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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of planning brd 08/07/02 Planning Board Minutes r August 7, :100:1 Tom French, Chair; Bernie Dolan, Clerk; Roger Achille, Ken Torman, Mark Cook, Walter Jenkins, Tom McShane Shaun P. Burke Director ofPlannin and Develo ment r r- Motion: To appoint Mr. Dolan Acting Chair and Mr. Achille Acting Clerk Torman-Cook All in favor. Passes 1. Minutes June 19,2002 Motion: To.approve the minutes as submitted (Torman-Cook) Four in favor. PASSES 2. Minutes July 10,2002 Motion: To approve the minutes as submitted (Torman-Cook) F.our in favor. PASSES 3. Fonn I Covenant - Woodland Park II Motion: To accept the covenant (Cook-Torman) All in favor. PASSES 4. Request to set Surety Amount - Stan Feck - Woodland Park II / Memo from Mike Ahem recommending the amount at $33,365. 78 Motion: To set the surety amount at $33,365.78 (Achille-Cook) All in favor. PASSES 5. Fonn J Release from Covenant - Woodland Park II Motion: To accept the Form J Release (Cook- Tonnan) All in favor. PASSES 6. ZBA Decision - 23 Plantingfield Road - Granted 7. ZBA Decision - 45 Winter Street - Granted 8. ZBA Decision - 550 Fruit Street - Granted 9. ZBADecision -68 Patty's Road - Granted 10. ZBA Decision - 6 Black Pond Road - Granted 11. ZBA Decision - 22 Atwood Street - Granted 12. ZBA Decision - 421 Williams Street - Granted 13. ZBA Decision - 449 Bird Road - Granted 14. ZBA Decision - 566 Maple Street - Granted 15. July Building Permit Summary 16. Meeting Notices: Attleboro, Easton, Foxboro, North Attleboro, Norton, Sharon 17. Planning magazine 18. The Beacon 19. Access New England newsletter Coral Street - Denmark Realty Trust. The plan has previously been endorsed by the Planning Board, but was not recorded at the Registry of Deeds within six months. The plan simply needs to be re-endorsed. In addition, the bearings have been changed at the request of Land Court. Mr. Burke recommended the plan be endorsed. Motion: To endorse the Form A (Achille-Cook) All in favor. PASSES Mr. French and Mr. Jenkins arrived at this time. r The clerk read the public hearing notice for the conversion of an approved 61 I-space accessory parking lot to a commercial parking facility at 885 South Main Street. (Assessor's Plat No. 16, Lots 7 and 8) in the Industrial 1 zone. Mr. French explained the public hearing process. Attorney Richard Novak, Day, Berry & Howard, LLP, representing the applicant, explained the new 61 I-space parking lot, which is currently under construction. Mr. Novak explained the proposal is to convert the lot into a fee parking lot; no physical changes will.be made to the site from what was approved under site plan. There will be no off-site impacts; the access will be through existing roadways. Mr. Novak said this lot should help patrons to exit the site after a show. No additional buildings will be constructed. Board Comment Mr. Achille asked about the application describing privileges for those using this parking lot; Mr. Montgomery explained patrons using this lot will have preferential exiting privileges. r Mr. French asked how the money would be collected; Mr. Montgomery explained most of the money would be collected at the time of the ticket sale; some patrons would pay a parking attendant upon arrival. Parking is currently included in ticket sales. The Tweeter Center will be required to get a commercial parking permit from the Board of Selectmen each year for this lot. Mr. McShane asked whether there would be queuing problem upon arrival; Mr. Montgomery explained there are three full travel lanes; this lot will take cars out of the lanes headed to the main parking areas. Mr. Montgomery said the existing backups are due to cars waiting to. be. parked, and he expects this lot will help that situation. He said during the parking process, cars are traveling so slowly that a patron deciding to turn into the premium parking lot will not slow down the traffic. He explained this option would be advertised and he hopes to sell the parking tickets in advance. Mr. Montgomery said this lot also provides an additional access for emergency vehicles. Mr. McShane asked how the special permit criteria are being met by this application, saying the board has to find the benefits ofthe change outweigh the detriments. Mr. Novak said he believes having the operation work more smoothly and making customers happy with an easier exit option is a benefit. Department Head Comments The clerk read comments from Mr. Lewis, Lt. Towne, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Burke. Public Comment George Dentino, Gladiola Terrace, asked if the lot willhav~a different ticket than the r rest of the patrons. Mr. Montgomery said they may sell a parking ticket in advance for access to the lot. Mr. Dentino said he did not agree the parking lot will have little or no r impact, saying it will effect the flow of traffic when cars cross lanes to access this lot. He said the other parking areas aren't really free because drivers without tickets cannot park at the Tweeter Center. Mr. Montgomery said that isn't true and that driv~s without concert tickets park there all the time. Mr. Dentino said he thought the entire parking lot should be either commercial or not. Board Comment Mr. Achille asked if a pre-existingcondition would be created which.could expand to the rest of the lot if this permit were granted. Mr. Burke explained if the special permit is granted, this plan and the number of spaces should be referenced specifically and the permit should be non-transferrable within the site. Mr. McShane said when this plan was originally submitted for site plan review, the Building Insepctor determined it required a special permit; however the ZBA decided it did not. The Planning Board agreed with the Building Inspector, and Mr. McShane was concerned Tweeter could continue to use this precedent to acquire additional property f.or parking. He asked if they could come back with newly purchased land to add to the commercial lot; Mr. Burke said they probably could because of the ZBA's decision that adding additional land to the locus becomes grandfathered. However, he said this going from a free parking lot to a commercial lot doesn't makethatconcemany w.orse; if they buy additional land and want to add to the commercial lot, they would have to come back to the board for a special permit. He added that this could have been a commercial r parking lot in the first place, regardless of the owner. Motion: To grant the special permit. The lot has already been built and changing it to a commercial lot will not be a detriment; the patrons who park there will already have tickets so it should not effect traffic, and the applicant will still be required to get a commercial parking license from the Board of Selectmen each year. In addition, the town will be receiving an additional commercial parking license fee of almost $4,000 each year. The plans dated March 21,2002 and revised March 27,2002, April 9, 2002, May 8, 2002 and June 6, 2002, showing 611 spaces should be made part of the special permit by reference, with commercial parking limited to the 611 parking spaces shown.on the plan. (Dolan-Cook) Mr. McShane said he agreed there are no physical changes to the lot but was concerned about the first in, last out parking pattern. He said he did not know what the impact of those 611 cars turning into this lot would be, but thought there would definitely be an impact. He said he thinks the board has to determine the benefits outweigh the detriments, and he does not believe the additional revenue to the town is a benefit. Mr. Dolan asked about the detriments. Mr. McShane said he thought there would be more traffic problems. Mr. Dolan said whether the lot is paid or not will not change the traffic, since the 611 spaces already exist. ( Mr. Achille asked what percentage the 611 spaces are in relation to the whole parking lot; r Mr. Montgomery said it is approximately 10 percent. He said they may charge $20 per car, with about 40 events per season. At that, Mr. McShane said he did not feel that was enough of a benefit. Mr. Jenkins said the land associated with this is assessed differently and therefore may be worth more. Torman - Opposed. I do not believe the benefits outweigh the detriments and I think there will be problems with that many cars entering a special lot. Cook - In favor. I believe the benefits outweigh the detriments. Jenkins - In favor. I think Tweeter has been a good neighbor, think the community will benefit from Tweeter's success. I think there are more benefits than detriments. McShane - Opposed. I think the place for Tweeter to demonstrate the benefit to the community is through the special permit process; the applicant has not shown any benefit that will outweigh the detriment of the additional queuing. Dolan - In favor. I think the benefits outweigh the detriments. Achille - Opposed. I don't see any benefit, don't think the impact of the parking lot has r been looked at carefully, and the town would not see significant additional revenue. Mr. French explained that because this is a special permit, the applicant needed five affirmative votes; therefore the motion fails. Three in favor. Three Opposed Fails Motion: To close public hearing (Dolan-Tonnan) All in favor. PASSES The chair re-opened the public hearing for the construction of a 12,000 square foot gymnastics academy, office, parking, utilities and drainage on an approximately 45,117 square foot parcel in the 1-2 zone. A special permit is required because the site also falls within the Surface and Groundwater Resource Protection District. Mr. Trowbridge explained there had been a question about the 75-foot setback from the residential use; the building has been shifted and its size has been reduced, resulting in a 76-foot setback. There had also been a concern about some flooding; a swale has been added and a contour changed to prevent that. A note has been added to the plan regarding the roof drains connecting to the drainage system. r r- The clerk read a letter from Mr. Trowbridge to the board describing the above changes. Mr. Dolan read a letter from Mr. Cook to Mr. Trowbridge regarding parking requirements for a gymnasium or gym; Mr. Cook said without bleachers, one space for each staff person and one space for each four students will be required. The building will also have to be inspected annually, and should bleachers be installed, additional parking will be required. Mr. Trowbridge said one of the issues raised at the last meeting was the academy's annual recital; Mr. Arnold will try to use parking at National Lumber or will rent a high school for these events. The clerk read memos from Mr. Lewis and Mr. D' Ambra. Public Comment Attorney Mark Antine, Roster and Antine, representing abutter Louis Certuse, said Mr. Certuse is satisfied with the plan as revised, the swale satisfies his concerns about drainage, and appreciates the building being moved and made smaller. Mr. Antine said he understands from Mr. Cook's letter that with only 14 parking spaces, the activities that can take place there will be limited. Mr. Trowbridge explained 14 spaces are required, but 29 have been provided. David Ashworth, Rumford Avenue, asked about the number of staff. Mr. Trowbridge said the maximum staff would be five, with 35 students. Board Comment r Mr. Jenkins said the reason this is in front of the board is because it is in the Water Resource Protection District and asked if everyone was satisfied with the calculations. The staff comments and the abutter seem to be satisfied with drainage issues. Motion: To grant the special permit. The application and plans meet the submission and technical requirements of the by-law. The benefits outweigh the detriments, particularly with the expansion of the business. (Achille-Dolan) Torman - In favor. The benefits outweigh the detriments, and a service to the community will be offered. Cook - In favor. I do not believe the use will harm the groundwater Jenkins - In favor. This is a good use for this environmentally sensitive site McShane - Abstain. Dolan -In favor. This is a good site for this use. Achille - In favor. The application and plans meet the submission and technical requirements of the by-law. The benefits outweigh the detriments, particularly with the r expansion of the business. ( French - In favor. Think meets criteria for special pennit in this district Six in favor. One abstention. PASSES Motion: To close the public hearing (Dolan-Cook) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Dolan asked about the board's work list~ Mr. Burke explained a public hearing for amendments to the Subdivision Rules and Regulations have been scheduled for September 18, so those items can be discussed that night. r Dr. Torman asked about the status of the sidewalk fund; Mr. Burke explained this year's road bond money has been spent. Mr. Cook said the Town Manager plans to put through a $5 million road bond in 2003, a portion of which will be for sidewalks. Dr. Torman said he is concerned about the state of many of the town's sidewalks. Mr. Cook said the next sidewalk to be installed will likely be on Dean Street. Mr. Burke explained that in the past when a developer requested a sidewalk waiver, a donation to the sidewalk fund was discussed. He suggested the board could send a letter to the Board of Selectmen expressing concern about the state of the sidewalks and asking them to include more money in the capital fund or to consider another borrowing or road bond. Dr. Torman suggested going back to asking developers requesting sidewalk waivers donate to the sidewalk fund. Mr. Dolan agreed, saying in the past, most developers have agreed to that. Mr. McShane said that changed because the board began to discuss whether it should be granting the waivers at all or simply change the by-law, and settled on an unwritten policy not to grant sidewalk waivers because of several difficulties in large subdivisions. He also said the board does not know how much is in the sidewalk fund. Mr. Dolan said that money has to used specifically for sidewalks, so there must be some money in there. Mr. Cook said donations from developers will never come close to paying to repair existing sidewalks; there would have to be Selectmen and Town Meeting support for funding. Mr. McShane said the board's concerns could be raised to the Selectmen from a public safety, pedestrian access and aesthetic point of view, acknowledging budget pressures, but suggesting some creativity like an "adopt a sidewalk" program or finding a way to fold sidewalks into ongoing projects. Mr. Burke said he would draft a letter to the Selectmen. Karl Clemmey asked about his letter requesting a modification to the Erin's Centre special permit, which includes the relocation of a swale. Mr. Sullivan received the request but has not submitted his comments. Mr. McShane asked about the status of the Erin's Centre project. Mr. Clemmey said he was planning to bring an application for another project before the Planning Board soon. Mr. Dolan asked if Mr. Clemmey if the project is going forward. Mr. Clemmey said it is. Mr. Dolan asked if Mr. Clemmey had any idea about a ground-breaking for the project; r Mr. Clemmey said the project is right on schedule. Mr. Dolan asked if the other project (" would hold up the Erin's Centre project; Mr. Clemmey said it would not. Mr. McShane asked about the change to the state 40B statute. Mr. Burke explained that change would likely not effect Mansfield. He asked the members to let him know about any comments they may have on the draft local by-law. The Zoning Board of Appeals has not provided comments on that draft at this time. Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.m. (Torman-Jenkins) All in favor. PASSES ~ DatXi!6Z- Si r r' I