Permit from the ZBA. Town Counsel had recommended keeping the appeal process according to State law of going to Superior Court instead of the Board of Appeals.
Conservation Commission would have reviewed a project before it came to PB for a SPR. Parent said that if SPR had gone into effect, ZBA should consider a project favorably after a project had gone through SPR. Parent considered the time and money possibly needed for SPR even for small lots. Parent asked about time frames for SPR. He considered sending letters to BOH, ZBA and ConsCom for their input, especially on time elements because those boards all have time constraints. Martha Hevenor said that Planning Board could combine SPR with Special Permit process. David Rowell reported on attending an Eastham SPR session at their Planning Board meeting. There was a question of having the Zoning Enforcement Officer present at PB meetings. Eastham’s next meeting will be held May 14 at 5
p.m. in Eastham Town Hall.
O’Connell said he would rework the draft SPR with suggested changes. Gray will request denial language from Town Counsel. There was consideration of posting a SPR draft on the Town website and using the ACEC as an approach for limits on big buildings.
Other Business
The Board would like to wait to sign the release of Goss Lane from the earlier Cortes covenant until it had been researched further.
Barbara Gray said she would like to have a Rules & Regulations hearing in June. Oliver and O’Connell said that they would rather postpone the Rules & Regulations hearing in favor of work on SPR.
David Rowell suggested acknowledging John Lipman’s departure from the Cape Cod Commission. The secretary will send Lipman a letter of best wishes for his future endeavors.
Mail
O’Connell distributed a Spring 2008 newsletter from Housing Authority and Local Housing Partnership.
Minutes of 4/2/08
There was further discussion concerning constructive grants, ConsCom conditions, cost to homeowners and time involved in SPR, the changes to the “billboard house,” and the Kline house of Truro, before Gray moved to approve the minutes of April 2, 2008. Parent seconded, and the motion carried 6-0.
The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________ ____________________________
Mary Rogers, Committee Secretary R. Dennis O’Connell, Chairman
________________________ Date
Planning Board approved these minutes at the 5/7/08 meeting.
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