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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Brd Min_311995J5 V ,.:i -9 P'i 12: 4J PLANNING BOARD MINUTES MARCH 1, 1995 PRESENT: Chairman McClanahan, Acting Clerk french PLANNERS: Bonda, Dolan Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development 1. Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M. 2. Public Hearing - Planning Board Zoning By -Law Amendments Motion: To appoint Planner French Acting Clerk (Bonda - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES The clerk read the legal advertisement. * Lot Width - Section 1.5.17a Mr. Burke explained that as a result of the lot size increase at last year's town meeting, there is a conflict in the R2 zone between lot size and the current lot width definition. Additionally, engineers have said it is difficult to work with the current lot width definition, especially along a cul -de- sac. The proposed lot width definition would take the width measurement at the front setback location. Public Comment Karl Clemmey, 390 West Street asked if this wouldn't create Pork chop lots. Mr. Burke showed Mr. Clemmey a diagram of how it would work and not create pork chop lots. Mr. Burke suggested another way to eliminate the conflict would be to increase the minimum lot size in the R2 zone to 22,500 feet. Mr. Clemmey suggested that would open up more lots that would currently need variances to be buildable. Motion: To table a final decision until there is a full board (Bonda - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES Wetland /Waterbody Setback Mr. Burke explained this is basically the same proposal that was withdrawn at last year's town meeting, which was drafted by Attorney Mark Bobrowski as a result of the Great Woods Land Use Study. Attorney Bobrowski was concerned the existing by- law is ambiguous, so he suggested breaking it into two separate sections, one dealing with soil types and the other with rivers, streams and lakes. Mr. Burke noted the lot sizes in the proposal were based on lot sizes before the Spring 1994 Town Meeting and would have to be amended to reflect the current requirements. Public Comment Karl Clemmey said the board should table this issue until there is a full board. He asked why paragraph c was removed from 4.8.3. Mr. Burke explained it had been moved into 4.8A 2. Mr. Clemmey asked why the business and industrial districts were not included in the lot size list. Mr. Burke those districts were covered later in the by -law. Mr. Clemmey askrd k:110 crould be enforcing the by -law. Mr. Burke told him 4 4- it would be under the Conservation Commission's jurisdiction. Motion: To close the public hearing (French - Bonda) All in favor. PASSES 3. Correspondence 1. Memo from William Williams RE: February 18, 1995 Planning Seminar 2. Memo from Officer Lance Lawson RE: Eastfield Village traffic count 3. Memo from Officer Lawson RE: Classic Court 4. Memo from Planning Board to Amos Robinson RE: time on Board of Selectmen's agenda 5. Memo from Planning Board to Selectmen and IDC RE: February 18, 1995 Planning Seminar 6. Memo from Mr. Burke to Paul Folkman RE: Sturbridge Drive stop sign Public Hearing - Citizens' Petition to Regulate Acceptable Hours and Decibel Level -Karl Clemmey The clerk read the legal advertisement. Board Comment Planner Bonda suggested where a residential area is referenced, it should read "residential zone." Mr. Clemmey explained he worded it like that on purpose, but if the board I anted it changed, he was willing. Planner Dolan was concerned the decibel level limit may be too stringent, saying he wouldn't want the police department going after people because their televisions were too loud. He asked what Mr. Clemmey would do about trains, fire engines and police cars. Planner Dolan stressed the town should be careful about people's rights when adopting regulations like this. He also noted there were no durations on the proposal. Jim Bilodeau, 15 Lancashire Drive said he supported the petition because with increased growth, noise and congestion also go up. Ed Rosenberg, 796 Ware Street and former Board of Health member, said he had spent time at the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts working on noise and found decibel level by itself is not the only factor in controlling noise. Other factors, such as weather and speaker types, are important. Peter DeTrolio agreed, but said if the decibel level is high to begin with, it makes the noise worse. Acting Clerk French asked Mr. Rosenberg if he had any suggestions as to how to control noise. Mr. Rosenberg explained the Board of Health had worked on a proposal similar to this and realized controlling the decibel level alone would not solve the problem. He said this would not be enforceable .and :asked if the police nr building inspector would walk around town with a decibel meter, and if they did, how would they be trained? Mr. DeTrolio said Great Woods does its own measurements every night, and if the ceiling were set at 85 decibels, that would solve much of the problem. He said the proposal could help, though perhaps worded differently. Planner Dolan was concerned with taking police away from other duties to monitor the noise from homes. Acting Clerk French stressed the article wouldn't cover just Great Woods, but all of Mansfield. Mr. DeTrolio responded that no one complains about anything but Great Woods, and Planner Dolan said he thought more complaints would come with the article. Acting Clerk French asked what the current allowed decibel level is at Great Woods. Mr. Rosenberg said he thought it was 105 decibels, which he said Great Woods worked out with artists and is based on other places around the country. Mr. Bilodeau agreed with Mr. DeTrolio that if the sound is limited to 85 decibels- at its source, it wouldn't get much above that anywhere else. Sandra Levine, 20 Walnut Street pointed out that in the proposal, sound couldn't exceed 85 decibels for more than 20 minutes. She said it takes most people longer than that to dow their lawns, which may be annoying to neighbors, but asked if the town wanted to regulate what people do in their own yards in an effort to improve the neighborhood. Louis Amoruso, 6 Brookside Road, asked if the article was intended just for Great Woods. He was concerned about creating an article that would effect the whole town as a way to get at one place. He added it was bad legislation to have a law based on who complains the loudest. Terry Shaw, 34 Maple Street, said she lives next to an industrial zone and the company next to her is loud 24 -hours a day and came to see how this proposal would effect her. Stuart Golding, 19 Lancashire Drive said he supports the article and didn't think it was directed at Great Woods, but was intended to make the town a better place to live. Motion: To close the public hearing (French- Bonda) All in favor. PASSES 5. Public Hearing - Citizens' Petition on Open Space in Industrial Zones - Karl Clemmey The clerk read the legal ad. The article would amend Section 4.2.2 Density and Dimensional Regulations - Business and Industrial Districts from 35% required open space to 15 %. Mr. Clemmey explained he has brought this to the Planning Board before. He said if a parcel is over 10 acres, the minimum open space requirement should be decreased. He suggested a schedule to drop the requirement some for every acre over 10. Mr. Burke said the 35% is based on review of the industrial park along with residential areas. He explained the required landscaping and buffering could be counted toward the 35% open space. He added he found it hard to say a larger parcel with more uses should require less open space, using the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro as a project that would have benefited from more open space. Board Comments Planner Bonda said after the February 18 planning seminar, people seem to want to preserve open space and she would not support this article. Acting Clerk French and Planner Dolan agreed, saying this is not the direction in which the board wants to go. Public Comment Richard Gordon, 407 West Street and member of the Master Plan 4dvisory Committee, said the Master Plan Committee worked hard on coming up with 35% and didn't think Mansfield wants stripped -land development. Motion: To close the public hearing (Ronda- French) All in favor. PASSES 3. Correspondence Continued 7. Minutes February 22, 1995 8. Letter from William Williams to Attorney Mangiaratti RE: Karl Clemmey - Back Bay Brook, Branch Street 9. Memo from Mr. Williams RE: Annual Town Meeting 10. Memo from Mr. Burke to Mr. Williams RE: Accounts 11. Memo from Engineering Department RE: Carlton Estates sight distance. The developers had said the sight distance would be 255 feet, but the Town Engineer got 230 feet. There is a 36 inch oak tree on private property in the way. Mr. Burke explained the minimum sight distance at the time the plan was approved was 200 feet. Acting Clerk French was distressed the developers had not provided what they represented they would. Motion: To send the developers a letter explaining what the Town Engineer found, in the board's view, this is significantly less than the sight distance proposed on the plan; request they advise the board how they intend to rectify the situation. (French - Bonda) All in favor. PASSES 13. Letter from Attorney Mark Bobrowski RE: Old Maple Street 14. Letter from Mass Highwav RE: Norton retail. development 1 Forin I Covonant Jameson Farm a 6. Around the Table Planner Benda told the board she had spoken with Mr. Williams about the Planning Office move and he agreed to come speak with the board, but requested it be early in the evening. The board discussed meeting at 7:00 P.M. on March 8, 1995. Planner Benda was concerned about the traffic count for Eastfield Village and some of the other items that seem to fall on the borderline of subdivision regulations, like road length. Acting Clerk French said he would like to add impact fees to the list of items to discuss with Representative Hyland at the March 8, 1995 meeting. 7. Public Comment Karl Clemmey said he was disappointed the board decided to keep $2,000 of his Woodlot Estates filing fee, since he has paid $80,000 in taxes on the property. He said he didn't think more than 5 or 6 hours was spent in review of the plan. 8. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 10:15 P.M. (French - Bonda) All in favor. PASSES Date of next meeting: March 8, 1995 at 7:00 P.M. Signature of Clerk Date of Approval