Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPLANNINGbrd_05282014Planning Board Minutes T C) May 28 2014 > Present: Tom French, Chair; Rich LeBlanc, Acting Clerk; Michael McClanahaffI Geary; tern Ralph Penney, Cheryl Collins, Alternates Rod Oreste and Mike Feck -i �—? T Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Crotty Davis,�Xdmirr ratm Secretary rn To appoint Mr. LeBlanc Acting Clerk (McClanahan- Penney) All in favor. PASSES Mr. French congratulated the board and Mr. Burke on a successful Town Meeting. Minutes April 30, 2014 Wood Ave — Mr. LeBlanc said the building should be well lit while business is open, but not overly lit when closed. p. 2 — Mr. DeVellis "said he spoke" with Mr. Burke Discussion about floor -to -floor height — building 45 feet but towers will be higher; the board reminded Ms. Walsh that anything over 45 feet may require a variance. She said she would go back and look at the height of the towers. p. 4 — The Pavilion — the "square footage" of the building has been reduced by almost 50 %. Motion: To approve as amended (Feck - McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES The clerk read the public hearing notice. Mr. French explained how the public hearing would be conducted. Richard C. Alves, Jr., P.E., Town Engineer, explained the plan to remove and replace 12 trees from the Williams Street right -of -way and remove and relocate 20 feet of stone wall. A portion of Williams Street will be reconstructed and resurfaced, and drainage will be added. Mr. Alves explained the tree removal plans and said they hope to straighten out the intersection at West Street. Mr. Alves said he will be holding a public meeting next week to gather continent on the plans. He said he plans to replace the trees with sugar maple and American elm, and explained approximately 20 feet of the stone wall at 383 Williams Street will be removed and replaced. Mr. McClanahan asked if the job would be done by the town or subbed out. Mr. Alves said most of it would be subbed out. Mr. Alves said the new drainage system in Williams Street has been designed for the 100 -year storm; catch basins will be underground and will use 24" diameter pipe. Mr. Penney said the area is sand and gravel with a lot of white pines, which have fibrous roots that can damage sidewalks. Mr. Alves said most of the trees to be removed are white pines, but noted there are a couple of dead trees to be removed. Mr. Penney said maple trees have roots that tend to spread under sidewalks; Ms. Collins agreed. Mr. Alves said he would replant 5/28/2014 whatever the board would like. Ms. Collins suggested locust. Mr. Alves said he would walk the site and discuss the trees to be replanted with Mr. Burke and Mr. Cook. Mr. Alves said there are four utility poles and a hydrant that will be relocated for the new layout. Mr. Penney asked if the new street would conform to the town's regulations; Mr. Alves said it would. Mr. Penney asked if there would be sidewalk on both sides. Mr. Alves said there are no sidewalks now and they would not be added because it would involve more encroachment on residents' properties. Mr. Penney said the board pushes developers to install sidewalks on new streets, but the town is not proposing to add them. Mr. Alves said sidewalk installation would involve land taking, which would require Town Meeting approval. Mr. Cleary asked if there are sidewalks at either end of Williams Street; Mr. Alves said there are none. Mr. French said he is glad to see Williams Street at West Street being straightened out. Mr. Alves said he plans to talk to the resident at that corner because their driveway will have to be relocated to West Street. Mr. Cleary asked about the stone wall at the comer of Pine Street and West Street; Mr. Alves said that would be shifted back and curved to match the road. Ms. Collins asked if Pine Street would be done at the same time; Mr. Alves said it would. Greg Jones 484 Williams Street, said there are 2 -5 trees on his property. He asked about the timeline on the work so he can schedule the installation of a gas line. Mr. Alves said there will be a meeting next week for the abutters to comment; drainage and utility work will be done first, with road construction beginning in August. Mr. Jones said his mailbox is on one of the trees and he will have to move it. Mr. Jones asked if the hard wood could be left on the property; Mr. Alves suggested Mr. Jones talk with Mr. Cook. Mr. Alves said the project will be completed by winter. Mr. Penney asked if similar work will be done on Maple Street; Mr. Alves said he is not aware of gas being extended to that area, but the town will be doing a full -depth reconstruction. Mr. Burke said Mi. Alves has done a great job working with the homeowners and recommended the board issue the scenic road permit. Motion: To approve the scenic road plan to remove and replace 12 trees from the Williams Street right -of -way and remove and relocate 20 feet of stone wall. Type and location of trees will be reviewed in the field by Mr. Alves and Mr. Burke (McClanahan- Penney) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To close the public hearing (Permey- McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES 4 Site Plan Cont►nued ; -Wood Avenue Self Storagc drag Ii1;IUCor06 rhhon Jim DeVellis, P.E., DeVellis Zrein, distributed a handout with a summary of the plan status. He said they have met twice with the Conservation Commission and are working through the final details, but have not closed the public hearing. He said the Commission is happy with the project. Mr. DeVellis said they are working on upgrades to Wood Avenue and to the drainage. 2 5/28/2014 Mr. DeVellis said they will address all staff and board comments on the plans. The surveyor has surveyed Wood Avenue, and has met with Mr. Burke and Mr. Alves. Mr. DeVellis explained the plans showing the site, property lines, access and gate to the facility. He said the gate will also help eliminate cut throughs from Copeland Drive to Route 106. Mr. DeVellis said Wood Avenue is 300 feet long with an existing 30 -foot right -of -way. Their work will match the pavement all the way down and the utilities will be improved. There is an existing curb cut with granite curbing, and they will saw cut the pavement. Mr. DeVellis presented a photometric plan showing light poles along the edges of the site. There will be security lighting on the building, with zero footcandles at the property line. Christine Walsh, Annino Associates, explained she met with the building inspector about the height of the towers; Mr. Riccio told her the decorative towers above 45 feet would be allowed. Ms. Walsh explained the renderings showing LED lighting with vertical cylinder fixtures, lighting the same on all sides and clear glazing. She said the bands of color on the building will be equal in size. Ms. Walsh explained they plan signs on Route 140 and 106, and the owner is considering requesting a variance for a lighted, static LED sign. Mr. McClanahan said using the right wattage on the light fixtures should be enough to light the signs. Ms. Walsh said there will be strips of LED lighting around the towers. Mr. McClanahan asked if the lights would be on all night. Ms. Walsh said she doesn't think the owner plans to do that. Mr. LeBlanc said does not think the board wants the site to be lit all night. Ms. Walsh said she would clarify that with the owner. Mr. Penney asked about the colors. Ms. Walsh said the building colors will be red, white and blue with equal sized bands of color. Mr. Burke said he doesn't think the town would want the building to be lit all night or want the sign to be internally -lit. Department Head Comments The clerk read memos from Mr. Alves and Mr. Riccio. Mi. DeVellis said he will be able to address all of the items in Mr. Alves' memo. Board Comment Mr. McClanahan asked about lighting on Wood Avenue. Mr. DeVellis said there are several existing utility poles, which will be identified on the plans. He asked if they would have to go to the Board of Selectmen about adding fixtures to existing poles; Mr. Burke suggested speaking with MMED. Mr. DeVellis said electric service comes from an overhead from Wood Avenue, and there will be a transformer on this property. 5/28/2014 Mr. Penney asked how much taller the towers are than the building; Ms. Walsh said they are about eight feet higher than the building, which is approximately 45 feet. Mr. Burke said the towers on the corners help prevent the building looking like a box. He said lie agreed with Mr. Riccio's memo that the ornamental features are not subject to the 45 -foot height requirement. Mr. Cleary asked if mechanical equipment will be on the roof Ms. Walsh said it would be, but would be screened. Mr. Burke said the building height can be measured from the site's frontage, which in this case would be Wood Avenue. Mr. Penney said he likes the building and it fits in the area, where there are few residential uses. He said most customers will visit the site infrequently, so traffic impact will be slight. Mr. DeVellis explained the runoff will be picked up with a double catch basin and the replication areas will be lowered so water will sits for awhile. The low area will be supplemented with the Wood Avenue drainage. Mr. Penney asked if any of the building is in the 25 -foot no -build zone. Mr. DeVellis said the building is outside the 25 -foot no build area. There will be a small amount of fill with an almost 3 -1 replication. Mr. LeBlanc asked if the Wood Avenue gate will always be closed. Mr. DeVellis said it would be, but the customers and the Fire Department would have access cards. He said customers would be able to access the site from either Wood Avenue or Route 106. Mr. DeVellis said they are working with the office condo owners on Route 106 to share a curb cut, repave the parking area and share signage. He said MassHighway wants the curb cut moved as far from Route 140 as possible. Mr. LeBlanc asked about the area along the back of the stores on Wood Avenue. Mr. DeVellis said there are no loading docks, just dumpsters. Mr. Burke said some are on the right -of -way. Ms. Walsh asked if the business would also be allowed a pylon sign on Wood Avenue. Mr. Burke said it would be, but would have to be on this property. Mr. French asked for the locations of other signs to be included on the plans. Mr. Penney asked which way customers would leave the site. Mr. McClanahan said drivers would probably leave via Wood Avenue to use the signalized intersection at Copeland /Chauncy Sheets, rather than trying to take a left onto Route 106. Mr. Burke said the applicant has done a great job on this plan and he looks forward to seeing the plan for Wood Avenue. [Mr. Oreste arrived at this time] Public Comment Fred Armstrong, MMAS, said the theater group supports this project. He said MMAS had originally planned to move to the Wood Avenue site, but when that did not work out, they decided to sell the property and use the proceeds toward their work. He said he thinks this is a good use for the site. 4 5/28/2014 Mr. Penney encouraged the applicant to meet with MMED prior to the next meeting. Motion: To continue the site plan to June 11, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. (McClanahan- Collins) All in favor. PASSES 2. Letter Stan Feck re: residential compounds Mr. LeBlanc said he did not intend any disrespect by any of his comments. He said his Concerns were about who would maintain the roadsibridges and emergency vehicle access in the future. Mr. French said Mr. Feck's letter is correct in that the Dolan Estates development was done as a residential compound after the board did not want to grant waivers on a traditional subdivision plan. He said he did not say the development was improperly built, but rather he was concerned about the future maintenance of private roadways. Mr. McClanahan said when a private road is constructed, the town inspects the utilities. Ms. Collins said the board may want to look at ways to revise the standards for private ways. Mr. McClanahan said residential compounds are special permits. Mr. Penney said the by -law could provide standards for things like roadway width and emergency vehicle access. 3. Public hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, North Attleboro, Sharon 4. The Beacon 5. Mass Housing Partnership 2013 Annual Report Sheet — Galanti The plan seeks to split the remaining back land, 3.18 acres containing a pond, between the two existing lots at 93 and 101 Otis Street. No new construction is planned. Mr•. Burke said both lots received variances in 2008 for lack of frontage and lot width and said the plan warrants endorsement by the Planning Board. Motion: To endorse the Form A plan (McClanahan - Cleary) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Burke said there was a discussion at the May 21, 2014 Board of Selectmen's meeting about maintenance of cul -de -sac islands. He said most islands are maintained by the residents of the street. Mr. McClanahan suggested landscaping in islands could be low - maintenance or the islands could be smaller and paved rather than landscaped. Mr. Burke said that would be easier to plow, but would also become a heat island. Mr. French said maintenance of landscaping in cul -de -sac islands may become a problem when some residents take care of it, but others do not. Mr. Burke said on some streets, the town takes possession of the island, but on others, it does not. Mr. French suggested homeowners' associations could take care of the landscaping, similar to the open space in residential compounds. Mr. French said the bigger issue is the detention basins, which the town has to maintain as part of stormwater management. Mr. Burke said because of the cost of maintaining the landscaping, the town has always relied on the abutters to 5/28/2014 take care of it. Mr. Cleary asked if the residents would be able to cut trees in an island; Mr. Burke said because it is town -owned land, they would not. Mr. Cleary asked about granting the residents an access easement to maintain the island. Mr. McClanahan suggested a condition in special permits requiring the abutters to maintain the landscaping. Mr. LeBlanc said he thinks the nicest islands are the ones that are left natural. Mr. Oreste suggested including cul -de -sac islands as part of Mansfield's cleanup day in the spring. Ms. Collins said that is a good idea. Mr. Penney suggested writing a letter to the Board of Selectmen saying the Planning Board is aware of the issue and will be working on some possible solutions. Mr. Burke said the construction plans for the second building were filed today, and the work will be moving forward this summer. He said he has spoken with the consultant installing the pedestrian signals, crosswalk and sidewalk; the equipment has been ordered. The property owner has an agreement about the sidewalk on the other side of School Street with the owners of Mansfield Crossing. Mr. French asked about elevations of the revised building. Mr. Burke said the plans were filed today; the building is similar in style, but 1.5 stories rather than the originally proposed three stories. Ms. Collins said she is concerned about the left in and left out turns at this site. Mi•. LeBlanc asked about the landscaping; Mr. Burke said the landscaping will be completed with the second building. 9 Pibbc �orumenf = - Motion: To reappoint Mr. French Chair (Cleary- Collins) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To reappoint Ms. Ashman- Collins Clerk (McClanahan - Collins) All in favor. PASSES 10 Arou_n-- Jc__fheTable ;= i Mr. Burke distributed the final Train Station Area Access Evaluation from BETA Group. Ms. Collins suggested getting opinions from DPW on the issues the board has been discussing, like residential compounds and islands The board discussed a summer schedule. Depending on what comes in, the board will meet June 11, July 16, August 13. Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.m. (Penney- McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES Next Regular Planning Board Meeting: June 11, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. J , � Signature of Clerk Date of Approval 6 5/28/2014