MINUTES OF THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING
HELD
July 11, 2007
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Patricia Halpin, John Baker, Karen Paré, Lawrence Salate, and Vincent Vignaly
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Jennifer Lougee, Stanley T. Johnson, Kyle MacCallum, Rick Sousa, Eric Dahl, Phil Leite and Mark Brodeur
FIBERTOWER
Ms. Halpin opened the regular meeting at 7:25 p.m. after the close of the Public Hearing on the Special Permit Application and Site Plan Application by FiberTower Corporation. Upon the motion of Ms. Paré and a second by Mr. Vignaly, it was voted, unanimously, to grant the Special Permit with the following conditions: that a building permit will not be granted until the new roadway design is reviewed and approved by the Planning Board; that Crown Castle will provide a $10,000 Performance Bond for the reconstruction of the roadway; and that a $25,000 Removal Bond will be provided for the removal of the tower. The board requested that full size plans be provided before our next meeting for the board to sign.
The second public hearing of the night began at this point and the regular meeting re-opened at 8:00 p.m.
DISCUSSION WITH MARK BRODEUR, BUILDING INSPECTOR
Hillside Village: Mr. Brodeur reported that he visited Hillside Village today regarding the problems with the detention ponds. The examination of Basin 2 by Heritage has revealed that the bottom of the pond was lined with over 18 inches of silt, which prevented the infiltration expected in the design. Heritage’s engineer has developed a remediation plan, which has been authorized by Mr. Staiti and the work has begun. Mr. Vignaly noted that in a properly constructed and designed detention basin, any water containing in the basin would be thoroughly infiltrated 72 hours from a storm event.
Mr. Salate related that he walked down around Basin 2 to examine the rock spillway. The spillway was built higher than the adjacent property and, though the spillway was cupped, water will spill out of the swale under a heavy load. Mr. Salate also noted that there was visible erosion where the spillway ends. Ms. Halpin requested that Mr. Salate detail his findings in an email to Mr. Staiti and copy the Hillside Village Condo Association.
Angell Brook Village: Mr. Brodeur examined the reconstructed emergency access and it looked acceptable.
Wachusett Country Club: At the request of the Planning Board and Police Chief, Mr. Brodeur talked with Mr. Marone of the Country Club regarding the complaints by neighbors about mowing taking place before 6 a.m. Mr. Marone said that he will try to be respectful of the needs of his neighbors and will try to mow lawns close to neighbors later in the mowing schedule. Unfortunately, there will be times, such as when a tournament is being played, that mowing may have to take place earlier. Mr. Baker questioned why the Planning Board was involved in this type of issue, which is not related to our normal activities. He was reminded that we were responding to a request to the Planning Board from the Police Chief. Mr. Brodeur will report his discussion to the Police Chief in response.
Re-construction of the VFW site on Pierce Street: Mr. Brodeur reported that he has been looking into issues of “change of use” and questions whether, since there is currently a bar and kitchen on the premises, opening up a restaurant constitutes a change of use and requires a Site Plan Review. Ms. Paré noted that this is a Business use, while the previous use was Institutional and this change in category requires Site Plan Review. Mr. Baker agreed. It was decided to consult Town Counsel. Mr. Brodeur stated that even without a Site Plan Review the site would require a lot of work, including re-constructing the parking lot, before it will be suitable for the public.
Keepers: Mr. Brodeur reported that he met with the owner of the proposed Keepers Restaurant and his attorney to review the proposed plan. The applicant was told that a Site Plan Review is required. It may also require a Special Permit for a business center, if they decide to site more than 2 businesses in the possible offices in the back.
CLUSTER ZONING
The Planning Board discussed the possibility of a Cluster Zoning by-law. Mr. Brodeur said that his experience in Framingham has led him to believe that this is one of the best ways to maintain open space in a community. The Board discussed that this type of a bylaw was proposed to the Town many years ago but was defeated at Town Meeting. However, some residents have been asking about such a bylaw now and it may be time to reconsider. The Board is in general support for proposing a Cluster Zoning bylaw. Mr. Brodeur offered to get a copy of the Framingham bylaw as an example. Mr. Salate suggested that some photos from other towns successful implementation of this bylaw would be useful at any Public Hearing to answer possible concerns.
NEW ZONING MAP
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) provided the Planning Board with a large zoning map and has offered to prepare a new map with any proposed changes. This project was started in response to an item in the Master Plan that proposed to develop a new zoning map with the Assessors parcels as the base. The Board examined the current map and the parcels that are made up of two or more zones. Land owned by the DCR was not noted on this map and board members regretted the absence of this information. Ms. Paré noted that some large parcels are zoned for business along Route 12 but project far back into the singe residence zone and expressed concern that if the zone for the parcel were changed to business, it would affect the residential uses around it. Ms. Halpin remarked that there are a
large number of parcels that would have to be changed to follow this plan and questioned whether we could get all owners to agree. Mr. Vignaly suggested that we request the DCR to determine the number of parcels that would be suggested. The Board agreed to request that information, along with adding the parcels owned by the DCR and showing the existing overlays.
HILLSIDE VILLAGE CONDOMINUM ASSOCIATION
At the last Planning Board meeting, the Board received a letter from the Hillside Village Condominium Association requesting that they be informed of all discussions involving the Hillside Village project. Ms. Halpin will write a letter to the Association informing them that this could fall under the rules regarding the request for public information and that they will be provided with copies of relevant documents, subject to the reimbursement of Board expenses.
WIND TURBINE BYLAW DISCUSSION
Planning Board members were sent links to several Internet documents and model bylaws for a proposed Wind Turbine bylaw. Ms. Paré noted that the board needs to determine whether this bylaw will allow residential wind turbines, whether it will allow commercial wind turbine installations or whether the bylaw will limit the allowed use to municipal installations. The locations in Massachusetts that are most suitable for wind turbine energy production, according to studies, are along the seacoast and in the Berkshires. The Municipal Light Plant has expressed a desire to explore the use of wind turbines to supplement local energy production. Ms. Paré offered to produce the first draft for discussion.
STORMWATER BYLAW UPDATE
Mr. Vignaly has informed Mr. Westerling that the Planning Board has reviewed his latest draft of the Stormwater Bylaw and Mr. Vignaly will attend the meeting to discuss it further. Mr. Vignaly has not yet been informed of the schedule.
CONSERVATION RESTRICTION UPDATE
Hillside Village and Angell Brook Village are both required to have 25% of their land area in a Conservation Restriction. At the last meeting, the Hillside Village Condominium Association presented the board with their signatures on their Conservation Restriction and Mr. Staiti presented the board with the Conservation Restriction for Angell Brook.
However, after checking with the Town Administrator’s office and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, there seems to be some confusion about the procedures required. Ms. Paré noted that the version of the Conservation Restriction signed by the Hillside Village Association was a very early draft version, had the description of the watershed incorrect and included still visible edits. Mr. Staiti provided this version of the restriction to the Association on May 9, 2007. In addition, a corrected version of this restriction was sent to the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs in January 2007, complete with the signatures of the Board of Selectmen and the Conservation Commission. In a conversation with Nicole Sicard of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Ms. Paré learned that the
state requested, in January of this year, additional information, including a topographical information and map, for the review of the restriction. This state has not yet received this information. In addition, the state expects a draft submittal for their approval, as the state will sometimes require changes.
An additional complication is that the version of the restriction that has been submitted to the state has Keystone Development as the owner. Since this process has taken so long, the owners of Hillside Village is now the Condominium Association and so the entire process must be started over. The board expressed exacerbation since this process should have been completed five years ago. Ms. Paré reported that Town Counsel was working on this and she volunteered to try to shepherd this to completion.
MINUTES AND BILLS
Upon the motion of Ms. Paré and second of Mr. Salate, it was unanimously voted to approve as amended the Minutes of the Public Hearing on Oakdale Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center held on June 27, 2007. Upon the motion of Mr. Salate and second of Mr. Vignaly, it was unanimously voted to approve as amended the Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting held on June 27, 2007. No bills were submitted for approval. At 9:45 p.m., upon the motion of Mr. Vignaly and second of Mr. Salate, it was unanimously voted to adjourn.
Date Accepted: ______________________ By:__________________________
Karen F. Paré, Clerk
Submitted By: ______________________
Karen F Paré
| 
