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06/07/16
MINUTES OF WESTBOROUGH PLANNING BOARD
June 07, 2016

Regular meeting of the Westborough Planning Board held in the Forbes Municipal Building, 2nd Floor, Room 23 at 45 West Main Street.  Members Bush, Diamond, Spencer and Paris were present.  Member Silverberg was absent.

Meeting dates:  June 21, 2016

The Planning Board reviewed and endorsed the Minutes of May 03, 2016 and May 17, 2016 with one correction.

At 7:00 p.m. the Board met with Mr. John Wells, owner of 7 Cottage Street to discuss having his property overlaid with DPOD zoning.

Mr. John Wells stated that he owns 2 buildings on one lot.  He would like to have a mixed use building on the lot with the DPOD Overlay.  One of his lots is currently Downtown Business but the other is Residential.

Chairman Brian Bush stated the process for this revision is to go to Town Meeting and he must receive a 2/3 vote to pass.  We can discuss this later.   Mr. Wells has two different lots, one in downtown business and the other is residential.  The downtown business lot could take the overlay but not the residential.  The current use for both lots is multi-family housing.  

Member Charlie Diamond said he has no issue with this request.

The Town Planner explained that the property is currently split zoned, half Downtown Business and half Residential.  The property currently contains two multi-family three story buildings.  There are multi-family homes on adjoining lots along Cottage Street.  Our DPOD zoning restricts the mixed-use provisions from being attached to residentially zoned land.  The property would need to be rezoned entirely as Downtown Business and then overlaid with the DPOD zoning.   

Member Bill Spencer asked if checked to see if his neighbors want to have mixed use.  It would make their property more valuable.

Mr. John Wells said he has spoken with two neighbors who don’t have a problem with this change.

Chairman Brian Bush said he does not have a problem with this request.   However you must have the consent from neighbors for this change.  It will require a public hearing with the Planning Board first before it can go to Town Meeting.

The Town Planner noted that none of the properties on his side are in the Overlay District.  This is good because if we did the area it would not be spot zoning.  First it must be zoned Downtown Business and then overlaid with the DPOD zoning to achieve the mixed use.    
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
June 07, 2016
Page 2

The Town Planner suggested Mr. Wells come in for a work session with his neighbors and we can talk about this proposal.  It will be good to identify his neighbors. It will be to their advantage and improve the value of their property.  

At 7:20 p.m. the Planning Board prepared to continue the Special Permit Concept Phase Public Hearing on The Ridings II.  (See attached minutes).

At 8:20 p.m. the Board met with Mr. Randy Waterman from Waterman Design representing the owners of the Indian Meadow Country Club, Mr. Yogi Patel and Mr. Kaushal Vyas.

Mr. Randy Waterman stated that the owners would like to create a two lot commercial subdivision with a cul-de-sac at the end of the existing Indian Meadow Road.  There will be no new structures proposed.  The owners may wish to expand the banquet facility in the future.  Indian Meadow Road is a private way and is not built to town standards.  The new owners bought the entire Indian Meadow Property.  They want to keep the golf course and function hall.   The two uses are not accessory uses.  We have already met with the Fire Department and the Town Engineer.  The proposal is to create a paper street and then create frontage but leaving the existing buildings as is.  

Mr. Randy Waterman said the original plan shows Indian Meadow Road as a 50-foot private street.  The Function Hall was built in the 1960’s.  We want to take the existing private street and add a private cul-de-sac to accommodate the buildings in the back.  This would add to the existing road and extend a 120 foot bulb that would provide frontage for both buildings in the back.   Mr. Carl Balduf, Town Engineer is concerned with drainage and the Fire Department wants them to widen Indian Meadow Road.  We would need a waiver from a dead end street for the cul-de-sac.  We are also requesting a waiver from the Preliminary Phase and want to go right to the Definitive Phase because there is already an existing road and we are not building anything.   

Mr. Randy Waterman identified the property to the north end of Meadow Road.  The Town will already be replacing the culverts on Indian Meadow Road and catch basins can be added.  Both the Town Engineer and Fire Department want some widening to the side of the private road.  They would like to see a minimum of 24 feet the whole length of the road.   The new owners will do some clean up on the sides of the street.  We will keep good street trees that are already there.    The road will be a total of 1100 feet long instead of the existing 1000 foot roadway.  Currently they are already underway with interior renovations to the Banquet area.  On the plans we will show a potential location for a future building.   The new owners have offered to assist the Town with the 300th Anniversary celebration by the use of their Banquet facility.  They are willing to work with the Town.  This is a good use for the property.  The existing uses on the property will stay.


Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
June 07, 2016
Page 3


Member Bill Spencer asked is this currently an active golf course? If so do you have long term intensions of using it?  He wants to go visit the site.

Mr. Vyas responded yes they will still use as a 9 hole golf course.

Member Tim Paris said he needs to go out to the location to look at it.  He has no questions right now.  

Chairman Brian Bush said the current uses are grandfathered as non conforming.  There is no jeopardy of use as long as they stay as is.  If we grant your approval for a subdivision you now have two new lots.   The cul-de-sac length is more than double the typical requirement.  Usually it is a town accepted road.  

Mr. Carl Balduf, Town Engineer said the DPW is going to be funneling water from the Indian Meadow wells to go over to Fisher Street.  The solution is the Oak Street plant can’t handle the water but Fisher Street can.  We will connect to the existing main near Astra Zeneca.  The Indian Meadow Well is a big well.  The existing culverts are in miserable shape and rotting out.  They DPW will replace the culverts but the main purpose for the DPW is to get the raw water line in.  We do have rights to run municipal utilities in Indian Meadow Way.    The new owners have been very cooperative.  These two things are coming together.  

Chairman Brian Bush thanks the new owners for working with the Town.

Chairman Brian Bush said typically when we grant a waiver, we also try to stick to our regulations.  The Town Planner told him about this project last week.  We will be giving you another buildable lot.   Why grant the waiver?  This is a red flag for him.  What type of a precedent are we opening up?  If we give you a waiver, what are you getting in return?  When we make this change you will have many more rights.  The easement for the Town for the water line is significant.

Mr. Randy Waterman said this is a unique situation.  The existing right-of-way has been 1,000 square feet in length for over 50 years.  As part of the Definitive Plan Phase you can put conditions on the project in the decision.  As far as design standards it is allowed by subdivision regulations and the difference between public and private streets.  We are only doing the two uses.  Anything new that happens on site has to be by Special Permit.  

Mr. Randy Waterman said they have 110 feet of frontage on Route 9.  The current frontage requirement on Route 9 is 125 feet.  

Chairman Brian Bush said currently you have a private right of way on record plans for approximately the last 40 years.  
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
June 07, 2016
Page 4


The Town Planner said that the State Zoning Act for creating a building lot is the way must be at least 12 feet wide on a map.

Mr. Randy Waterman said he would like to file this as definitive plan and move forward.  

The Town Planner said he sees no benefit to do a Preliminary Phase because road already exists.  They needs some waivers and the basis for granting waivers is that the waiver creates better design and that granting that waiver doesn’t do any harm to any other businesses.   This is a better use than what is there now.

Mr. Randy Waterman said it sounds like the Planning Board is in favor of going to the Definitive Plan.

Mr. Carl Balduf said we are not going to create lots of comments on this.  It is a private right of way that looks like a road.    The Town will not maintain the road.  There is nothing wrong with this concept.

The Town Planner said we can waive all requirements except for a right of way.  

At 8:45 p.m. the Board prepared to discuss two potential zoning articles for Fall Town Meeting.

The Town Planner said that the owner of 155 East Main Street did not show up for discussion tonight.  They had requested that the Gateway 2 District be extended to their house.  At our meeting on June 21st he will have a map marked up showing where the extension will go.  Two different properties want to do combination of retail and apartments.  We should hold the purpose of the gateway but also allow some residential use.  

Chairman Brian Bush agrees that this makes a lot of sense to allow a mixed use in the Gateway District.

Member Charlie Diamond agrees. It will increase their property values.

The Town Planner said he will have the extension of Gateway 2 District and the DPOD District inclusion of 7 Cottage Street ready shortly for review and discussion.

Amendment to the T-OV:

The Town Planner asked that the Planning Board continue thinking about amending the T-OV.

Chairman Brian Bush said there is no threat on permits on the commercial part of the projects.  At our last meeting we decided not to pursue this now.
Minutes of Westborough Planning Board
June 07, 2016
Page 5


The Town Planner pointed out that there is still available land in the T-OV District that is about 55 acres.
 
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Sandy Spinella
Administrative Assistant        

APPROVED:

---------------------------------------------------             -----------------------------------------------------Brian Bush, Chairman of Board                        Mark Silverberg, Vice-Chairman of Board

-------------------------------------   ----------------------------------      -----------------------------------
        Charlie Diamond                        William Spencer                        Tim Paris


Special Permit Public Hearing
The Ridings II – Concept Phase
June 07, 2016


Pursuant to the Rules and Regulations relative to Special Permits under Section 4300 of the Zoning Bylaws of the Town of Westborough, Section III of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Subdivision of Land in Westborough, Massachusetts and MGL, Chapter 40A, Section 9, the Westborough Planning Board opened the public hearing on May 17, 2016 and continued on June 07m 2016 on a request for a Special Permit for a residential Open Spacer Community Subdivision containing a proposal for 19 residential lots on land shown as Map 3, Parcels 29A, 57 and 57D on Harvest Way, Westborough, Massachusetts as submitted by Casa Builders & Developers.

Chairman Brian Bush clarified to the audience that this is a continuation of the public hearing and the public can make comments after the presentation, and comments from Town Boards and the Planning Board.   This is the concept phase, first phase, the preliminary and the definitive phase increase with detail.  We have heard from many abutters.   Some highlights from the May 17th hearing were water and drainage issues, property value and cut through traffic.   The Planning Board has had discussion.  We now have to decide if we will make the Applicant do a conventional or open space plan.  Since the last meeting, there has been further plan review and comments from Mr. Carl Balduf, Town Engineer.

The Town Planner said that he followed up on comments from the May 17th hearing and reached out to the Town of Grafton.  Grafton has listed all applicants’ material online.  The Town Planner said he spoke with Assistant Town Planner and will meet tomorrow with the Grafton Town Planner.  They have concerns with the alternate open space plan versus the conventional plan but were reluctant to say which way they will go.  Grafton is also worried about cut through traffic and line of sight and will not allow a cul-de-sac.

Chairman Brian Bush addressed Mr. Carl Balduf, Town Engineer’s letter dated June 2nd.  The Traffic Impact Study was not stamped by an Engineer.  The vertical curve K-Values of 12.5 does not meet subdivision standards for a crest curve (30) for Roads B & C on the Alternative Open Space Plan.

Mr. James Tetreault responded that the 2nd vertical curve we had a 50 foot K-value, the standard is 30 foot so would need to be altered.  It is something they can change.    

Mr. Carl Balduf agrees that they will have no trouble doing this.  

Chairman Brian Bush said the subdivision regulations require plans must be prepared by a Landscape Architect.  This will be done later.  The Town Engineer had voiced concern over water breakout of springs on site.


Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 2


Mr. Carl Balduf said since his comments he has now walked the site.  He didn’t see any springs, or breakout of water.  There is evidence of a onetime roadway.  This is a nice piece of property.  There is no rock out cropping.  There are species of trees that indicate fairly good drainage.    

Chairman Brian Bush said there needs to be a plan showing phasing of development and erosion control.  

Mr. Carl Balduf said there not a lot of lots and doesn’t require a large phasing plan.  Beware of earth moving all at once.  This should maybe be done in a couple of phases.  

Chairman Brian Bush said The Ridings does not have completed, recorded Acceptance Plans.  Why is this not done?  It needs to be taken care of.    

Mr. James Tetreault said he thought these were dropped off to Jack Goodhall in 2003.  Maybe the Town Engineer could check in his files.

Mr. Carl Balduf said if all they dropped off was mylars, then it was incomplete.  There should be deeds recorded also.  This is a shared responsibility.  This needs to be cleaned up.  

Chairman Brian Bush agreed that the applicant needs to clean this up.      

Mr. Carl Balduf said that lot grading should be shown on the plans.  Heavy grading on the uphill and grading between lots is not severe.  They all drain down to the lot below it.   They seem to be 2:1 when the subdivision regulations say 3:1.  This is not easy to build and maintain.  The accommodation for drainage is important.  You need to pay attention to the developed property and where that water goes.  At this stage of development on the plans, he would not expect the detail yet.   

Chairman Brian Bush said if done right, it could eliminate lots of the issues.

Mr. Carl Balduf agreed that coordinated grading makes sense.  Basically you are cutting a hole into a hill because you have to cut the grade down.  When you have a big area open it is hard to hold the erosion back.  Once you cut into the area, you change the area forever.

Mr. James Tetreault said he understands.  We will show more detail in the next two phases.  There will be stabilization shown and their drainage system details shown.

Mr. Carl Balduf said that the drainage system shown so far does not meet our standards and regulations.

Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 3  

Public comment:

A resident of The Ridings stated she is concerned about trees coming down that currently buffer the Mass Pike noise.

Chairman Brian Bush clarified there is requirements for street trees.  He believes part of that hill will remain as a noise barrier.

Mr. James Tetreault said the Applicant does not want to cut excessively and bother residents.  We don’t have a clear idea where to cut and where to plant until they know size of the detention basin.  We can plant but not on the detention dike because of roots.

A resident asked what about the noise barriers?

Chairman Brian Bush said they are typically a mistake.  Highway noise is not something you typically have.

Mrs. Janet Mazzulo, 7 Harvest Way there is a problem with the electric.  Why is she is on a separate grid than Appleseed Drive.   Who decides who goes on what grid?

Mr. Carl Balduf said that National Grid determines that.  They don’t do engineering until construction.  It is up to them and they must engineer the load.   We do have representatives at National Grid.  We could talk to them about this.  

Mrs. Mary Fox, 5 Harvest Way said Appleseed Drive and Harvest Way were completed in 3 years.  The Orchards has gone on for 18 years.   Is there any way to avoid this happening again with this new development?

Chairman Brian Bush said this is a good observation.  By regulation the developer has two years to complete a subdivision.  Chairman Bush said his personal opinion is that he doesn’t think a subdivision can be built in 2 years but we can mandate they build the roadway.  This is a very legitimate concern to try to get a developer to finish up subdivisions in a timely manner.  This will be written into the decision.

Mr. Mark Corcoran, 6 Harvest Way said he wants to make sure that the integrity of their development is kept even into the second phase.  He would feel better if the Board came to see their existing neighborhood.




Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 4  


Mr. James Tetreault that one point from the last meeting was to compare an open space subdivision versus a conventional subdivision.  He sent in a letter in today and looked at the assessed values of the 12 open space lots and the 18 conventional lots.   They were within 3.1% difference in value.    

Chairman Brian Bush said he appreciates that Mr. Tetreault looked at that.  Uhlman Farms subdivision was approved when zoning was 25,000 square foot lots.  The last section of the development was Birchwood but the zoning had changed and was now 50,000 square foot lots.  You are comparing 25,000 square foot lots to 12,000 square foot lots.   

Mr. James Tetreault said the other part of the discussion was what type of house.  The houses are about the same as what they plan to do.  It is almost within 11 square feet and bigger than others.  It could be a big house on a smaller lot.  

Mrs. Mary Fox asked what the open space will be used for versus the conventional lot.

Chairman Brian Bush said the intent of this bylaw is to try to put meaningful open space into the inventory of the Town.  The evaluation criteria is that the open space created should be contiguous to other open space parcels and meaningful.  Sudbury Valley Trustees is interested and the Town is too.  The Land Trust is interested in the extended walking trail to the Libby Property and the Charm Bracelet Trail.  There have been really good uses of open space.  A conventional subdivision means that every inch of a property could be developed.

Mrs. Mary Fox said she had a lost dog and went through the open space to find it.  She has never seen anyone take advantage of this property.  

Mr. Steve Sloan– Sudbury Valley Trustees said there are trails to the north of this property.  He is excited about adding additional land for habitat and meaningful and safe access to the trail system.  Also they can manage the trails in Grafton and Westborough.  There is not a grand plan yet.  SVT is not the steward of this property.  It is private property currently.  SVT would like to have parking with access to the trail system.  It is a nice parcel with mature woodland.  There are many interesting features in this property.  

Mrs. Fox asked will SVT maintain the trails.

Mr. Sloan responded that SVT is interested in this open space.  We presently have no stewardship to these trails.  The Land Trust does have access to them.  When more people want to use it they will be taken care of better.  

Mrs. Fox asked where the parking will be.
Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 5  

Mr. Sloan said he does not know yet.  It is a good question, maybe on the open space.  It is better to have parking area near a roadway.

A resident of Harvest Way asked is there a lock box that can go up from Westboro to Grafton.  Break away gates?

Chairman Brian Bush said that is a possibility we can consider.   The Board needs to decide on which plan the Applicant will pursue.

Member Bill Spencer said he just walked the site and into the woods.  It is a beautiful piece of property.  This is a difficult decision and he is worried about the lot size.   He wants to see the site again.  There is a lot of potential up there.  Member Spencer thanked the Town Engineer for his comments on grading, phasing.

Member Charlie Diamond said he is concerned with the open area.  You might want to have bigger lawns to absorb the water runoff.

The Town Planner said he is very sensitive to cut through traffic.  In the next phase the Applicant must provide a traffic study.  Without that, if you put a bar way, you have violated the regulations.  It will have to be a pass through.  We will have to redesign the road or eliminate the road into Grafton and do a loop road instead.  You could connect the two small cul-de-sacs in the open space plan.  

Member Tim Paris suggested connecting the open space roads.  

The Town Planner said the only problem is slope falls off steeply when you get to the town line.  There would be fill position.  

Mr. James Tetreault said west of the town line are the worst grades.

Chairman Brian Bush said we are getting close to a point where we can direct. Member Mark Silverberg could not make it tonight and has asked to keep the hearing open to allow him to comment.  Maybe we could move towards writing a decision for the next meeting and keep the hearing open.

Chairman Brian Bush said his concern technically is without the Grafton thru street we are creating a cul-de-sac that is illegal.  We can put a condition in the decision that until there is a thru way from Grafton, it is necessary on one hand but burdensome on the other.  We need to meet with Grafton on this issue.


Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 6  


Mr. James Tetreault understands.  Approval from one town does nothing.  It must be a joint effort.  

Chairman Brian Bush said we will write this into the decision.  He has visited the neighborhood and understands the abutters wanting to keep their value of their subdivision.  He is not a fan of 30 foot roads.  He does not think these new homes will affect the value of the existing homes.   We can’t control if a developer sells his project to another developer due to economy, etc.  Chairman Brian Bush said he has carefully looked over both zoning and subdivision regulations.  We are supposed to make our decision on the meaningfulness of the open space.   This land has beautiful open space.  Personally he favors the open space plan.  He thinks traffic will be dealt with as we move forward.  Traffic will be addressed as we move forward.    Chairman Brian Bush said will not be here on June 21st.   He would like to keep the process moving.

Member Charlie Diamond said he was leaning towards the open space plan.  With bigger houses, smaller lots he is concerned how water will channel through.

Mr. James Tetreault said we would propose a drop in catch basin before it runs through the lots.  We don’t do full detail in this phase.    We are aware of that concern and it will be shown in the preliminary and then definitive is the final version of plans with drainage.   

Member Charlie Diamond said then he supports the open space single cul-de-sac.

Member Bill Spencer said he prefers the conventional plan.  He likes the idea of the loop road.  He is concerned about the resident’s value.  

Member Tim Paris said he prefers the open space plan.  Open space is very important and potential of more contiguous open space into Grafton.  He wants to go with the preferred open space plan.

Chairman Brian Bush said if we keep the hearing open, he will not be here.  

The Town Planner said at the next meeting Member Mark Silverberg can sign a Mullen Waiver.   If he does not vote with the 3 others, you still fail.   

Chairman Brian Bush said in order to get the open space plan it must be a 4 person vote.  Otherwise it will be conventional plan.  If you continue the hearing to when everyone is here, we will have to change the date.  Chairman Brian Bush suggested changing the July 5th meeting to July 12th.   All agreed.

Mr. James Tetreault was fine with July 12th.
Minutes of Special Permit Concept Phase
The Ridings II
June 07, 2016
Page 7

        
Member Bill Spencer motioned to continue the Special Permit Public Hearing on the Ridings II to July 12th.  The motion was seconded by Member Charlie Diamond and unanimously voted.

The Town Planner reminded Mr. Tetreault that the Applicant needs to be here at the next meeting.  

Chairman Brian Bush said or if he does not come, then the Board will make the decision for him.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Sandy Spinella/Administrative Assistant 

APPROVED:

---------------------------------------------------             -----------------------------------------------------Brian Bush, Chairman of Board                        Mark Silverberg, Vice-Chairman of Board

-------------------------------------   ----------------------------------      -----------------------------------
        Charlie Diamond                        William Spencer                        Tim Paris