MINUTES OF THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING
MAY 25, 2011
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Vincent Vignaly, Patricia Halpin, Patrick McKeon, Karen Paré, Lawrence Salate
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Linda Isgro, Dennis Minnich, Robert Tashjian, Marc Frieden, Christopher Rucho
All documents referenced in these Minutes are stored and available for public inspection in the Planning Board office, 127 Hartwell Street
ANR: Minnich: Prospect Street
Ref. Document: Plan of Land in West Boylston and Holden, MA Prepared for Dennis Minnich, May 24, 2011
An ANR Plan for land located on Prospect and Lee Streets was presented by Chief Minnich. Mr. Vignaly and Mr. Salate asked to be recused and left the room. The land consists of six lots. On the ANR, one of the proposed lots contains the 378 Prospect Street house and another building lot is shown situated next to this one. The two other lots are existing lots on Lee Street. The remaining parcels shown will be held under an Agricultural Protection Restriction (“APR”) with Mass Department of Agricultural Resources and a Conservation Restriction (“CR”) with DCR Water Supply. The land under the APR must be farmed, Chief Minnich stated. The CR land is of interest to Mass. Water Resources Association because of Malden Brook. The Plan thus now contains four lots and two
parcels. The plan contains adequate frontage and access for the lots.
Form(s) A were submitted and signed by the applicant and the owner of record, currently the trustee, under Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. Chief Minnich holds a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the land, which he hopes to have finalized by June 30th. Ms. Paré checked with Town Counsel before the meeting to determine the approval process when land is in bankruptcy and was told that the trustee is the owner of record and the approval can be
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 2.
May 25, 2011
made conditional upon a final transfer to Chief Minnich. The filing fee was submitted, along with the mylar and six copies of the plan.
Dr. Tashjian asked to address the Board. He stated that in 2005, he made long term plans for the farm, which was then under his ownership. He wished for the land to be used “for the Town of West Boylston”. He disputes that the land should be taken and has filed
his objections, first with the civil and then later with the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney General. He stated that the APR has flaws and that there has been an investigation which
has been referred to the Public Integrity section. The MWRA and the DCR have yet to approve the transactions relative to the CR, he stated. He further stated that he has 10 acres which he plans to sell to pay off the debt on the Chapter 11 lands and reclaim ownership.
Ms. Isgro stated that procedurally, she cannot comment on the proposed transaction. Ms. Paré stated that, when the Planning Board is presented with an ANR, the Board is charged with verifying that the Plan meets state standards for frontage and access and must sign the plan if it meets these standards. Chief Minnich stated that the Conservation and Agricultural Restrictions go into effect the day of the closing. Mr. McKeon reiterated that, in spite of Dr. Tashjian’s objections, the Planning Board is obligated to sign the Plan since it meets the requirements of an ANR submittal. Upon motion of Ms. Paré and second of Mr. McKeon, it was voted, three ayes, to sign the ANR Plan under the terms of Chapter 41, 81-P, subject to the completion of a Purchase and Sales Agreement on the property resulting in
ownership by the applicant. The Plan was duly signed by the three members present.
HILLSIDE VILLAGE: SIGN RELEASE: TRIPARTY AGREEMENT
During a discussion at the May 11th meeting of the Planning Board, a Release and Termination between Keystone Development Corporation, the Town and Commerce Bank and a Release between Keystone and the Hillside Village Condominium Association were reviewed and it was agreed that the documents were in order and could be signed by the Planning Board. The Board subsequently received the original documents, already signed by the other parties thereto. Members of the Planning Board added their signatures, and the originals documents were taken by Mr. McKeon, who offered to deliver them to Commerce Bank.
HANIOTI/DAIRY QUEEN: ISSUE CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
Ms. Paré prepared a draft Certificate of Completion for the Site Plan Review of 328 West Boylston Street – Dairy Queen. A certified, stamped letter from the engineer, Matthew Brassard, was received for the files. After review by the Board, it was agreed that Mr. Vignaly should sign the document. The safety issue of queuing was again discussed with the hope that the dangerous situation would be eased if the owner purchases the adjacent lot.
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 3.
May 25, 2011
TOWN MEETING FOLLOW-UP
Mr. Vignaly commented that all three proposed bylaws passed, so the work of the Board was successful. We now need to deal with the Rules and Regulations for the Incentive Bylaw, he stated. Ms. Halpin commented that she would have been disappointed if the Incentive Bylaw amendments had not passed because of the countless hours spent by the Planning Board working on the document and the need to have it in place before any developers file an application under Incentive Zoning.
RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE INCENTIVE ZONING BYLAW
Nothing further has been completed on this proposed document.
1.5% SHI LAND AREA DATA TRANSFER TO CMRPC
The Housing Production Plan (“HPP”) will be reviewed by the Planning Board and needs to be accepted by the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Vignaly stated. Comments will be submitted to the Planning Board and after consideration, the document will go to the Board of Selectmen. If they make changes, the Planning Board must again review and accept the document. In reference to the HPP, Mr. Vignaly asked whether CMRPC included most of the changes requested by the Planning Board. Mr. Vignaly noted that to start, the incorporation date is wrong on the cover of the document and it should be the 2011 HPP not the 2010 HPP. Ms. Halpin stated that it would be a mistake not to use the 2010 census data. Ms. Paré stated that it will be necessary for the Planning Board to do the re-writing
of this document. The writer copied large portions of the Open Space Plan and the Master Plan, Mr. Vignaly stated. We need to make a point that the jail skews our population numbers. Ms. Paré queried whether the income of the jail population is included. She stated that the Board needs to contact the people who have the 2010 census figures and verify whether the population figure includes the jail population.
In the Executive Summary, Mr. Vignaly noted that it is stated that the town has no control over the jail, even though they are considered residents. When computing the average income, it should say that the jail is not counted. Ms. Paré noted that the DHCD does not require levels of SHI. Ms. Halpin stated that the HPP is the town’s document and it should be concise and workable so that it can be utilized by the town. Mr. Vignaly agreed and noted that the Executive Summary talks about Affordable Housing as Subsidized Housing. Ms. Paré stated that she would prefer at this time to put the effort into obtaining the 1.5% land area data. Ms. Halpin agreed to start to revise the HPP and Mr. Vignaly agreed to contact Mr. Gaumond and inform him that the Board would like to postpone the
June 30th completion date. Ms. Paré stated that she will check with the Town Clerk about obtaining the census data and also email the DCR to get information on the floodplain. In response to a question from Mr. Rucho, Ms. Paré stated that we are not near the 10% level of affordable housing required under Chapter 40B, but the Planning Board hopes to find relief
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 4.
May 25, 2011
under the 1.5% land area exemption, which members of the Board are now researching. She informed him that all DCR, CR, APR, state, town land and utilities can be counted
towards the 1.5% land area figure. Mr. Vignaly added that CMRPC says that it looks like the town may qualify. He is in the process of getting more figures to CMRPC. Ms. Isgro stated that, if the town qualifies under the 1.5% land area exemption, that information should be shared at the outset with developers when they are planning a Chapter 40B application. Mr. Vignaly suggested that the information Ms. Paré has gathered on all DCR land and CR land in town should be transmitted to CMRPC. He queried whether Chapter 61 land can be counted. Ms. Paré agreed to ask the Assessor about Chapter 61 land. Mr. Vignaly stated that Chapter 61 land is verified every year. This data should be sent to CMRPC with the question of whether it qualifies. Land which slopes 25% should also be
counted, as well as the wetlands.
REPORTS FROM OTHER BOARDS
Open Meeting Law: Ms. Paré noted that additional changes have been made to the Open Meeting Law. There will be a training on June 1st at the Worcester Public Library. A memo has also been received from Kopelman & Paige on the updates.
Economic Development Task Force: Mr. Vignaly noted that a blog from Mr. Gaumond discussed “West Boylston Business Tours”, which will be conducted in coordination with the “Economic Development Marketing Plan of 2010”. Mr. Vignaly stated that he was unaware of any marketing plan. Mr. Rucho stated that it is basically what is found in the brochure recently prepared by the Economic Development Task Force. Mr. McKeon stated that he is not aware of any formal marketing plan. Mr. Vignaly stated that he will email Mr. Gaumond to follow-up on his questions.
Housing Partnership: Ms. Halpin stated that she attended a very successful tri-town meeting to discuss housing. A “Plan” was created stating that the towns would work together with a goal of hiring a “housing specialist” to assist part-time with the countless questions towns have on affordable housing quotas and qualifications. This specialist could talk with developers and assist the ZBA. She noted that the towns are different. West Boylston has sewers, so we are more vulnerable to Chapter 40B developers but we do have a CPA. This group intends to meet twice more before June 30th to write a job description and to discuss policy. Mr. McKeon stated that developers should pay for the services of this specialist and Mr. Vignaly stated that she/he
would be a consultant to the town. When the Housing Partnership meets again, they should work on verifying the SHI, Mr. Vignaly stated.
CMRPC: Mr. McKeon stated his intention to attend the annual meeting of CMRPC at the Manor on June 9th.
OTHER TOPICS NOT REASONABLY ANTICIPATED BY THE CHAIR 48 HOURS BEFORE THE MEETING
Minutes of the Planning Board Meeting 5.
May 25, 2011
Ms. Lucier sent a request to various town boards inquiring whether they have any objections to the issuing of a Wine and Malt Beverage liquor license and common victualer
license to “Oli’s Italian Eatery LLC” on 339 West Boylston Street. The Board raised no objections.
PAYMENT OF INVOICES/REVIEW OF MINUTES OF MAY 11, 2011
An invoice was approved for payment to VHB for engineering services. Upon motion of Ms. Paré and second of Mr. Salate, it was unanimously voted to approve as amended the Minutes of the May 11, 2011 Planning Board Meeting.
Mr. Vignaly noted that this is the last meeting for Ms. Halpin as a member of the Planning Board. He thanked her for her dedicated service and stated that her hard work and wise input would be missed. Ms. Halpin stated her intention to continue to work on the editing of the HPP and with her work on the Housing Partnership.
At 9:15 p.m., upon motion of Ms. Halpin and second of Mr. McKeon, it was unanimously voted to adjourn.
Date Accepted:______________ By:_____________________________
Karen Paré, Clerk
Submitted By:________________________
Susan Abramson
| 
