MINUTES OF WESTBOROUGH PLANNING BOARD
September 01, 2015
Regular meeting of the Westborough Planning Board held in the Forbes Municipal Building in the Room 23, 45 West Main Street. Members Bush, Newton, Jr., Silverberg, Diamond and Spencer were present.
Meeting dates: September 15, 2015
At 7:00 p.m. the Board met with Mr. Paul Baptiste representing the Westborough VFW located at 9A Milk Street and 24 Summer Street on an ANR Plan.
Mr. Paul Baptiste and Mr. Denzil Drewry were present for discussion.
Mr. Baptiste stated the intention of this is to straighten the property line between the VFW and a neighboring parcel which is the Auto Glass Shop on Milk Street. The property line starts in the back of the VFW and projects out to Milk Street. The VFW wants to build a small pavilion in the back that allows people to go out onto a deck. To be able to do this they need Parcel A and want to do a land swap to make this happen. The even parcel swap will leave both lots no more non-conforming then they currently are. Mr. Baptiste said they would also like the Planning Board to consider a waiver on costs.
Mr. Denzil Drewry, representing the VFW stated that the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post is a unique organization. The Veterans of Foreign Wars is an official organization in the US federally chartered corporation formed in Columbus, Ohio on September 29, 1899. Federal, State and Cities/Towns all recognize the VFW. We have an official office in the JFK Building in Boston, in the State House in Boston and in the Town of Westborough. Because of this post, he would like the fees waived,
The Town Planner stated that the ANR Plans are fine. They meet all the requirements.
Member Bill Spencer asked are the abutters involved in this land swap in agreement.
Mr. Richard & Kathleen Ware, owners of the Glass Shop both said they agree with this ANR Plan.
Member Mark Silverberg motion to endorse the ANR Plan dated 8/14/15, prepared by Guerard Survey for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The motion was seconded by Member Ed Newton, Jr. and unanimously voted.
The Town Planner said the normal fee would be $200. No new lots are being created. They are asking for this waiver because they are a national organization.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said this is a friendly swap of land.
Chairman Brian Bush said just as a clarity issue there are no new lots being created.
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Member Mark Silverberg said the interpretation was to collect the lot fee and then request a waiver. This creates two new lots because the Assessors maps have to be redrawn. But he accepts this and is okay with it.
Member Mark Silverberg motioned to waive all fees associated with the ANR Plan.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said the motion should be amended to explain why the fees are being waived.
Mr. Denzil Drewry said there will be a letter explaining the reason for the waiver in the file.
Member Mark Silverberg insisted that does not want the reason in the motion. He wants a second on his motion.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said he will remove his amendment to the motion.
Member Mark Silverberg motion to waive all fees associated with the ANR Plan. Member Charlie Diamond seconded the motion to waive the fees for VFW and it was unanimously voted.
Other Business:
The Town Planner stated that every year the Planning Board must reappoint members to the Design Review Board (DRB). The current DRB members are Debbie Schradieck, Dan Martin, Charlie Diamond, Todd Alexander and Michael Hally.
Chairman Brian Bush said in a memo to the Town Clerk it states that on appointment of DRB members shall be extended one year from 2015 to 2016.
Member Ed Newton Jr. motioned to appoint the following Design Review Board Members for a one year term from 2015 to 2016: Ms. Debbie Schradieck – Downtown Business Owner; Mr. Dan Martin – Graphic Design; Mr. Charlie Diamond, Planning Board Representative; Mr. Todd Alexander, Downtown Resident; Mr. Mike Hally, Architect and new representative from the Historic Commission, Ms. Cindy DuBose. The motion was seconded by Member Diamond and unanimously voted.
Zoning Bylaw Discussion:
Signage:
Chairman Brian Bush asked Mt. Tin Htway, Building Commissioner if he has read the final revisions to the Sign Bylaw.
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Mr. Tin Htway said he is fine with the changes to the signage bylaw.
The Town Planner stated that there is no conflict to what is being proposed. There is another section which needs to be changed but because it was not advertised it can be fixed in the Spring Town Meeting.
The Town Planner said there is one proposed edit by Member Mark Silverberg on the first page under Subsection 3317, Wall Signs, Item d which is changing a word in the sentence from “restricted” to “regulated”. The Town Planner said this is a good change to make.
Member Mark Silverberg stated that he has other points he would like to change. Legal Non Conforming Signs he fears that the signage may start deteriorating after years and fall off the building. The Town Planner says a business has 30 days to either fix or remove the sign. Also, temporary signs now require a permit from the Building Department so now there will be a fee from the Building Department. This is counterproductive to business.
The Town Planner said he was not aware that Mr. Tin Htway charged a fee for temporary signs. If we feel strongly about this we should send memo to the Board of Selectmen on not charging fees for temporary signs.
Member Mark Silverberg said he fears it will become another way for the Building Department to collect revenue and that should not be the intent.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said he likes they have to go in for a building permit but agrees there should not be a charge for a temporary sign.
Member Mark Silverberg said we should express if they have to charge make it a minimal fee.
The Town Planner pointed out that the Design Review Board involves many man hours and they do not charge any fees.
Member Mark Silverberg said that this bylaw really takes signage out of our hands. The Board of Selectmen will be in charge of fees. We won’t have the authority to say whether there is a fee or not.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said that temporary signs are already in the zoning bylaws. The new verbiage does not change the bylaw. Fees can be brought up later.
Chairman Brian Bush remarked that this will be fairly unique to charge on temporary signs. They are usually disposable signs for only a short period of time.
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Member Mark Silverberg insisted that temporary signs now will require a building permit and this is where the fee is coming in.
Member Bill Spencer remarked how you review temporary signs is the issue and how you apply fees. A temporary sign would be in place while you wait for the permanent sign. Then there is a true temporary sign used for sales.
Member Mark Silverberg said if someone wants to put up a temporary sign, they will have to come in to the building department every 30 days to be renewed.
The Town Planner said we currently regulate temporary signs. We have not instituted language that it requires a permit. New language says temporary signs are at 30 day increments. It used to be for 6 months. It will be up to the Building Commissioner to extend the time if he sees it necessary. We are trying to eliminate a temporary sign becoming a permanent sign. If you go to Section 3350, this is where the non-conforming sign comes into play. Deserted signs need to come down. If a sign falls down, you have 30 days to replace it or conform to the signage with a new sign.
Member Mark Silverberg questioned temporary signs in windows are under the Building Commissioner?
Mr. Tin Htway, Building Commissioner returned to the meeting and stated that there is already temporary signage in the Zoning Bylaws.
Member Mark Silverberg said if someone wants to put a temporary sign in their window do they now have to come in for a permit and is there a charge. Are we requiring a permit for every temporary sign?
Mr. Tin Htway said he does not think they have ever charged for temporary signs. He does not want to have to do extra recourses and not be compensated. He will check with his staff.
Chairman Brian Bush remarked that one concern from being on the Zoning Subcommittee is we made some changes to the zoning bylaws and there were unanticipated outcomes. He said some of the changes recommended were time sensitive and others were policy issues. We made changes on the fly. If the zoning changes every year it becomes a diluted document. You then end up with problems that were not anticipated. It makes it harder to enforce the bylaw.
Chairman Brian Bush stated that he lost trying to get a zoning rewrite done for our bylaws. There seems to be sediment in town not to do a “comprehensive rewrite of the zoning bylaws”. He works in a lot of towns and some have thick bylaws and some are very thin. There is a lot of stuff in our existing zoning bylaws that could be consolidated.
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Member Bill Spencer said this is a good point. What is his recommendation as to how often we change them?
Chairman Brian Bush said he thinks it shouldn’t be changed other than every five years. It should be reviewed by a zoning attorney. We need to get a comprehensive rewrite done.
The Town Planner said he would like to see what other towns have done. When he looked at some towns and our zoning bylaw, there is only so much room you have to put all the information into the printed format. What this board did was we put all dimensional requirements into a specific section. However this is hard to cross reference side by side with other districts. It is better to compare in the Use Regulation table. How do professional businesses do this? He would like to have a professional attorney review our zoning bylaws.
Member Bill Spencer agrees a professional should do it. Part of it is interpretation of a bylaw. Also there could be a money issue on getting the review done.
The Town Planners agrees that changes should not be made every year but what will happen when an issue comes up and the state mandates you make a by
Chairman Brian Bush said that’s different because it is a sensory issue. If something happens to our Commissioner, are the bylaws clear enough that someone else can enforce them. The more they can stay in their pure form the less chance of mistakes. If the board is in agreement, we have talked about having a land use attorney see what they would recommend in writing. Where are some towns we can compare with?
The Town Planner said what we do now can cause appeals with the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). We should join up with the ZBA on some of these problem issues.
Member Mark Silverberg is one of your goals to get money on the warrant to get this review and rewrite?
Chairman Brian Bush said that language is a big part of interpretation. Our definition of a lot is different than that of MGL. If something is not defined then you must go to state statute.
Member Charlie Diamond agrees.
The Town Planner said we have some bylaws already on the books, with existing projects, and yet the project being produced is not the intent of the bylaw. He does not think we will ever have a project that will abide to the bylaw. What do we do delete the bylaw, shelve it?
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Chairman Brian Bush instructed the Town Planner to do ground work on finding a land attorney who will review our zoning bylaws.
Extension of DPOD District:
Chairman Brian Bush said the other article is the extension of the DPOD. He will start helping to put together a power point presentation.
The Town Planner said he sent Chairman Bush some of our old presentations that were successful. He will send this out to the rest of the Planning Board members to review.
Chairman Brian Bush said one thing that comes up in the zoning bylaw under Section 4950 is that the Planning Board shall establish procedures and require a filing with the Town Clerk. We talked a lot about our vision for the DPOD. We don’t have rules and regulations spelled out. It would be a good idea to start pulling together some rules and regulations so that this vision is accurately described. The DPOD Zone gives us flexibility. The idea is that the rules and regulations will put standards in place easily and quickly.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said he is not sure about this. He does not want to overburden this District with rules and regulations. He likes the flexibility in the DPOD. We have been very successful with our projects because we have a strong board. He will re read the DPOD zoning.
Member Mark Silverberg said he can see a place for it. We did that when we dealt with Mr. Fran Zarette on his last project. If we had rules and regulations in place, the developer will know up front what they have to do. They will already know the board’s vision. There should be an expectation for developers knowing what they are expected to have in their proposal.
Member Charlie Diamond said one thing he likes about DPOD is all decisions are left up to the Planning Board. Then we can provide guidelines on a meeting basis. But he also does see value in set guidelines. He does not want to restrict the DPOD zoning with too many guidelines.
Member Bill Spencer said he has never seen enforcing of the regulations or at the discretion of the Planning Board.
Chairman Brian Bush said he does not want to make this bylaw restrictive but put something in place that a developer can know what to expect upfront. It would set the performance guidelines for the developers and could be in bullet type formation on what the Planning Board expects. This is a reaction to what happened in the T-OV District.
Chairman Brian Bush said when Toll Brothers took over the Westborough Village, the whole intent of the bylaw changed. He does not see any sense to building commercial space to have it stay vacant. The new T-OV has to find commercial tenants before they get more residential
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buildings. His thought on rules and regulations is to just have some broader ideas out there. At the next meeting keep this discussion on the agenda.
The Town Planner said he has 9 points that have been discussed in the DPOD. We should put them in writing and adopt them. This would require a public hearing. It would make a big difference to a developer when he views a parcel to know exactly what the Planning Board is looking for.
Chairman Brian Bush said we need to have criteria for what we want in the downtown area. He would like the Planning Board members to come to the next meeting with some ideas.
Member Mark Silverberg said if the extension of the DPOD comes near the senior housing area maybe bike trails or multi use lanes could be put in. You really need bike trails on both sides of the street for safety reasons. A dedicated trail behind the businesses would work better.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. asked what about an underpass at the bridge near Colonial Drive?
The Town Planner said you would need permission from the railroad.
Member Mark Silverberg said he would like to see a dedicated path that serves just pedestrians and bikes.
Minutes of August 18, 2015 were reviewed and endorsed.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Spinella/Administrative Assistant
APPROVED:
--------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------Brian Bush, Chairman of Board Mark Silverberg, Vice-Chairman of Board
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Edward Newton, Jr. Charlie Diamond William Spencer
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