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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNINGbrd_01302013 Planning Board Minutes January 30,2013 Present: Tom French, Chair, Cheryl Collins, Acting Clerk, Michael McClanahan, Tony Jodice, Donald Cleary, Ralph Penney Alternates: Rod Oreste, Michael Feck Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Crotty Davis, Administrative Secretary 1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m Motion: To appoint Ms. Collins Acting Clerk (McClanahan-Cleary) All in favor. PASSES 4t■ ,xPaa nI go nai d ' nrksahop Transtl QrxentedaDevelopment Town Manager William Ross updated the board on where he stands on the train station area work. He said he has met with DOT and MassWorks, and has walked the train station and crossing sites with the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, who he said is excited about the work. Mr. Ross said the town needs a good plan for getting in and out of the area, which will help get the project on the Transportation Improvement Plan for the allocation of state and federal funds. Mr. Ross said DPW Director Lee Azinheira chairs the TIP committee for the area, and he agrees the town needs a solid plan for the planned improvements. Mr. Ross said he understands there have been a number of studies done in the past, but said it is important to put those ideas together in one plan and have a consultant formulate one plan on which the Planning Board, Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting can reach a consensus. He said he thinks a second access is vital, and that will involve crossing the CSX tracks; he said the state is willing to help in talks with CSX. He said he doesn't think the access study will cost the whole $200,000 the town has allocated, but he said that money will also allow the town to do some preliminary design work, which will move the project forward more quickly. He said eventually, something will have to be done about access from Route 106, but the second access will help avoid overwhelming the existing residential neighborhood. Mr. Penney said the abutting property owners and residents should be involved in the process from the beginning. Mr. Ross said he intends to invite both groups to participate. Mr. McClanahan suggested an alternate access route farther north along the track, across the existing rail yard, with an intersection and a four-way traffic light. Mr. Ross said that might be possible, and said that is why the town needs a third-party consultant to look at all the options. Mr. Penney suggested doing the traffic study in-house. Mr. Ross said he doesn't think the town has the time or the in-house expertise; he said Town Meeting has already voted funds to support the access study. Mr. Burke said the RFP includes public meetings and both an access study and preliminary design. Mr. Penney said the RFP does not include widening Chauncy Street; Mr. Burke said he thinks that would have to be done in a different study, which would cost a lot more than Town Meeting funded. Mr. Penney said the RFP does not include enough options. Mr. Burke suggested an additional option would be to include a bridge parallel to the existing train bridge to provide access from MBTA land to town-owned land, which would avoid land takings. 1 Mr. French said he thinks the Town Meeting article was to look at options on land under the town's control, which would be allow access improvements without land takings. Mr. Penney said he thinks there should be consideration given to diverting cars through North Main Street to Route 495. He said the board should be looking at the issue long-term; Mr. Ross said the first thing to consider is how to get traffic in and out of the train station area. He said land takings would take several years and be very costly. He said if the town is going to move forward with redevelopment in the area, it should look at all the options, but trying to buy private property is very difficult. Mr. French suggested a two-part study, with the first part including shorter-term projects that can be done in a few years, and the second part identifying the long-range alternatives. Mr. Ross said at this point, taking a project to MassWorks to build a road out to County Street would not likely be successful. Mr. Penney said the properties that could be potential parking lots should be identified. Mr. Ross agreed, and said a parking structure should also be considered, possibly with the town partnering with private landowners. He said he has spoken with Mr. Karl Clemmey about partnering on the Clemmey Tank site; Mr. Clemmey said he would be willing to consider that. Mr. Clemmey suggested talking with Foxboro about potential traffic routes; he said the last time this was discussed, Foxboro was opposed. Mr. Ross said there is more commercial development in Foxboro now, so the town may be more receptive. Mr. Penney asked if it would be helpful to get the boards, property owners and residents together. Mr. Cleary said that would be part of what a consultant would do with the RFP. Mr. Penney said he doesn't think Town Meeting intended the funds to be used for a parking garage, as stated in the RFP. Mr. Ross said there is $200,000 in the transportation bond bill, which should be enough to work on a preliminary design for a parking garage. Mr. Penney said he would support a two-part plan. Mr. Bill Clemmey said there may be some immediate changes the town can make to help traffic without any construction, such as curb cuts and striping. He said without CSX, the project is unlikely to happen; Mr. Burke said he is not sure that is true. Mr. Bill Clemmey said nothing has changed since the town's last study; Mr. Burke said that study did not identify optimal access or analyze traffic counts. Mr. Clemmey said that study suggested increased density, as well as combining the Hatheway-Patterson land with town-owned land. Mr. Burke said the Cecil Group study was about Transfer of Development rights, not Transit-Oriented Development. He said Transit-Oriented Development zoning would increase density significantly on publicly- and privately-owned parcels. Mr. Clemmey said one of the things discussed at Town Meeting was widening Route 106. Mr. Karl Clemmey said Route 106 is state-owned; Mr. Ross said it is controlled by the town. Mr. Ross said he thinks there would be support for the two-part study, with short-term solutions that would help the neighborhood. However, he said the access issues have to be introduced. Mr. Ross said he thinks MassDOT and the MBTA would be supportive. Mr. French said it 2 might be possible for the MBTA to fund a parking garage or a deck over the tracks. Mr. McClanahan said projects like the Route 128 parking garage are long-term. Mr. Burke said he thinks the RFP should go forward, and the board should bring the TOD zoning to Town Meeting because the two are tied together. Mr. French said he agrees the RFP should go out, but whether TOD goes to Town Meeting is a separate issue. Mr. Penney asked about increasing the density in the Industrial 3 zone. Mr. Burke said because there is so much vacant land in the area, it should be laid out as something special. He said simply increasing the density without the whole TOD plan in place will result in short-term development, which may not go along with the TOD plan. Mr. Ross said the town owns some land that may not be needed for parking, but which could be sold to help fund a parking garage. Mr. Burke said value in the land is not in horizontal parking, but in vertical parking, which would leave more land open for development. Mr. Ross said there would have to be an annual fee for the maintenance of a parking garage. Mr. Penney said he isn't sure the town should be in the position of owning a parking garage; he said he is concerned about the impact on the residents in the train station neighborhood. Mr. Ross said he doesn't necessarily think the town should own a parking garage, but said he thinks there should be a parking garage. Mr. French said when the train station was redeveloped, there was discussion about moving it to West Mansfield, which the downtown business community was opposed to. Mr. Ross said there is a synergy between train stations and downtown areas. Steve Spelewski, 40-42 Howe Street, said the main problem for the neighborhood has been the addition of more parking spaces in the train station area. He said cutting the number of spaces would solve the traffic problems, and a second means of access is vital. Mr. Burke said the RFP will help determine the optimal second means of access while attempting to insulate the neighborhood from the traffic. Mr. Penney said this problem will not be fixed overnight, but the board is starting to look at it. Mr. Burke said the board has discussed a multi-part project, including very short-term traffic improvements; short-term improvements; and long-term improvements. He asked if the short- term improvements should be in the RFP; the board said it should be. Mr. Cleary said he doesn't think the parking garage should be taken out of the RFP. Mr. Penney said Town Meeting approved funding for a traffic study, not a garage. Mr. Cleary said he wouldn't want to see an access built where a parking garage could go someday. Mr. Jodice asked why the parking garage was included in the RFP. Mr. Burke said with the TOD zoning, there is a greater incentive to develop land vertically rather than horizontally, making the remaining land more valuable. Mr. Penney asked what the budget would be for the RFP; Mr. Ross suggested including a"not to exceed" number rather than a firm amount. 3 Mr. Ross said he agrees the Town Meeting vote was not to fund a parking garage, but for the access study, and that it should be taken out. Mr. Jodice said he doesn't want to exclude the parking garage. Mr. Penney said he doesn't want to exclude it, but to make it part of the long- term project. - 1642 rw'S? . �* i rk a 1. January 23, 2013 minutes During the B1/B2 discussion, Mr. Clemmey suggested the zone line on the west side of North Main Street should be moved"west." During the Zone II charrette, Michael Healey is a member of the Conservation Commission and a hydrogeologist. Later in that discussion, Mr. Healy asked if hydraulic "connectivity" testing was done in the monitoring wells. During Around the Table, Mr. Penney suggested the board needs to reach out to the ZBA regarding the zoning amendments, especially signs. It was agreed to invite the members of the ZBA to the February 13 workshop. Motion: To approve as amended (Penney-Jodice) All in favor. PASSES 2. ZBA application for variance—23 Horace Street—Rear Yard Setback Mr. Burke explained this is a corner lot, which requires sideyard setbacks on three sides. He said the house is gable-end to the street and was built in 1890, well before zoning was adopted, so it is a pre-existing, non-conforming structure. Mr. Burke said the lots in the neighborhood are similar to this one. Mr. Jodice said the addition would not be closer to the rear yard than the existing envelope. Mr. French said this appears to square up the existing house. Mr. Burke said he doesn't have a problem with the proposal. Mr. Cleary noted there is room for an addition between the house and the garage. Motion: To send the ZBA a positive recommendation because the addition would stay within the existing envelope of the house (Jodice-McClanahan) Six in favor. One opposed. PASSES 3. Public Hearing notices—Attleboro 4. Draft letter from the Planning Board to MassHighway regarding highway signage for the National Black Doll Museum on North Main Street Motion: To send the letter of support(Jodice-Cleary) All in favor. PASSES k s e,'� �, e 6 x r; fi Pvti 1; ' i m FarmA(ANA)! 'lans'jm a. 0111 ng Board Wo r100 w B B2 and powntown Signage g g }' Mr. Burke presented a draft by-law addressing downtown signage, which came about after discussion with downtown business owners. The first part is to amend the General By-Law to add two paragraphs labeled"Exemption"to make it clear that A-Frame/sandwich board signs are allowed with building permits. Mr. Burke said he does not intend to require the building permits be renewed, which is done in some other towns. Mr. Burke explained the Hold Harmless agreement does not have to be included in the Town Meeting vote, but should be a requirement of the building permit. He said when a business places a sign on town property, the town should not have any liability. 4 Mr. Cleary suggested the permit for the sign should be non-transferrable. Mr. Burke distributed a map showing the North Main Business Overlay District, which was adopted in 2010. Mr. Jodice asked if a business outside that zone would be able to put up a sandwich board sign. Mr. Burke said sandwich board signs would not be allowed outside the downtown business district; he noted a variance would not be allowed. [Mr. Oreste arrived at this time] Mr. Jodice said this would help alleviate some of the issues the downtown business owners are concerned about, but said there may be some ramifications in the future the board has not considered. Mr. French said the North Main Street Business Overlay District map helps to define the zone. Mr. Penney said he sent the draft by-law to the Downtown Business Association. Mr. Penney said the exemption in the General By-Law amendment may be seen as taking away from the authority of the Board of Selectmen, which is included in the first paragraph. He suggested talking to the Board of Selectmen about it. Mr. Penney asked if the map would be incorporated in the Zoning By-Law; Mr. Burke said it already is because the North Main Street Business Overlay District map was adopted in 2010. Mr. Penney asked about allowing the signs to be displayed during business hours of operation. Mr. Burke said that is included in the by-law, but it should be included as a condition of the building permit. Mr. Oreste asked if the questions would be separate articles. Mr. Burke said the General By- Law questions and Zoning By-Law questions would have to be separate articles. Mr. Cleary asked if the by-law should require the sign to be adjacent to the business to avoid off- site advertising. Mr. Burke said he would add a line specifying the sign has to be within a certain distance of the business. Mr. Burke noted ADA requires the sign to be no less than three feet from the back edge of the sidewalk. Mr. Penney asked if businesses with two entrances should be allowed to have a sign at each entrance. The board discussed whether that would result in too many signs on the sidewalk. I � 5 Mr. Burke asked if the board wants to allow one sign per business or one per building, and have the businesses share space. Mr. Penney suggested relying on the building inspector's discretion. Consensus of the board would be to allow one sign per business. Mr. Burke will meet with the Downtown Business Association on February 6, get their input on the draft, and return to the Planning Board for final wording. B1/B2 Mr. Burke said the board has discussed parking in the B1/B2 zones. He suggested if two-family residential is allowed in B2, it should require two parking spaces per unit. Mr. Burke said the current business parking requirement is one space per 750 square feet of gross floor area; the proposal is to decrease it to one space per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. Mr. Jodice noted many existing downtown businesses are under 1,000 square feet. Mr. Bill Clemmey said that parking requirement could be a problem in a building with multiple businesses. Mr. Jodice said he is in favor of helping the downtown businesses, but said he understands there area arguments for and against adding parking. Mr. Bill Clemmey noted these requirements are for on-site parking and do not take into account existing on-street parking. Mr. Jodice said the on-site parking would likely be used for employees because it tends to be behind the building. Mr. Oreste asked if Dr. Mullin's study addressed the parking problems downtown. Mr. Burke said the town recently did a study which indicates there is plenty of downtown parking, but not necessarily in front of the business people want to go to. Mr. Penney said he thinks there are parking issues in certain areas on certain days; Mr. Jodice said he thinks part of that issue is the width of North Main Street in certain areas. Mr. Burke suggested the parking requirement for restaurant parking could either be doubled to one space per eight seats or eliminated with valet parking. Mr. Cleary said valet parking could cause bottlenecks on North Main Street. Mr. Burke said most restaurants with valet parking rent space from commercial lots. Mr. French said he would be in favor of one space per eight seats. Mr. Bill Clemmey asked if the one space per four seats would remain in zones other than B1 and B2; Mr. Burke said it would. Mr. Oreste said he is in favor of valet parking, but said he would be concerned there would still be double-parking on North Main Street. Mr. French said eliminating the parking requirement could eliminate employee parking; Mr. Jodice said if a restaurant has a valet parking lot, it would have a place to park the employees. Consensus was to allow one space per eight seats or eliminate off-street parking where valet parking is provided. 6 Mr. Bill Clemmey asked if the board would consider changing parking requirements for general business in the Industrial 1 zone from one space per 200 square feet to one space per 250 square feet. Mr. French noted the parking requirement is based on gross floor area, not leasable space. Mr. Burke said he thinks that change would be reasonable and said he would check the current industry parking standard. Mr. Burke said B1 currently requires parking at the rear of the building; this proposal also requires parking in the rear in the B2 zone. Mr. Jodice asked if the existing buildings could continue to use their parking in front; Mr. Burke said they could. Mr. Burke said the board had discussed making single and two-family and townhouse/rowhouse special permit uses in B2, and to prohibit cluster residential in B1 and 82. Mr. Burke said the board should consider how to best maintain the integrity of the business districts. Mr. Cleary said residential use requirements should be the same in both business zones. Mr. Jodice said he thinks prohibiting residential uses in the B2 zone will cause a problem. Mr. Feck said if the board doesn't want two-family in Bl, it should prohibit that use. Mr. Burke said multi-family would be more in keeping with the character of business zones than a single- or two-family. Mr. Karl Clemmey said the B2 areas at either end of North Main Street are very different; Mr. Penney agreed. Mr. Penney asked what it would take to combine the B2 and B1 zones at the north end of North Main Street. Mr. Jodice suggested that might be a good idea for a subsequent Town Meeting. Mr. Bill Clemmey asked why two-family residences are not allowed in R2. Mr. Burke said that came about as a result of a citizens' petition a number of years ago. Mr. Clemmey asked if that makes sense today. Mr. Burke noted the proposal changes recreational vehicle storage and cluster residential from special permit uses to prohibited uses in B1 and B2. Mr. Burke said the proposal is to allow Mixed Use by right in the B2 zone with business required on the first floor in B1 and 82. Mr. Burke noted mixed-use is currently allowed by right, but all residential would be a special permit use. Mr. Bill Clemmey asked if mixed-use could be added to the B3/B4 article after the public hearing. Mr. Burke said the Moderator would make the decision about whether that change is more or less restrictive. Mr. Clemmey mixed-use is currently not allowed; he asked if the board decides to include it as a special permit for the public hearing, then decides to delete it at Town Meeting, would that make it more or less restrictive. Mr. French said the board can take public comment at the public hearing, make changes to the by-law, and take that to Town Meeting. Mr. Burke said the test is when the public hearing is advertised, the expectation is that the article 7 brought to Town Meeting after the amendment should be recognizable to a person who read the legal advertisement. Mr. Bill Clemmey said that addresses the clarity issue, not the more or less restrictive issue. He said the warrant closes March 1, the public hearing will be after that, and he asked if the article can then be amended to include mixed-use. He suggested the board include mixed-use in its article, and remove it if it decides not to go forward with it after the public hearing. "» P1 / 1CF�binnel�t Mr. Bill Clemmey asked who to talk to about the traffic light on the Route 140 bridge coming into town from Route 495. Mr. Karl Clemmey asked if the new water department building encroaches on the neighbors. 7!.Around the Table Mr. Penney said the board has discussed sewer on Copeland Drive and asked if the town would approach the state to take that road. Mr. Burke said the town owns the underpass; Mr. Penney said the town maintains and plows some of the road. Mr. Penney said he is glad the board is coming together on the zoning issues. Mr. McClanahan asked Mr. Burke to discuss his intersection/traffic light idea at the train station with Mr. Azinheira and SRPEDD. Mr. Burke said he has met with Joe Pierik, Carpionato Real Estate Group Boston, LLC, on the 1.7 acre portion of the parcel behind Foxboro Furniture. That portion of the property is in Mansfield and contains the septic system. Mr. Pierik's firm is looking at purchasing Foxfield Plaza for redevelopment. Mr. Burke noted the parcel is zoned residential, not business. He said Mr. Pierik asked about the possibility of rezoning the parcel to B3, which is similar to what is across the street on Copeland Drive. Mr. Burke estimated about one acre of the parcel would be buildable. Mr. Jodice said he is not necessarily opposed to the idea, but said rezoning that parcel to business would be an encroachment into the existing residential neighborhood, and the board should be consistent in how it approaches rezoning. Mr. Burke said he has been concerned about "creep" like that for a long time. Mr. Cleary said this would be the type of development the board discussed with the Finance Committee; he said he would be interested in the residents' opinions. Mr. French said he met with the Board of Selectmen about the board's progress on the zoning issues. He said he expects to meet with them again before the Planning Board's final vote. 8' A 4journ nen# Motion: To adjourn at 10:00 p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next Planning Board meeting: February 6, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. Signature of Clerk ( Date of Approval / 8