Wellfleet Planning Board
Minutes of Meeting and Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Senior Center Long Pond Room, 7:00 p.m.
Present: R. Dennis O’Connell, Chairman; Barbara Gray, Ronald Harper, Stephen Oliver, David Rowell, Gerald Parent, Alfred Pickard
Chairman O’Connell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Preliminary Informal Discussion of Subdivision for Gould, Way #100
(Map 41, Parcel 150)
Chester Lay of Slade Associates came forward to present information on the Gould’s proposal for an ANR subdivision of their property. A small part of the road to the lot crosses Conservation Commission property. Planning Board will make a site visit to the lot on Lieutenant’s Island before further discussion.
Site Plan Review
The Board considered the Site Plan Review bylaw draft dated June 13, 2008. O’Connell informed the Board of his conversation with Town Counsel Betsy Lane regarding Special Permits and Site Plan Review (SPR). Some of the language changes in Purpose Section A will be referred to Town Counsel.
O’Connell reminded the Board that the purpose of the meeting was to prepare a draft for a public hearing. Some of the material can stay in until that time, he said. O’Connell called attention to a letter with suggestions for SPR bylaw inclusion from Anthony P. Sager of the National Seashore Homeowners Association. O’Connell said that Section A could be expanded to include Sager’s suggestion; however, Planning Board members expressed their concerns about including Sager’s suggestions.
O’Connell moved to include Sager’s Section A in the draft bylaw. Gray seconded. The motion did not carry 3-4.
Gray asked for some background thinking on opposition to viewing the Seashore as special. Oliver stated that the whole town should be considered as one for bylaws. Gray said additions to the proposed bylaw could be made at a public hearing. O’Connell said those additions would require another hearing on a revised version of the bylaw.
Harper moved to include Section B.3 of Sager’s draft with the 50% addition consideration. Gray seconded. Discussion of the Seashore’s history and the 50% Guideline followed. Also the criteria for site coverage and reduction of lot coverage in the Seashore District were discussed.
Harper withdrew his first motion on 50% lot coverage and made a motion to pick the number 2,250 s.f. site coverage as trigger within the Seashore District for SPR. Parent seconded the motion. Discussion of triggers ensued with the aim of arriving at a reasonable number. The Truro SPR lot coverage triggers were considered. O’Connell said the triggers should be done for both inside and outside the Seashore District. Eastham’s SPR without site coverage was contrasted with Wellfleet’s proposal. Another idea for Sections B.1 and B.2 was to add language: “Any lot in any district other than the National Seashore.” Rowell discussed Special Permits and Seashore Certificates of Suspension of Condemnation. He said that Town Counsel could review this.
Parent withdrew his second to the motion, but Harper kept his motion to use a 2,250 s.f. site coverage for The Seashore. O’Connell seconded. The motion failed to carry 3-4. The draft for Sections B.1 and 2 will stay as is.
There were some other changes to Section B. B.3 Site Coverage was reviewed and rearranged. The Board agreed with the language changes on living and non-living spaces. Section B.4 Site Coverage Ratio had a slight language change by eliminating “gross” from lot area.
Section C’s Preface had language changes to include Zoning Bylaws, and a number of changes were made in Section E. E.1 on landscaping was considered. Having to go back for further Site Plan Review for landscaping at a later date was questioned. The Zoning Enforcement Officer would have to refer changes for Site Plan Review. One solution was to eliminate H.2.f. The Board agreed to do this. There were some language changes made in Section E.3. Section E.5 was removed since the concerns were matters for the Conservation Commission, not within the purview of SPR. In Section E.6 the words “unusual or rare” replaced the word “unique.” In Section E.7 “unusual” replaced “unique.”
The Board looked at the new language Parent had contributed for E.10.
Section F. Preliminary Review will have information on abutter notification and advertising for public meeting. Peterson said that meeting was a more accurate term because hearing implies a decision to be made with findings. The abutters will be notified in either case.
Section H underwent some scrutiny for word choices. Section H.1 had a slight language change. H.2.b was changed to “6 inch caliper or larger for trees” instead of “significant trees.” The words “or vegetation” were removed. The 2 foot contours in this section were replaced by 5 foot contours. H.2.c will read “Plans for existing and proposed structures.”
I. Application Procedure & Fees will say that each preliminary and each final review will require 10 copies and the fee.
Section J. Public Notice & Public Hearing will read “public meeting” for the preliminary review. The “next available meeting” was clarified. The first class mail notification method was discussed and left as is.
Section O. Expiration was worded more precisely. Written requests for extensions should be required also. Notification at a public hearing was also included.
O’Connell asked if the draft was ready to go to Town Counsel. Lot coverage changes were also suggested for Town Counsel’s review. O’Connell said that was a different section of the bylaw. The Board agreed to get Town Counsel’s opinion before the July 9, 2008 Planning Board meeting. Peterson reported on a conversation he had had with Town Counsel on SPR having restrictions beyond the Zoning Bylaws.
Lot Coverage Ratios
O’Connell had put together several different sets of Lot Dimensions and Coverage for comparison. Setbacks were an issue especially in the Seashore District. Setbacks could be consistent with the rest of the town. This would lend flexibility to small lot coverage. The numbers which Parent had prepared so far were favored for lot coverage.
Air Strip Lot Update
O’Connell reported on response to Planning Board’s letter requesting information on progress on gaining access to the Air Strip parcel. The Town Administrator promised the Selectmen a report by the next Board of Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, June 24. 2008.
Minutes of 6/4/08 and 6/11/08
O’Connell moved to approve the amended minutes of June 4, 2008. Gray seconded, and the motion carried 7-0.
Gray moved to approve the amended minutes of June 11, 2008. Parent seconded. The motion carried 7-0.
Lot Coverage in Seashore
Parent asked about changes in lot coverage for the Seashore District for his chart. This will be discussed at the next meeting to be held July 9, 2008.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________ ____________________________
Mary Rogers, Committee Secretary R. Dennis O’Connell, Chairman
________________________ Date
Planning Board approved these minutes at the meeting held 7/9/08.
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