MINUTES OF WESTBOROUGH PLANNING BOARD
October 6, 2015
Regular meeting of the Westborough Planning Board held in the Forbes Municipal Building in Room 23, 45 West Main Street.
Board members present: Chairman Brian Bush, Vice-Chairman Mark Silverberg, Charlie Diamond, Edward Newton, Jr., and William Spencer. Also present was Jim Robbins, Town Planner, and seven spectators (high school students).
7:00 p.m.: Presentation from the School Committee & Superintendent of Schools
School Committee members presenting were Amber Bock, Superintendent; and Jody Hensley, School Committee member.
Ms. Hensley discussed the Joint Committee on Student Enrollment which was active January 2015 and asked for the Planning Board’s continued involvement. Ms. Hensley explained that the Joint Committee included members of the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, School Committee, and Finance Committee. Other members were the Town Manager, Town Planner, and the Superintendent. Also involved were HTMF Architects, which specializes in school design and space planning, and NEDEC, who are demographers that look at population growth.
Ms. Hensley requested the Planning Board’s continued support. Their next meeting is scheduled for October 15.
Member Diamond commented that this committee is a great way to bridge the different organizations in town and as a result we were able to accomplish quite a bit. Member Diamond said there is a current issue with capacity that needs to be addressed in the long-term, short-term, and in the intermediate stages.
Chairman Brian Bush moved to have Member Diamond represent the Planning Board on the Joint Committee for Student Enrollment. Member Edward Newton, Jr. seconded the motion and it was so voted 4-0-1.
7:19 p.m.: New Business – Bay State Commons
Presenting was James R. Waterman of Waterman Design Associates, Inc., 31 East Main Street, Westborough, MA.
The Town Planner noted that Mr. Michael Scott of Waterman Design Associates met with him on Friday after the time the agenda is posted. He explained that he put Waterman Design under new business because the weather is imminent on them to do paving now so it will stand up to winter snowplowing.
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Mr. Randy Waterman of Waterman Design presented a Stamped Concrete Replacement Plan that is color coded for the Planning Board’s review. Mr. Waterman pointed out to the Board the areas to be replaced are in front of Roche Brothers with imprinted bituminous concrete; at the entrance between Glow Golf and Roche Brothers with stamped concrete table. The burgundy area is the bituminous concrete ramps which will stay as they are and inside of them will be imprinted bituminous concrete. The only thing that needs to be done immediately is where they took pavement out is to repave; and as you come in to Roche Brothers, fix the two areas immediately where the pavement stops and then do the rest next year. Mr. Waterman said he would like the Board to consider using bituminous concrete on all
the crosswalks and the rest could stay bituminous pavement.
Chairman Brian Bush said that he and the Town Planner went out to the site and met with Mr. John Fryer who pointed out the areas involved.
Chairman Bush said he has a question; there is an area that is currently stamped concrete. Will this change.
Mr. Waterman said all areas will change over to imprinted bituminous concrete. Right now we are looking to do two small areas but would like the Board to consider approving the entire concept.
Chairman Brian Bush said this change will be durable but he wants to make sure the areas are maintained.
The Town Planner agreed that routine maintenance should be able to keep these areas stable. The Town Planner suggested putting them on the next agenda and having someone from Waterman Design come back and the Board can approve the whole plan.
Member Mark Silverberg moved to repair the two traffic tables as discussed by Mr. Waterman. Member Bill Spencer seconded the motion and it was so voted 5-0-0.
7:28 p.m.: ANR Plan – 9 Church Street:
Mr. Newton recused himself from voting.
Mr. Randy Waterman of Waterman Design Associates and James E. Tashjian, Esquire was present for discussion.
Mr. Waterman explained that Congregational Church had a boundary dispute with their property and the property directly beyond them. Attorney Tashjian has been working with both entities and has come up with an agreement to correct the boundary so everyone is satisfied. It
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essentially moves the lot line to be more in line with existing walls and monuments. We have created a new lot line and both parties are satisfied with this new ANR Plan. Mr. Waterman said he is requesting the Board’s approval; no new building lots are being created; and the parcels are just being added to the existing parcels that abut them.
Chairman Brian Bush motioned to endorse a Plan of Land, dated 09/03/2015, for 57 West Main Street and 9 Church Street, Westborough, MA. Member Charlie Diamond seconded the motion and it was unanimously voted.
The Town Planner stated that Attorney Tashjian has asked for a waiver from the $50 per lot fee.
The language in the Bylaw reads which is also on the form, that it is $50 for each new lot created. The Board will have to determine whether or not new lots have been created.
Mr. Waterman said they are modified existing parcels.
Member Mark Silverberg feels that there is some burden to the town because of new Assessors’ Maps and GIS maps. He felt that because the boundaries have changed those are two new lots; they are not the same as what they were. He said they have asked for the $50 in similar circumstances before and barring a hardship, he would not support waiving the fee.
Member Bill Spencer agreed.
Chairman Bill Spencer motioned not to waive the lot fees requested. Member Bill Spencer seconded the motion and it was voted 3-1-0. Member Charlie Diamond was opposed.
7:35 p.m.: ANR Plan – 28 Lackey Street:
Presenting was Mr. Waterman from Waterman Design Associates. Mr. Waterman explained that Mr. Richard and Diane Irwin currently live at 28 Lackey Street (Lot 2) and own an additional parcel in the back (Lot 6). They would like to do a small solar component to provide power to the existing house by using the back parcel for the component. The Building Commissioner told them they must combine the two lots into one new parcel which is attached to the house. Mr. Waterman summarized that the purpose of this ANR Plan is to combine Lot 2 and Lot 6 to form one contiguous parcel which is now Lot 2A.
Member Spencer asked for clarification. He asked if Lot 6 goes away is it is all Lot 2A.
Mr. Waterman replied that is correct and said the Lot 6 and Lot 2 become one Lot 2A the new Lot.
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Member Charlie Diamond motioned to approve the amalgamated Plan for 28 Lackey Street combining Lots 2 and Lot 6 to form Lot 2A, dated 09/22/2015. Member Ed Newton, Jr. seconded the motion and it was unanimously voted.
7:43 p.m.: Town Meeting Articles:
Extension of DPOD:
Chairman Brian Bush explained that he and the Town Planner recently met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss the two zoning articles; extension of the DPOD and Signage Bylaw Amendment and are fine with both articles. The Town Planner has put together a power point presentation for the DPOD article. This is a long presentation as it shows before and after pictures of businesses that have used the DPOD zoning in the DPOD District.
The Town Planner said this presentation hopes to explain what the Downtown Overlay District is; and what is required. This is an overlay on top of existing zoning. The underlying zoning remains in place and all the uses currently allowed are still allowed. The DPOD is allowed on specific properties in non-residential districts in the downtown business district. In the DPOD you can do a mixed use development that requires Design Review, Planning Board Special Permit, Site Plan Review and a Building Permit. A public hearing would be required with a special permit from the Planning Board. Planning issues such as parking and traffic would be discussed and addressed. The zoning in place now does not require this level of review.
The Town Planner said that there are current mixed uses in the downtown such as residential above office, retail or restaurant space; and you can also have office above a restaurant or retail space. These are all historically grandfathered uses that are not allowed under current downtown business zoning.
The Town Planner said in summary the Overlay is an addition to existing underlying zoning with the existing zoning remaining unchanged. The Overlay will add more options to help occupy or repurpose vacant space in existing buildings.
Chairman Brian Bush added this will increase the financial attractiveness of downtown locations. The mixed-use zoning will increase the total value of properties in the overlay which will result in more potential tax revenue.
Chairman Brian Bush said he will also prepare a presentation for Town Meeting.
Sign update discussion:
Chairman Brian Bush asked for discussion on the sign update bylaw.
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The Town Planner said he will discuss the sign bylaw when Mr. Htway returns to the meeting. He then discussed the fact that this bylaw is not intended to hurt anyone. He would like to call people that have had concerns about the sign bylaw and explain to them about the changes proposed. If you have an existing sign now that you are afraid does not meet the existing bylaws, you will not be required to remove it. If you choose to remove it then you must comply with the new signage regulations. If a sign is damaged had needs to be fixed, then you will have to comply with our new regulations. If a sign needs painting, you don’t have to apply for a DRB review. If an existing sign is damaged more than 35%, you have 30 days to fix it or you must comply with the new regulations.
7:57 p.m.: Discussion on a waiver request to Amended Special Permit #T-OV-05-1 (Westborough Village):
Mr. Bush recused himself from voting. Member Mark Silverberg, Vice Chairman will chair this discussion.
Presenting for Toll Brothers, Inc., were Christopher Senie, Esq., of Senie & Associates, P.C.; Mr. Shawn Nuckolls, Assistant Vice President, Toll Brothers, Inc.; and Mr. Derek Wheeler, Project Manager of Westborough Village, Toll Brothers, Inc.
Attorney Senie said they were before the Board about three weeks ago because of a new interpretation of Note 5 that is attached to the Dimensional Schedule for the T-OV Bylaw. The Building Commissioner has interpreted that under Footnote 5, Toll Brothers will no longer be able to finish basements. Westborough Village was originally approved for 350 units in 2006. Then, in 2010 Toll Brothers bought this project and amended the Special Permit to have 276 units. Only 90 of these units have basements of which 72 are townhouses and 18 are single family. 79% of the 90 units have been sold (71 units) and 35 have been issued permits by the Building Commissioner. Toll Brothers was under the impression that basements could be finished and has finished some. The interpretation of the
Building Commissioner is that basements are not to be finished living space. Homeowners want to use the finished space as a recreation area or reading area. This will have a big impact on Toll Brothers ability to finish selling their units. When we were here last time the Board asked us to consider getting a waiver from the Planning Board.
Attorney Senie said he did work on a draft waiver request. Will this request for a waiver be a major modification or minor modification to the decision? If it is considered major then it would be subject to a special permit hearing but if minor, then this route would not be needed. The waiver would be asking for dwelling space in a basement but no bedrooms.
Member Charlie Diamond asked how do we resolve this and get this moving forward.
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Attorney Senie said the language is not perfect and the verbiage “finished or unfinished” need to be clarified. The verbiage from Note 5 came from the multifamily housing section in our zoning bylaws. This may have been added to the T-OV prior to going to Town Meeting. Note 5 speaks of “No floor in a dwelling unit except unoccupied basements shall be below grade”.
Attorney Senie said according to the terms of Section 5050 and 5060 of the T-OV, the Planning Board has the authority to waive or modify any dimensional requirements. Can Note 5 prohibit further finished basements?
Mr. Shawn Nuckolls said his opinion of this is that no bedrooms in a multifamily building may be below grade. As to units which have dedicated basements below grade, these may be finished, but may not have bedrooms, closets or kitchens. The space may be finished for entertainment, recreation or storage areas.
Member Mark Silverberg stated that he was not present the last time they were in. But when you, Attorney Senie, talk about a new interpretation by the Building Commissioner, he does not look at it that way at all. It was an oversight on his part to not see the footnote. When he realized the footnote was there, he looked to the Planning Board for clarification on what occupied space means. The intent of that footnote can be debated all day but the simple fact is that it is there. An occupied space is finished space. The fact that the footnote was overlooked on the earlier units does not make it right for us to change policy or waive the bylaw without proper procedure with a public hearing. His opinion is that we need a proper public hearing on this. If we have a public
hearing, there are aspects of this project that he would like to discuss with the developer. He wants to discuss the interconnectivity between projects (Westborough Village and Village Commons). He will point out in the bylaw if necessary where the intent of the T-OV bylaw is to have all these projects interconnected with pedestrian access. He does not believe that Toll Brothers has presented a persuasive discussion on this to the residents and he would like to see this change implemented so that we have the interconnectivity between projects which we desired but did not mandate. If we reopen the special permit public hearing he will also bring up the commercial issue. In the most recent T-OV project, the Planning Board mandated construction of the commercial building at 50% of the building permits. There was no such mandate on this project and there should have been. There has been no effort to even market the commercial
building. He has spoken to commercial brokers who have not heard of any such discussions on this project. Member Silverberg said he feels that they are five years into this project and there is no sign of the commercial building.
Mr. Shawn Nuckolls said these are all items in hindsight that you wish had been done.
Member Mark Silverberg said in hindsight you should have asked for the waiver. If we open up the hearing process all of these issues will come up for discussion. He is letting them know what to be prepared to discuss. Maybe there will be no more building permits until the commercial building is up. This could be a solution we come up with. We are losing a lot of revenue
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because the commercial building has not been constructed and he would like to see some way to recapture some of that tax revenue. This project is far more expensive to the town than their 2010 financial analysis forecast including in particular the fact you forecast 28 school age children in the project. As you know you should have projected will over a 100 school age children. The strain upon the school system was not forecast by Toll Brothers and he is a little bit frustrated that we are not getting the commercial revenue to offset this. He sees no effort by Toll Brothers to get the commercial building going. In summary, Member Silverberg said he feels the Planning Board needs to reopen the public hearing process. Be prepared because he will be bringing up a lot of things
not connected to the waiver.
Member Silverberg said to Attorney Senie that he is not opposed to the waiver he wrote but does not like some of the language. He will ask the Town Planner to draft a waiver request.
Attorney Senie said that from Mr. Silverberg’s comments it sounds like he would really like to re-open the Special Permit; not just have a public hearing on a waiver application.
Member Mark Silverberg confirmed.
Attorney Senie said this would really be an Application to Modify the Special Permit and this is how we will also cover the other issues out there.
Member Mark Silverberg said that is his stand unless Toll Brothers is ready to address his concerns without opening up the public hearing process. Then we could just address the waiver request.
Attorney Senie said he understands but needs to address this request with Toll Brothers.
Member Mark Silverberg said we need a motion to require a public hearing on this.
The Town Planner said it requires justification and the applicant must comply with zoning.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. said the justification is the interpretation of Note 5 by the Building Inspector and Planning Board.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. motioned to require a public hearing for the waiver request from Toll Brothers for justification of the interpretation of Note 5 by the Building Commissioner. Member Charlie Diamond seconded the motion.
Member Charlie Diamond confirmed that his second on the motion still stands.
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Member Bill Spencer said he was not on the Planning Board for the original decision and thus does not understand all of the back history on this project. He has concerns about changing something that was already agreed upon and also has an issue with the developer for not finishing what they start. He believes if the hearing is reopened up, we are pulling in too many issues to be part of the decision for a waiver on basements. He does agree there should be no new permitting on the project. For the record he is opposed to reopening up the hearing process.
Member Charlie Diamond said the whole purpose of this meeting is to discuss the waiver for the occupancy of basements. There needs to be a public hearing to alert the whole town.
Member Mark Silverberg felt that this requires a public hearing and would like to see it properly advertised so that the Town will see they are making this change or not making this change.
Member Ed Newton, Jr. motioned to require a public hearing for the waiver request from Toll Brothers for justification of the interpretation of Note 5 by the Building Commissioner. Member Charlie Diamond seconded the motion and 3 voted in favor and Member Bill Spencer abstained.
8:33 p.m.: Other Business
The Board discussed that next meeting of the Board is Tuesday, October 20, 2015, but would be the second day of the Town Meeting if it is continued. The Board decided to look into having October 27 as the backup meeting date. Also, Mr. Robbins confirmed that a meeting will be posted for the October 19 Town Meeting.
At 8:36 p.m. Member Bill Spencer motioned to adjourn the Planning Board meeting of October 6, 2015. Member Ed Newton, Jr. seconded the motion and it was unanimously voted.
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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