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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Brd Min_7191995�CEIIIE0 2 �t - - - - TU`:, z l L 95 AUG -3 Ali 9* 58 PLANNING BOARD M[NUTES t �A NSF 11 -1 l July 19, 1995 MASSACHUSETTS PRESENT: Chahman French, Clerk Sullivan PLANNERS: Bonda, Dolan, Flynn, McShane, Trombetta Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development 1. Meeting called to order at 7:30 P.M. 2. Public Hearing Continued - Eastfield Village The clerk read a letter from the applicant requesting the public hearing be continued to August 2, 1995 at 7:30 P.M. Motion: To continue the discussion until August 2, 1995 at 7:35 P.M. ( Bonda- Sullivan) All in favor. PASSES 3. Site Plan Review - Bombalini's Restaurant - Pratt Street - Jack Riccio The clerk read new correspondence, including the board's concerns. Ralph Maloon, -RIM Engineering, addressed the punch list items, pointing out he had added the distance between the driveways, details of stone planters, a do not exit sign, a right turn only sign, a hooded and locked dumpster, a grease trap to be under the plumbing code, landscaping, and a siltration fence to the plan. Mr. Maloon said with the planters, two parking spaces were lost, and Mr. Riccio plans to have six, not four, employees on the largest shift, which brings the restaurant's capacity from 96 to 80 people. Board Comments Planner Dolan said he did not see a problem with a right turn only sign, though Mr. Maloon said that may be a problem when cars are being unloaded for the dealership across the street. Clerk Sullivan asked where the two extra employee spaces would be. Mr. Maloon answered they would be in the general parking lot. Clerk Sullivan said the grease trap should meet the Building Inspector's code and that the exterior lights should be shielded. Planner Flynn asked if Fire Chief Ed SUney had looked at the plan now that it had better vehicular access. Mr. Ivialoon said he had not. Planner Flynn asked if the floor plan would change with the lower capacity. Ivh•. Maloon said it would, and 80 would be capacity for the restaurant and lounge together. Planner Trombetta asked when the applicant planned to begirt construction. Mr. Burke had spoken with Mr. Riccio, who said the would like to begin this summer. Planter McShane asked if the applicant had discussed overflow parking with the neighbors. Mr. Maloon said he did not think so, but thought it was a good idea. Chairman French suggested moving the do not exit/entrance sign to the west side of the driveway. Mr. Maloon said he would. Motion: To send the Building Inspector a positive recommendation noting that the plan dated July 18, 1995 now has a seating capacity of 80 with six employees, that the do not exit/entrance sign should be moved to the west side of the driveway, that the exterior lights be shielded, that the grease trap be sized to the Building and Plumbing Inspectors' code requirements. (Sullivan - Flynn) Six in favor. One abstention. PASSES 4. Correspondence 1. Form J Balcom Ridge Estates Phase U Motion: To sign the Form J Release (Dolan - Sullivan) Ali in favor. PASSES 2. Letter from Attorney Mark Bobrowski RE: Kelli Green Attorney Bobrowski suggests the board sign the plan and also suggests adding language to the by -law to help prevent this situation from happening again, Motion: Based on the advice of special counsel, to endorse Kelli Green (Sullivan - Dolan) , Planner Flynn asked if the developers had agreed to the four year tolling Attorney Bobrowski suggested. Mr. Burke said they did, and he thought four years was a reasonable time frame. - - -- - Six in favor. One abstention. PASSES 3. Letter to Board of Selectmen from Bella Vista Avenue residents RE: traffic 4. Letter to Board of Selectmen from Police Chief Arthur O'Neill RE: traffic 5. Letter from EPA to William Williams RE: Ware Street 5. 'Discussion of Residential Compound - Branch Street - Greg Spier Michael Trowbridge, Hutchins - Trowbridge Associates, came to the board to discuss a three lot, 410 foot private drive residential compound with 12.86 acres of open space before filing a preliminary plan. He said the applicant had requested a partial fee waiver from the Board of Selectmen because he will have so much extra open space, and under the residential compound fees, would have to pay considerably more than for a traditional subdivision. Clerk Sullivan asked how far off the lot lines the driveway would be. Mr. Trowbridge told him it would be 10 feet and he proposed to keep it at grade and would try to keep the area as natural as possible, using natural drainage. Planner Flynn asked if the applicant could do a traditional subdivision on the site. Mr. Trowbridge said he could, but preferred the compound idea and was willing to give the open space to the town or put it into a non - profit association. Vfl•. Burke suggested the land could provide pedestrian access through Bay Brook Farm to the schools. He said the town was discussing the need to acquire land near the schools in order to satisfy tine state requirements for land area and suggested the applicant contact Dr. Nicoletti to discuss using this land. Mr. Burke asked if the site was on town sewer. Mr. Trowbridge told him it is not. Clerk Sullivan asked if test holes had been done. Mr. Trowbridge said they have been clone in the front but not in the back, where he knows tire ground water is - - MW. rte. Clerk Sullivan asked if the land was under one ownership. Mr. Trowbridge explained it is not currently, but will be. Mr. Burke reminded him one of the regulations is that the land be in one ownership when the plan is filed. Clerk Sullivan said he would like to see the rest of the wetlands in the open space, structures on adjacent properties and a buffer on the plan. Planner McShane asked about the rationale behind doing a residential compound. Mr. Trowbridge said it would cause less disturbance to the area. Mr. Burke suggested getting in touch with the School Department to see if they could use the open space land, and that way the applicant could dispose of part of the filing fee by getting rid of some of the land up front. He said it would be in the town's and the client's best interest to reduce the filing fee, which is intended to cover review of plans, not to discourage filing. He said a residential compound would be of greater benefit to the town because it would be a private way and preserve open space. He -added this plan is not extensive enough to charge such a high filing fee. Planner Flynn said she was not in support of waiving the filing fee, as it would not be a good precedent. Planner McShane said he did not think the filing fee should encourage developers to do higher density projects. He asked if the applicant had tested for ground contamination. Mr. Trowbridge said they had not done testing yet. Motion: To send the Board of Selectmen a letter asking them to consider lowering the filing fee as a result of the preservation of open space in excess of the requirement, the minimal impact on wetlands, the reduced public expenditure as compared to a traditional subdivision, and the board's feeling that the filing fee should not act as a disincentive to a residential compound. (McShane- Dolan) Six in favor. One opposed. PASSES 6. Public Discussion Charles Geis, Massapoag Estates resident, said he was concerned about the drainage ditch at the subdivision. Mr. Burke said he had spoken with several of the residents and had put them on the agenda for August 2, 1995 to discuss the issue. 7. Weaver Lane Discussion Chapman French was concerned the unresolved issues in the road had been going on too long. The clerk read a letter from Paul Folkman regarding his contract with Dr. Aldinger. Ivh•. Folkman expects final design by the end of July and the project to be completed by September 1, 1995. Mr. Burke suggested the board accept the dates for design by the end of July and completion by September 1, but to identify September 13, 1995 as a public hearing date and notify Mr, Folkman that if the work is not clone by September I the board will hold the public heating to final him in default and take the remaining surety for Sturbridge Estates. Clerk Sullivan requested having ivh•. Folkman submit the design to the Town Engineer before the board's August 2, 1995 meeting, and the plans come before the board at that meeting. Motion: Based on Mr. Folkman's letter of July 19, 1995, the Planning Board expects the design plan to be submitted to the Town Engineer and Planning Director on or before July 31, 1995 to be presented at the August 2, 1995 meeting. To have construction commence by August 16, 1995 and to be completed no later than September 1, 1995. (Sullivan - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To set a tentative public hearing date of September 13, 1995 at 7:30 P.M. if the roadway repair is not completed by September 1, 1995 to discuss taking the remaining bond money , (Sullivan - Dolan) All in favor. PASSES s. Discussion of Planning Board Meeting Curfew and Site Plan Comments a. Planning Board Meeting Curfew Chairman French said the board has a lot of regular business to take care of at its meetings and was concerned that with Master Plan in the fall, the board might bum out quickly without a time limit on Planning Board meetings. Planner Dolan suggested not starling anything new after 11:00 P.M. Chairman French was concerned that would leave agenda items undiscusssed. Planner Dolan suggested starting at 7:00 P.M. with correspondence. Planner Trombetta suggested putting correspondence not requiring action from the second file into the next week's file. Chairman French asked what the board thought about putting a time limit on public hearings, then continuing them. Clerk Sullivan said that would extend public hearings. Planner Trombetta suggested controlling public hearings by giving the applicant so much time to speak, then those in favor and those opposed, and not allowing debate between the neighbors and the engineer. Clerk Sullivan said comments should be directed to the chairman. Chairman French suggested setting a time limit on ZBA application discussions. The board agreed to limit discussion to five minutes. b. Site Plan Public Discussion Chairman French said by opening site plan discussions to public comment, the board gets information it may not otherwise know, but said these discussions are not public hearings and asked if the board thought they should accept comment. Planner Dolan said it is irnportant to hear from those affected. Clerk Sullivan agreed, saying there is no other way for abutters to have input. Planner McShane said he would not want the discussions to be more formal than they are, and the board should decide which comments are useful, but did not think the board could say it won't listen to the public. Mr. Burke said it would be a significant policy change if it planned to allow open public comment. He said the board has accepted written comment in the past. Motion: For a period of four months, not to allow public discussion on site plans. To have the chairman explain to the audience what has already been done and who has reviewed the plans (Flynn- Bonda) Three in favor. Four opposed. FAILS Motion: For a period of four months, to allow public discussion, leaving it up to the chairman to control the comments. To put the agenda on cable television (Dolan- McShane) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Burke asked if the board wanted to move Around the Table to the front of the agenda. Chainnan French said he would like to keep it at the end because it gives the board a chance to discuss issues that come up during the meeting. Chairman French suggested starting at 7 P.M. with correspondence and Form As, then doing public hearings, while concentrating on being more to the point and giving ZBA discussions five minutes, and not starting anything new after I I P.M. 9. Subdivision Rules and Regulations Amendments Discussion - a. Sight Distance - Chairman French said the numbers in the Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook are the same as the Bucks County requirements, which are more up to date and conservative numbers than ASHTO. He said today's cars are often shorter than the ASHTO figures assume. Planner Flynn suggested using the more conservative numbers in the Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook. Mr. Burke suggested adding that in no case shall a sight distance of less than 250 feet be permitted. Motion: To change the reference in the Subdivision Rules and Regulations to the Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook, take out ASHTO and use the Transportation and Traffic Engineering Handbook numbers (Dolan- Trombetta) All in favor. PASSES b. Sidewalks - The board had discussed requiring two but leaving the board the ability to waive one if two aren't necessary. Planner McShane asked if the board could require sidewalks beyond the last driveway opening and require a sidewalk all the way around the cul -de -sac. Mr. Burke suggested making the regulation read "...around a cul-de-sac ... waives one. The sidewalk shall be constructed according to the Standard Cross Section. wheelchair... four feet." Motion: To make the regulation read as suggested by Mr. Burke (McShane- Dolan) All in favor. PASSES 10. Around the Table Planner Flynn said the Board of Selectmen had talked at its last meeting about asking Police Chief O'Neill to critique the closing of East Street. Mr. Burke said he wasn't aware anyone had asked the chief to do anything, saying Cheif O'Neill has already said he is not in favor of closing East Street because he wants his officers to be able to get through. Planner Dolan said police cars would still be able to get down East Street, it would be closed to regular through traffic. Planner Flynn said he would like the Police Chief to have some information about what the Planning Board has discussed. Planner McShane suggested inviting the Police Chief, School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Municipal Building Committee, and the Fire Chief to a Planning Board meeting to discuss various alternatives. Motion: To invite the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Municipal Building Committee, Police Chief and Fire Chief to a meeting on August 16, 1995 at 7:30 P.M. , (Flynn- Bonda) All in favor. PASSES - - -- Planner Bonda asked if the water pumps at Massapoag Estates had all been installed. Mr. Burke said they had, though some had failed. Clerk Sullivan requested changes to the cul -de -sac regulations 4.1.5.2 be put on the Subdivision Rules and Regulations discussion, suggesting if there is no possibility of extending, the right -of -way should end no closer than 100 feet from the line. Chapman French reminded the board he would be going to the Board of Selectmen's meeting on July 26, 1995 and invited other board members to join. Motion: To sign the Woodland Park mylars (Sullivan - Bonda) All in favor. PASSES 11. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 11:15 P.M. (Sullivan - Flynn) All in favor. PASSES Date of next meeting: August 2, 1995 at 7:00 P.M. Signature of Clerk Date of pproval