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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of planning brd 06/02/04 ~ I Planning Board Minutes June 2, 2004 Present: Tom French, Chair; Fred Armstrong, Clerk; Doug Annino, Ken Torman, John DeMassi Shaun P. Burke, Director of PI Motion: To appoint Mr. Annino acting chair (Torman-DeMassi) All in favor. PASSES ~ 1. Invitation to the Cecil Group downtown presentation in Franklin June 10 - Mr. Annino said he would like to attend [Mr. French arrived at this time] 2. Minutes May 26, 2004 Motion: To approve as submitted (Torman-DeMassi) All in favor. PASSES 3. Draft special permit - Village Landing - 55 and Over Development off East Street The board discussed changes to the draft, including: condition #6 - sentence doesn't make sense; condition #5 should include ''review and approval by PB;" condition #13 should include the use of "environmentally friendly de-icing materials;" condition #8 should include ''review and approval" by the Town Engineer. Mr. DeMassi asked how the information in this permit will be disseminated to the homeowner's association; Mr. Burke explained the permit is recorded, and the plans and permit will be referenced in the new deeds. The permit also goes to the town clerk and the building inspector, who is responsible for enforcing the conditions of the special permit. Motion: To sign the special permit (French- Torman) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Burke said at the last meeting, the group had discussed a committee to establish design guidelines with the aim of establishing an identity for downtown. He said he would like to establish the committee, a timeline and goals, with an aim of completing the work by the end of the summer in order to be ready for a fall Town Meeting. Hal Horvat, Mansfield Bank, said the bank was considering putting together a low- interest loan program to assist the business owners in these changes. Mr. Horvat distributed a plan outline for loans up to $150,000. Mr. Burke said the group had discussed this sort of program several meetings ago, but there had been some question about where the funding would come from. The town manager had talked about asking town meeting to fund the program, as well as possible grant programs through the state. He said he was very enthusiastic about a local funding option through the Mansfield Bank. Mr. Annino said it would be very important to get the word out to the business owners about this program. Mr. Horvat said they plan to publicize the program. ~ r Mr. Barrows said there are a lot of absentee owners of downtown businesses, so it may be somewhat difficult to get them to buy into an investment program like this. Mr. Annino said it might be graduaL as some owners improve their buildings. Dr. Torman asked ifleasees would be eligible for the program; Mr. Horvat said they would be. Dr. Torman asked how Mansfield Bank ''prime'' relates to the national prime. Mr. Horvat said it is generally the same. Mr. DeMassi asked about community support for qualifying builders in town to implement the standards. Mr. Burke said the town has gotten a grant for housing rehabilitation, which had to have a list of qualified contractors with proven track records who could bid on the jobs. Mr. Barrows said requiring owners to use certain builders may be a problem. Mr. DeMassi said he intended that as a way to help the owners chose, not as a requirement to use certain contractors. Mr. Annino said a list like that could be more of a liability than a benefit. However, he said there should be a process established and assistance offered to the owners. Mr. Barrows suggested options such as reducing or eliminating building permit fees in order to encourage redevelopment; Mr. Annino agreed. Mr. Barrows said this work could qualify as a TIF program. He said he wanted to give owners as much incentive as possible. Mr. Burke said there were some zoning changes at the 2004 Annual Town Meeting that will impact downtown redevelopment. He said establishing a downtown identity will be more important than ever, especially with the submission of a special ,~ permit application for 500,000 square feet of retail on School Street. Mr. Barrows said traffic and parking are major issues and asked ifSRPEDD or Mass Highway could be brought into the discussions. He said he wanted traffic to be calmed so downtown can be a destination rather than simply a route to the train station, and signalization can have a major impact on bringing people downtown. He said downtown still has a number of "No Turn on Red" signs, which impede the flow of traffic, and he had spoken to the Police Chief about removing them, which has not happened. He said he was especially concerned about the difficulty of getting downtown from the Route 106/North Main Street intersection. He suggested the School Street retail proposal would have traffic impacts on the downtown area, which should be studied. Mr. Burke said the town manager is meeting with MassHighway to discuss some of those issues. He said he agreed that traffic is a problem on North Main Street and there are ways to work traffic calming measures into a streetscape design. Mr. Barrows said North Main Street was redesigned in the 1980s with traffic calming techniques, which did not last because of driver complaints. Mr. Burke said the design standards should focus on things like building facades, lighting, awnings, building materials, etc. He said these things would be voluntary on the part ofthe owners; he hoped the standards would be a cooperative agreement between the board, owners, business people and residents. He said this wouldn't be like a historic district, where the board would be able to dictate the colors of new buildings. Beth ~ Dahlstrom said design standards aren't requirements, but hopefully are a way to convince (' owners to buy into the standards. Mr. Annino said if the majority ofthe owners don't buy into the program, the town will eventually lose its downtown. Mr. Burke said the zoning amendments passed at Town Meeting are important for the future use and design of buildings that will either be razed or reused. The group discussed what makes a downtown a destination and an enjoyable place to be. Ms. Larose used Wellesley as having a downtown that has many unique shops and restaurants, and which is a walkable, pedestrian friendly downtown. Mr. Horvat said he recently visited Nashua, New Hampshire, which has wide sidewalks, making walking easier, as well as shops and restaurants with outside seating. Mr. Barrows said improvements and reinvestment in the buildings would attract more tenants, and therefore more shoppers, to downtown. He said there may be other types of businesses that would be attracted to downtown with some improvements. He said he was concerned about restaurants not coming to Mansfield because of all the liquor licenses being granted to the chain restaurants going into the large retail centers. He said he would like to get the businesses downtown to stay open later on the same nights, so people would become accustomed to coming downtown in the evenings. Mrs. O'Malley said many of the new residents don't even know about the downtown. Mr. Ed Carl suggested Fales Oil could be made a parking lot; Mr. Burke said Town Meeting gave the Selectmen permission to sell that lot. Mr. Carl also suggested the lot next to the North Main Street fire station. He said the businesses have to be able to attract patrons, regardless ofthe design improvements. Mr. Annino said the problem with downtown isn't entirely one of ,,- parking; the downtown businesses have to be better marketed. Mrs. Torman said she would like to have better signage so patrons can find the downtown businesses, especially off the highway exits. Mr. Barrows said the Downtown Business Association is planning to replace the signs around town directing people downtown. Mr. Barrows said when he has tried to organize the businesses to participate in events, he has been unsuccessful. Mr. Annino said events like that may not benefit from that particular event, but those who attend will see what is downtown and may come back another day. He said things, like the clock planned for the Middle Common, should be at an entrance to town to attract people there. H~ said the train station is another tool that could be used to attract people to downtown. Ms. Dahlstrom said the design standards would help attract people to downtown because they will help develop the image Mansfield wants for its downtown. Mr. Burke said the downtown businesses don't have a business plan, which the Chamber of Commerce may be able to help with. He suggested forming the committee and setting a meeting date. Mr. Barrows suggested inviting the building owners and their tenants to one of these meetings to find out their opinions. Mr. Armstrong said if the owners haven't shown up for any of the first meetings, they may not be that interested. Mr. Barrows said that has been a problem with notification. ~ The group discussed meeting dates, locations and times, as well as who would serve on -----. the committee. Mr. Barrows volunteered the conference room at the new Chamber of Commerce offices on West Street. Ms. Dahlstrom suggested meeting at different downtown locations. The group will meet on Thursday, June 10 at 7 pm. at his office. r f~~:_..'I.i .1 Mr. Annino said he has looked at the School Street plan, which lacks detail. He asked if the town should get a traffic consultant, to be paid for by the developer. Mr. Burke said he wasn't sure the Zoning By-Law would allow that, but he would look into it. Mr. Burke said he had asked Mr. Masiello for elevations, which were not submitted with the plans. Mr. Annino asked Mr. Burke to call Mr. Masiello to inform him the board wants much more information before the public hearing begins. Mr. Annino said he doesn't see any benefIts to the town with the proposal. Mr. Burke said it wouldn't be unreasonable to create a link between a large-scale retail proposal and how it would affect downtown businesses. Mr. DeMassi said he didn't want to begin the public hearing process with no information from the developer and have the board tell them what to do. Mr. Burke said he would like to have staff review the plans and meet with the developer prior to the beginning of the public hearing to resolve some of the technical issues. Mr. Burke said the letters that were sent from the Town to MEP A regarding the DEIR encouraged direct access from Route 140 into this site. Mr. DeMassi asked if there would be enough room between School Street and the ramp to Route 495 for an entrance into this site. Mr. Burke said it could probably be done, but all depends on Mass Highway. He said he was very concerned about the issue of signage. fi.............;r..~..........'.........//).:i .. _'0'_.. ',,'>." .",...... ',....."..,..,....:.'.,.. ...,'..."....."....,..:,.., Motion: To adjourn at 9:45 p.m. (Torman-DeMassi) All in favor. PASSES Next meeting: June 16, 004 at 7:30 p.m. Is> J?:JJotf Date of Approval r-