MINUTES OF THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING
OCTOBER 27, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Vincent Vignaly, Patricia Halpin, Patrick McKeon, Lawrence Salate
MEMBERS ABSENT: Karen Paré
OTHERS PRESENT: Linda Ann Isgro
All documents referenced in these Minutes are stored and available for public inspection in the Planning Board office, 127 Hartwell Street.
SIGN ANR Plan: 403 Lancaster Street: Meola for Finney
Ref. Document: Plan of Land in West Boylston MA Prepared for Douglas Finney, dated October 13, 2010
Mr. Vignaly asked to be recused because land belonging to his family abuts the subject property. A completed Form A was submitted with the owner’s signature, as well as the filing fee in the amount of $400. At a previous meeting, the ANR Plan had been submitted and discussed. Upon motion of Mr. Salate and second of Ms. Halpin, it was unanimously voted to sign the ANR plan, which meets the frontage and access requirements.
WACHUSETT RESERVOIR PUBLIC ACCESS PLAN: Input to DCR
Mr. Vignaly unofficially explained that the DCR is in the process of updating the Wachusett Reservoir Access Plan and will hold an informational meeting tomorrow night. There is an online survey through which the public can give input on the usage of the reservoir and express interest in amending the access plan. A draft of a revised Access Plan should be ready in the spring, Mr. Vignaly stated, at which time a public hearing will be held. It would be helpful for members to take the survey and register their comments before the draft is completed.
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 2.
October 27, 2010
POTENTIAL ZONING CHANGES: Incentive Zoning
Mr. Vignaly stated that currently, the Incentive Zoning bylaw allows only one building per house lot (no matter what size lot) with a maximum of 12 units/lot. This means that there must be multiple units in one building, which can often result in the structure looking like a motel. The bylaw could be changed to allow multiple buildings per lot, with a certain maximum number of units per building. This is more esthetically pleasing and more appealing to developers. Mr. Vignaly will draft the language for the change. Mr. McKeon cautioned that any such zoning change will be difficult for the public to accept in light of the negative reactions to the Franklin Street project.
STAR TOWER: Discussion of Bond and Legal Fees
The bond for the Star Tower project has still not been submitted. Final wording was agreed to about two weeks ago, Mr. Vignaly stated. In the interim, a bill has been received from Kopelman & Paige for professional services reviewing the bond and legal issues. Mr. Vignaly stated that this invoice must be paid before the Planning Board signs off on the bond.
REPORTS FROM OTHER BOARDS
47 Prospect Street: Ms. Isgro attended the meeting in order to further discuss her issues with the 47 Prospect Street renovations. She related to the Planning Board that the Building Inspector, Mr. Brodeur, informed her that there is no need at this time for the owners of the house to apply to the ZBA for a Special Permit . Mr. Vignaly stated that it is the responsibility of the Building Inspector/Zoning Officer to make the decision whether a project requires Site Plan Review or needs to apply to the ZBA. He suggested that this may be a topic for discussion at the November 3rd joint meeting of the Planning Board, ZBA, Board of Selectmen and the Economic Development Task Force. Ms. Isgro stated that she is against an applicant holding informal meetings with Boards prior to filing applications on
any project. Mr. Vignaly stated that when the owners of the building/business at 47 Prospect Street came before the Planning Board for an informal discussion, the Board gave them input which the Board hoped would be incorporated into their plan regarding drainage, parking and lighting. The issue with this type of discussion is that it doesn’t gather any input from the public or the abutters. Ms. Isgro stated that there was never a formal vote taken on this project nor was there a formal decision issued. These informal discussions are helpful in providing direction to the proponent and saving development costs. Ms. Halpin noted that the Planning Board was told that all of the doctors are part-time and would therefore not be using all the treatment rooms at the same time, thereby limiting the required number of parking spaces.
Ms. Isgro stated that they should have gone to the ZBA to get a waiver for the parking lot, but a parking lot is not an allowed use anyway in a single-family residential area. Mr.
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 3.
October 27, 2010
Vignaly stated that the Planning Board is sympathetic to the problems, but these issues are not within the jurisdiction of the Planning Board until a project is submitted for Site Plan Review. The application “process” should be discussed on November 3rd, Mr. Vignaly
stated. Ms. Halpin stated that she agrees in the importance of having a public hearing but knows there is a reluctance to enter into the process due to its cost.
Housing Partnership: At the stakeholders meeting on housing held on September 28, 2010, Ms. Halpin asked Mr. Gaumond if there has ever been a review of the finances or pro forma of the Freedom Village and Afra Terrace projects. Mr. Gaumond in turn contacted both the DHCD and Rep O’Day’s office, whose Legislative Aide stated that the project received several allocations of funding and went through financial reviews in order to qualify for subsidies. This does not answer the question of whether SMOC filed any financial statements when taking over the management of the project, or since. Mr. McKeon will check links online from various sites to ascertain if there have been any recent financial reviews. Ms. Halpin queried who will do the financial reviews upon the completion of the project. Mr.
McKeon stated that the state is now making developers post a bond to ensure that they complete their financial filing obligations at the end of construction in order to ensure that these developers have not made more money than allowed on the project.
Economic Development Task Force: Mr. McKeon reported that the EDTF met and reviewed the 80+ slogans that had been submitted to the committee. Ten of the best will be sent to Mr. Gaumond who will then send on five of the best to The Banner, who will hold a contest to pick the best slogan. Assabet Vocational High School will make the new signs, with the winning slogan on them. Business people will be invited to a meeting on Nov. 29th to ascertain their interest in forming a Business Association. Ads will be sold in the brochures that the EDTF is in the process of designing and printing.
Community Preservation Committee: The Committee will meet on November 3rd at 7:00 p.m. to discuss certain applications. The Town Clerk, Ms. Hopewell, will be presenting the details of her request for funds to digitalize town records of vital statistics. This appears to be a big and expensive project. Mr. Vignaly stated that there has been a question of whether the CPC reviews a project on its merits or whether it just determines that the project meets all the criteria for a submission and then lets the Town Meeting vote on its merits. He believes that currently, the latter is the policy of the CPC.
Board of Selectmen: There will be a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen on November 3rd at 8:15 p.m. There is still a question of what will be on the agenda. Suggestions were to discuss the need for public hearings, the connectivity of benefits from Chapter 40B projects and standards for Variance reviews.
Ms. Lucier requested that all boards review their calendars for 2011 and submit the information to her by November 1st. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that the schedule for the Planning Board will remain the same as it has been in years past, with meetings held the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month except for July, Aug., Nov., and Dec.
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 4.
October 27, 2010
REVIEW OF MINUTES AND BILLS
No bills were presented for payment. On motion of Mr. McKeon and second of Mr. Salate, it was unanimously voted to accept as amended the Minutes of the October 13, 2010 Planning Board Meeting.
At 9:40 p.m., upon motion of Mr. McKeon and second of Mr. Salate, it was unanimously voted to adjourn.
Date Accepted:______________ By:_______________________________
Karen Paré, Clerk
Submitted By:__________________________
Susan Abramson
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