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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of planning brd 04/13/05 t~ ~','~'_ C' E~ \ "v. ,. I;fF ICE r Planning Board Minutes Apn'113 2005 H~ v -" U~ q. 2 c , i j.!--~ R ~j qij ..,. 0 Present: Tom French, Chairman; Fred Armstrong, Clerk; Walter Jenkins, Ken Torman, John DeMassi, Douglas Annino, Frank Holmes i i:LD CHUSETTS I \1. Meeting .caBed to order at 7:00 p.m. Motion: To appoint Mr. Jenkins Acting Chair (Torman-Armstrong) All in favor. PASSES I 2. COrre8poudeDceJAround the Table 1. Minutes March 23, 2005 Motion: To approve as submitted (Torman-Armstrong) All in favor. PASSES [Mr. Annino arrived at this time] 2. April 5, 2005 letter from SRPEDD re: reappointment ofboard's representative MotioD: To reappoint Mr. Flynn (Torman-Holmes) All in favor. PASSES [Mr. DeMassi arrived at this time.] Mr. Jenkins said the TIF committee will be reviewing a new proposal from Medline. Mr. DeMassi suggested Planning Board meetings go back to starting at 7:30 p.m. r Mr. Jenkins said he has spoken with Mr. Riccio, who will be attending the May 4 meeting to discuss the site plan review article. [Mr. French arrived at this time] 3. Special Penait Plil>>kJjta.... tOlitiaued - KMaIlIftekIC.....g" Retail Develomeat.-SettootStrietJRoute ""'lRoute 495 - WS ~ IUDt Lou Masiello, WS Development, explained the topics he would like to discuss: the sensitivity analysis, three site plan revisions (140 drive, restaurant reconfiguration, bank reconfiguration) and a list of possible conditions/community benefits package. Ron Mueller, Greenman-Pedersen, explained the sensitivity analysis, which looked at 10%, 15% and 20% of the traffic going to the site coming from the west. He said the analyses have been run at the primary and secondary driveways, and found that both will operate at service level B. He said the queue at the main driveway will not back up to the secondary driveway. Mr. Holmes asked the distance between the two driveways; Mr. Muller said it is about 500 feet, and the maximum queue under the worst possible scenario is about 300 feet. Mr. Muller said there had been an issue about the reconstructed island at SchooVSpring --., Street. He said Veteran's Services owns the memorial in that island, and he has spoken with Veteran's Agent John Hogan, who seems happy with the proposal, but has requested the sign be replaced with a new one, which Mr. Muller said they will be happy to do. .--' Public Comment Jim Polumbo, 155 School Street, said there are traffic counters on School Street and Route 140 and asked if they were for this project. Mr. Muller said those are not his. Mr. Masiello said that type of counter is usually used by the state. Dr. Torman asked how the traffic going from School Street onto Spring/Willow and asked how that would be addressed. Mr. Muller showed the board his plan to tighten the radius and enlarge the island. He said he has spoken with Mr. Sullivan and will sharpen the angle along the turn even further to force traffic coming off School Street to slow down. Mr. Annino asked who the traffic engineer was for the Weiner project in Smithfield; Mr. Masiello said that was Commonwealth Engineering. Keith Bloomer, Pare Engineering, said he had received the sensitivity analysis from Greenman-Pedersen and reviewed the trip generation, which has been recalculated since the hotel was removed from the plan. He said he found no fault with the methodology or calculations used in that study. He said the redesign for School/Willow/Spring is a standard design methodology. r David White, ESS Group, said the board had requested a number of issues be addressed, including: 1) label the buildings in sequential order, which Mr. White said has been done. 2) evaluate the queuing distance to the bank's drive up windowlteller area. Mr. White said that queuing area has been increased so it is further back from the main drive. 3) redesign the loading area ofthe restaurant. Mr. White said that has been done, but would result in the loss of 18 parking spaces. He said they would like to stick with the original design. 4) show where the Route 140 access would go. Mr. White said that has been done and would only result in the loss of three spaces. Dr. Torman asked if there is a break in the pavement to allow trucks to make a left turn to get to the back of the restaurant closest to the Route 140 access; Mr. White said there is. Mr. DeMassi said the first view drivers coming from the Route 140 access would have would be the side ofa building; Mr. Masiello said the side of that building would be treated like a building front. He said there would be an island next to the side wall. Mr. DeMassi asked how wide the sidewalk will be next to the building. Mr. Masiello explained it is 16 feet wide, and the comer of the building has been truncated so drivers will be able to see around the comer. He said the first 10 feet of the sidewalk is landscaped. ~. Mr. Annino asked what percentage of traffic would use the Route 140 access. Mr. Muller explained he has been in contact with Mass Highway, which has asked for a comprehensive report to describe two access alternatives; School Street and Route 140. r He said they are looking at redistribution with the Route 140 access and said 55% of traffic would come from Route 495, so about 75% ofthat traffic would use the Route 140 driveway. Mr. DeMassi said with that amount of traffic, the Route 140 access should be made more attractive. He said if that is to be the major entrance, it should be look like it and should work properly. Mr. Muller said the geometry would have to be approved by MassHighway, and agreed it would have to be treated as a major entrance. He said the radii would be fairly large, and they would landscape the area around the entrance. Mr. DeMassi asked about the topography ofthe Route 140 access area. Mr. Muller said the site is relatively flat and he didn't think there would have to be a ''ramp'' to the driveway from Route 140. Mr. Muller said the existing road is at elevation 145, and several hundred feet further into the site is elevation 150. .---- Mr. Holmes asked what the view would be from that access, since many of the service areas ofthose buildings will be facing that drive. Mr. Masiello said they will leave 50 feet of vegetated land on their property and will add new landscaping on the island. He said there will be a 50-foot strip with no landscaping where the power lines go through the site, but didn't feel drivers would feel they were driving into a loading area. Mr. Holmes asked if the Route 140 access could have a median to make it more like a boulevard; Mr. Masiello said it could be done for part ofthe driveway, but not for the entire length. Mr. Masiello said the town has met with Mass Highway, which has indicated its willingness to look at the Route 140 access. He said he has been trying to work on Route 140 access with MassHighway for over a year, but said even after the town's positive meeting, there are no guarantees and he still has to design School Street as the main entrance. Mr. Muller said he wouldn't want to make that entrance too wide, which would increase speed. Mr. Masiello said the Route 140 access would act as more ofa slip ramp and there shouldn't be much queuing. Mr. Annino asked if MassHighway would be willing to give up that much land on Route 140 for this development; Mr. Masiello said they wouldn't be buying any MassIDghway land. He said Mass Highway has said they will consider the right in-right-out option as proposed. Mr. Muller said they tried to shift the ramp as far north as possible to get it away from the Route 495 on-ramp, which was what MassHighway requested. Mr. Annino said he was also concerned about the views from the Route 140 entrance and said the buildings would have to be redesigned and not just screened with landscaping. Mr. Masiello said he met with the Zoning Board of Appeals last week and they have continued the hearing until May 3. ~ A resident asked about sidewalks being installed, which he said would help cut down on traffic, and said he said he would like to see the sidewalks linked to downtown. Mr. r French said there are sidewalks on one side of School Street, there will be sidewalks coming from this site to School Street, and the developer will add to the existing sidewalks on School Street. O:\\;evM q ~..{ Ted Cohen: Mansfield Citizens to Save the Land, asked about the changes discussed at the last Conservation Commission meeting to bring work out ofthe 25-foot zone. Mr. Masiello said they are already designing their project to keep work outside the 25- foot zone, and there have been no changes on that topic. Mr. Masiello said he has drafted some possible conditions along with the community benefits package. He said during the community benefits discussion, he outlined some things they would do above and beyond the natural benefits of the project, such as tax revenue. He said these items include a sewer infrastructure program and downtown items. Mr. Masiello said they will contribute $20,000 to downtown and money for signage along Route 140 for downtown businesses. He said their proposal is not intended to control how the downtown business community spends the money; he said that would be up to the business association. Mr. Annino asked ifthe board has the most up-to-date site plans. Mr. Masiello said the March 9, 2005 plans do not include the bank revision, but that change will be made. He said they would like to keep the current configuration for the restaurant. .'--- Mr. DeMassi said the board had asked to look at the restaurant because of the parking and dumpster configuration. Mr. Masiello said the front of the building would access the majority of the parking area, with three sides ofthe building with windows and awnings, and the dumpster enclosure on the fourth side. Mr. Annino said it makes more sense to have the front of the restaurant face the majority of the parking. Mr. Masiello said they have laid the restaurant out without a tenant; he said his experience has been that restaurants usually put their entrances on a comer rather than a side of a building. Mr. Annino said the entrance would make the most sense on the right hand comer, where it would face the most activity. Mr. Masiello said he would be concerned that location may encourage more people to cross traffic. Mr. DeMassi said his intention was to get the dumpster away from the front of the building and avoid parking behind the dumpster, but said it would make more sense to have the building face the rest ofthe mall. Mr. Masiello said the original plan had the restaurant quite a way back from the 25-foot no- touch zone, but the reconfiguration would move the building closer to that area. He said when the building is pushed deeper into the site, the parking field is broken up and works less efficiently. Mr. Annino suggested that area be looked at again. Mr. Jenkins suggested moving the building down and back, which would retain the efficient parking configuration and would allow the dumpster to be hidden behind the building. ~ The clerk read a the following new correspondence. l.March 7, 2005 letter from Stanley Gee, Division Administratore, US Department of Tansportation to the Honorable Barney Frank re: Route 140 Access; 2.March 10, 2005 request from Mr. Masiello to continue the public hearing to April 13, 2005 ,- 3.March 17, 2005 addendum to contract with Pare Engineering for traffic peer study peer reVIew 4.April5, 2005 letter from Mr. Lizotte and Dave Oberg, Jr., E.I.T. to Planning Board re: Alternate Site Layout Evaluations 5.April6, 2005 voucher to Pare Engineering for traffic study peer review November- December 2004 6.April6, 2005 Trip Distribution Sensitivity Analysis by Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. 7.March 25,2005 letter from Ann McMenemy, Consulting Wetland Scientist to Mr. Lizotte re: compliance questions 8.March 28, 2005 letter from Mr. Lizotte to Conservation Commission re: Town Engineer's comments 9.April6, 2005 memo from Mr. Sullivan to Michele F. Grenier, Environmental & Conservation Planner 10. April 7, 2005 memo from Mr. Sullivan to Mr. Burke 11. April 7, 2005 letter from Mr. D' Agostino to Mr. Masiello re: Route 140 Access 12. April 13, 2005 letter from Keith Bloomer, Pare Engineering re: peer review of Sensitivity Analysis Mr. Holmes asked if the Conservation Commission has given an opinion on the applicant's wetland scientist's report. Mr. Masiello said the commission has hired an outside review. (' Jim Polumbo, 155 School Street, asked if there has been a redistribution of parking by building or tenant since the latest redesign. Mr. Masiello said they presented a plan for that at the last meeting. Mr. Masiello said they had originally requested relief from the 50-foot buffer zone, but are now it to clear vegetation within the Mass Electric easement. The area is about 12,000 square feet in the area under the 50-foot wide easement, where it crosses vegetated areas that are within the 50-foot buffer zone. Attorney Cohen asked about the location ofthe farmhouse; Mr. French said it would likely be in the area where the hotel had been proposed. He said there had been some discussion about moving it closer to the street, but the applicant and the Chamber seem happy with the proposed location. Mr. Masiello said the draft conditions document he submitted is very lengthy and said he would be happy to talk with Mr. Burke about the issues. Attorney Cohen asked ifthe draft would be available to the public; Mr. French said it would be available at the Planning Department. (\ Mr. Holmes said is concerned about parking in the the reconfigured retail area at the front ofthe site, which has two restaurants. He said restaurants tend to need more parking than retail uses, and it appears most of the parking in that area would be taken up by the restaurants. Mr. Masiello explained they have parked most ofthe site at the 4.5 ratio they have in their variance application. He said in this area, there are fewer restaurants than in ,-.-. the rest of the site, so they have parked that area at less than 4.5; he said there are additional parking spaces in the retail area on the other side ofthe driveway. Mr. Holmes said with a 300-seat restaurant, 150 spaces would be needed, so it doesn't seem the parking would work in that area. Mr. Masiello said that side ofthe driveway has about 400 parking spaces. Mr. Jenkins said the board had asked for the parking distribution to be shown for each use in that area. Mr. Masiello said there are extra spaces on one side of the driveway to discourage patrons from crossing the driveway. Mr. DeMassi said he would be concerned about drivers using this parking lot to leave the site. Mr. Masiello said they could close off the first row of parking so that wouldn't be possible. Mr. Armstrong said he thought most people would use the main entrance. Mr. DeMassi said he spoke with the police in Smithfield, who had been concerned about internal traffic management. Mr. Masiello said this is a very different plan than Smithfield, especially in that it has two entrances. Mr. French suggested forcing drivers to make turns in that area, rather than allowing them to go straight through to the entrance. Mr. Jenkins asked if employee parking could be added along the Route 140 side ofthat strip of stores. Mr. Masiello said it might be possible. He said there is employee parking behind some of the other buildings. .r Mr. Holmes asked about the parking behind Kohl's and said there doesn't appear to be a sidewalk in that area; Mr. Masiello said where there is parking at the rear of buildings, it is intended for employees, who may be using the back door to enter the store. Mr. Holmes asked about handicapped parking spaces and said they are spread unevenly along the front of the strips of buildings. Mr. Masiello said he would reconfigure those parking spaces. He said the number of handicapped spaces exceeds ADA requirements, but said he would look at the plan and place them more judiciously. Mr. DeMassi asked about the handicapped parking space requirement; Mr. Holmes said it is a ratio of the size of the whole building, but the spaces should be closest to the building. Mr. Holmes said it doesn't appear a tractor-trailer would be able to access some of the loading spaces. He said the board had asked for templates showing the turning radii for those areas. Mr. Masiello said the site does accommodate loading vehicles, but said he would provide that information. r Motion: To continue the public hearing to May 18,2005 at 7:30 p.m (Jenkins-Torman) All in favor. PASSES I 2. Corresp8lldeaeeeeBtiDued 2. Draft Special Permit Modification - The Village at Willow Crossing Motion: To grant the modification to the Special Permit to allow the change to the sewer as shown on the plan dated February 24, 2005 with the following conditions: The March 25, 1998 special permit and the June 22, 2000 modification to the special permit are incorporated into this decision by reference and attachment, and all terms and .--- conditions of the original 1998 special permit and the 2000 modification remain in force. (Armstrong-Annino) Torman - In favor. Benefits outweigh the detriments Jenkins - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments for maintenance and less disruption during installation DeMassi - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments Annino - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments Armstrong - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments, will be easier to maintain Holmes - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments. French - In favor. Benefits outweigh detriments All in favor. PASSES I 3. Public CommeDt Karl Clemmey said the Hatheway-Patterson site won't be cleaned up for 20 years and that Mr. D' Agostino has applied for an additional grant to look at an overlay district for the Clemmey Tank and Cleveland Twist sites, which Mr. Clemmey said will not happen. He said this information would make a difference with his proposed zoning articles. Mr. Clemmey said the Route 140 access plan for the School Street retail development has not been submitted to Mass Highway. Mr. Clemmey asked what the board's recommendation to the ZBA had been; Mr. French said the board had made a positive ,,-..- recommendation on the parking variance. 14. AdjoummeDt Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.rn. (Torman-Armstrong) All in favor. PASSES Next meeting: April 27, 2005 at 7:00 p.rn. &ffSW~ Signature of Clerk ..., I Z 7 J OJ- Date of Approval r