MINUTES OF WESTBOROUGH PLANNING BOARD
September 15, 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., Diamond and Spencer were present. Member Silverberg was absent.
Meeting dates: October 06, 2015
At 7:00 p.m. the Board prepared to discuss the DPOD District with possible guidelines
Zoning Bylaw Discussion:
Extension of DPOD District:
Chairman Brian Bush said the Planning Board has talked a lot about their vision for the Downtown Overlay District (DPOD). We don’t have any Rules and Regulations spelled out. It would be a good starting point to pull together guideline points so that this vision is accurately described. The DPOD Zone gives us flexibility and creativity. The Town Planner sent out copies of the DPOD Presentation that was used in 2010 for the Board to review. There are pictures of the Bay State Commons site before it got developed. It shows a mish-match of the buildings that were there. The zoning at the time was General Industrial that allowed manufacturing, warehouse, office, retail sales, restaurant, bank, single and multi-family residential and education.
Member Bill Spencer asked were all the factory buildings at Bay State Commons closed.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. responded that the only building open was the administration building which is where the condominium building is now.
Chairman Brian Bush said he feels that the pictures make a good impact of before and after. Hopefully in the future the extension of the DPOD will have an equal impact on some of the spaces along East Main Street. He can vision a walk able community which is becoming bigger and bigger in cities across the state. Currently there is no open space requirement in the downtown district but with the DPOD overlay we can do this. There would also be architectural review by the Design Review Board.
The Town Planner stated that today he went out and took pictures of Tavolino’s, Waterman Design Associates building and how we have linked the two sites together into the Bay State Commons. He also took pictures of Dunkin Donuts and the House of Pizza and would like to add them into the rest.
Chairman Brian Bush said that Dunkin Donuts and Westboro House of Pizza are signs of the success of the Design Review Board and not a result of the DPOD zoning. We might not want to cloud the issue.
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
September 15, 2015
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The Town Planner said we could use Central Credit Union, South Street Diner on South Street as architectural examples.
Chairman Brian Bush we need to include before and after pictures of 25 West Main Street and 3, 5, 7 Milk Street.
Chairman Brian Bush said the Westborough Plaza on East Main Street that contains Arturo’s is all asphalt and not very attractive.
Member Bill Spencer said the Planning Board wants to show the vision but not call out the business owners.
Chairman Brian Bush said the idea isn’t that we are telling every landowner that they have to redevelop. This is only an incentive for them, a tool if they chose to use it. Herb Alexander did a nice job renovating but his site could have looked different if the DPOD had been in place. The uses within the sites along East Main Street could expand. This expansion of the DPOD is an incentive to change if they want. It can be used as a tool and they will benefit. It could make their property more aesthetically pleasing.
The Town Planner said look at the Westborough Plaza. It could be redeveloped with its current uses and still go under the DPOD to include residential.
Chairman Brian Bush commented that there are lots of uses in that plaza, two restaurants, a gym, a learning center, floral shop, a bank, Taylor Rental. Most of these are great uses for a mixed use residential project. The whole thing about being walk able is to walk downtown and enjoy the retail and restaurants. There is a lot to do in the downtown center. This DPOD presentation is a good base to build on for the new presentation.
Member Bill Spencer mentioned that he recently went to Natick and went through the old downtown and to a coffee shop. It is really nice. In the coffee shop it had a picture of what it used to look like 10 years ago before they remodeled the old downtown and shops. It was fun to see the before and after pictures.
Member Charlie Diamond said that when you go to East Main Street now it is to do something specific. With the expansion of the DPOD, over time you will see transition and see people walking to go to the stores that will be close to the curb. Currently the shops on East Main Street are all set back too far now to encourage this. The DPOD expansion will change this over time.
Member Bill Spencer said he thinks the old photos will be a great tool to show the before and after.
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September 15, 2015
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The Town Planner agreed that 25 West Main will also be a great win to show the before and after pictures.
Chairman Brain Bush remarked that an interesting component of non-DPOD is they want parking.
The Town Planner said if there were parking available on the street he would agree that there is no need. If you didn’t have off street parking for the businesses they would struggle.
Chairman Brian Bush said Erickson’s Automotive on East Main Street and Westborough Paint has a tough time coming in and out of their sites. There is nowhere to go. It behooves us to move on some of these sites. Chairman Bush said he will start working on the Power Point Presentation with Town Planner, Jim Robbins.
The Town Planner said in the 2010 Power Point the last two slides talk about lessons learned. A couple of the points could be massaged on the permitting process. The permit process could be cumbersome. They still have to go through the Site Plan Review process. The Special Permit process could combine the two. Impact to the school system can’t be overlooked. We did the school enrollment report study. The Town Planner said he will send out the data to all.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said we should talk about the numbers before we close. Bring up that there are very low numbers of children. The numbers support what we are doing.
Chairman Brian Bush said we have held the expansion of the DPOD off because of the School Committee. It can be addressed in the presentation.
Charlie – the presentation was made and people got lost.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said we should just do numbers that pertain to the DPOD. The Town Moderator controls the meeting.
Chairman Brian Bush said he wrote a two page presentation report stating the reasons for expanding the DPOD. It is to incent the owners of these parcels to redevelop their land and buildings to permit greater flexibility and more creative and imaginative design; create economic value for them and to the town in the form of development opportunities and increased taxes. The Planning Board has been working on this over the last year.
The Town Planner said we can have a slide on enhanced property values. This is where we can discuss numbers. We will show Bay State before it was done and Bay State after it was done.
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
September 5, 2015
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Member Charlie Diamond said that Bay State is mainly commercial use. The issue with the school board is more immediate. What we are planning here is further out. The School Department has to understand this.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said even if we don’t do this there will still be an issue with the schools.
Member Bill Spencer said he thinks this will be hit on at Town Meeting because of the issue of the schools. We don’t want to box ourselves into a corner over schools.
Member Charlie Diamond said we can address the tax issue with commercial growth. The school will be future.
The Town Planner said no one will argue on redevelopment of properties in the DPOD district. Everyone likes the improvements that have occurred.
Member Charlie Diamond said as a resident you don’t have to leave town for fine dining and shopping.
Member Bill Spencer agreed and said this is all stuff that is positive for the area.
Member Charlie Diamond said there will always be someone that is defensive about their taxes going up. We are not trying to improve the tax base and not trying to overload the school system but control it through the Planning Board.
Chairman Brian Bush said he will get together with the Town Planner on Monday. Member Charlie Diamond will go to the Board of Selectmen meeting with the Town Planner to discuss zoning articles Monday night.
Member Charlie Diamond asked how many articles are there on the upcoming Town Meeting.
Chairman Brian Bush said that Town Meeting starts on Monday, October 19th. He has not seen the Warrant yet. He sent email to the Selectmen, Town Manager and Town Moderator asking we get heard on Monday night. Tuesday he is having surgery on his elbow. He also has a State Hospital Use Committee meeting. He hopes we get on early in the Warrant. Everyone replied they were in favor of this.
Sign Bylaw Discussion:
The Town Planner said the Planning Board needs to explain the details of the changes without getting caught up in the details. Do an executive summary approach. This time there have been questions on change of power from the Historic Commission to Design Review Board.
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
September 15, 2015
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The Town Planner said that the Design Review Board and Historic Commission will be using the same set of Sign Guidelines. If a project already has Design Review Board review and they also need signage, then the Design Review Board reviews it. If it is strictly signage in the Historic District, the Historical Commission does the review. It has streamlined the process. The Building Commissioner oversees it too. In the DPOD district there has been concern over signage on umbrellas. If there is verbiage on the umbrellas it counts as a sign.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said there is some advertising on the umbrella at Tavolino’s. They are not supposed to do this. Tavolino should only have solid colors on the umbrellas with no verbiage. No advertising on umbrellas is allowed. However, they can have multiple colors.
The Town Planner said that he & the Building Commissioner will do this presentation at Town Meeting. The Planning Board can do the motion and report.
The Town Planner said he put together a list of standards for the DPOD. Some of the items listed are already in the T-OV. The Board should review the list and see what they think. Under Setbacks he suggests they be called build to line. Building up to edge of the sidewalk or at a distance to allow some interesting elements would be good. Build to line is to the edge of sidewalk. Setbacks are not required but it will help create a common element to West Main Street.
Member Charlie Diamond said he would like green space up to the sidewalks.
The Town Planner said we would encourage a developer try to add in green space when redeveloping. They could create a pocket park, trail system, and use that space as a benefit to connect other parcels or put in gardens, benches, trees.
The Town Planner said that Westborough Plaza has some green space behind the building where no one sees it. You would want to have nice plantings out in the front.
Chairman Brian Bush said one other thing is adding in street trees near sidewalks because this adds interest. You can also add in other points of interest like benches, fountains, greenery.
The Planning Board should deal with the guidelines after Town Meeting. We have to hold a public hearing on this. We can put this item on our agenda to discuss on the October 6th agenda.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. stated that there is no on street parking on East Main Street. We will need to provide some parking for businesses.
Chairman Brian Bush said there is some data that would indicate that you don’t have to go one for one on those uses. There could be shared parking. The bench mark is one space per bedroom or one space per unit.
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
September 15, 2015
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Member Charlie Diamond asked in a mixed use of commercial or retail is it possible the residents will use more than one spot for parking?
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said we will have to be careful how this is worded. If there is parking on the street, then it is okay for businesses to use these spaces.
Member Bill Spencer said he recently attended the Arts and Craft Fair and is interested in who benefits from the parking spaces. Someone gives up space from their businesses when there is an even. Do the businesses get any benefit?
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said they should all be open to benefit from any event. If you have a car show, people will come to view and will be hungry and then apt to shop in local stores. Everyone benefits.
The Town Planner agreed that these shows can be very good for businesses if they are open. People like to eat. Businesses that abut it will make money.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said the Town is definitely using the Park Green more for functions.
The Town Planner asked do people park in the municipal parking area, in Bay State Commons, or every where?
Member Ed Newton, Jr. responded that they park everywhere available.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:02 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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