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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 01/25/2017Planning Board Minutes gv January 25, 20171€?I i) l,i r L"' OF( Present: Tom French, Chair; Don Cleary, Cleric, Beth Ashman -Col ins, Michael Mf.0 ?"n, Ralph Penney, Rich LeBlanc (pl1 F Alternates Joe Cerretani and Sharon Friedman } s Jennifer Davis, Administrative Assistant t 1'IatunurcCtgalldt+?t 2 G`arepnbe�A Y 1. Minutes December 14, 2016 Motion: To approve as submitted (McClanahan -Friedman) Seven in favor. Ashman -Collins abstained. PASSES 2. Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville 3. The Beacon 4. January 25, 2017 letter from Noreen Road residents re: lots in Baron Estates, Easton The board has discussed tandem parking, which is not addressed in the Zoning By -Law, but which the board has allowed on some projects. The board discussed where to allow non-medical marijuana, or whether to prohibit the use. Medical marijuana is currently allowed in the business park, but non-medical marijuana in that location may not make sense. The board discussed if it would be an appropriate use downtown or on a limited access highway. Ms. Ashman -Collins said she likes the idea of locating the use in the Il zone better than the PBD, She said she isn't sure allowing the use anywhere retail is allowed is the best idea. Ms. Friedman said people in Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal for a few years, have different opinions; some say it has enhanced downtown business, others say it has created stress with public safety. She said the setbacks are larger in the medical marijuana by-law and asked if that is reasonable. She asked if the intent of the draft was to limit the number of non-medical marijuana facilities in town to the same number as medical marijuana facilities? Mr. French said the town can impose setbacks, but they have to be reasonable. Mr. Penney said other communities are moving toward prohibiting non-medical marijuana. Mr. Cleary said. that would be similar to how communities can prohibit alcohol. Mr. McClanahan said the state law is unclear at this point. Ms. Ashman -Collins said it may make sense to treat non-medical marijuana like alcohol. Mr. Penney asked if this should be a discussion with the Board of Selectmen; Mr. Cleary said the Selectmen could decide how many non-medical marijuana licenses the town should allow. Mr. French said the final decision on that may be up to Town Meeting. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked if Route 140 would be considered a "limited access highway." Mr. French said Route 140 would be, but Route 106 would not be. Ms. Ashman -Collins noted Mansfield Crossing abuts Route 140, Mr. Penney said the state has pushed back instituting the law, so we may not need to do it at this Town Meeting. Mr. McClanahan said he is concerned the state has not finalized the law. Mr. Cleary said he Planning Board 1/25/2017 wouldn't want to have to do the zoning twice if the state changes it again. Mr. Cerretani asked if the Board of Selectmen has discussed this issue; Mr. French said he didn't think so. Consensus of the board was to send the Board of Selectmen a memo with the draft non-medical marijuana by-law asking for their comments, particularly about where the use would best fit in town, or whether to consider prohibiting it. tea, �p��x�� P�rmt� Publlrr FI�ahiug; c6nL�n�,�d 75 Clia�n�p ��rget Parki�r� Iu� Mans�elS1; The clerk read the public hearing notice. Mr. French explained how the public hearing would be conducted and asked people to be polite and respectful. He said the board received revised traffic and engineering information on Monday, which is too close to a Wednesday meeting to allow the board and staff time to review, so he said he does not expect the board to vote tonight. Attorney Edward Valanzola, George Turner, Robert Turner, David LaPointe, Beals & Thomas, Jeffrey Dirk, Vanasse & Associates Attorney Valanzola said they have begun the ZBA public hearing, which was continued to February 8, 2017, Attorney Valanzola explained his clients purchased the property at 75 Chauncy Street in September 2017; he said their long-term plan is to develop the site for mixed-use. The site has Activity Use Limitations (AULs) because of the Cleveland Twist site. They have requested relief from the Zoning Board because as they move forward with development, a lot of things will have to be done to deal with the AUL, infrastructure and drainage before coming back for a special permit for a mixed use development. He said they plan to work first in the area of the existing 173 -space lot, so if they lose parking spaces, they would like to be able to park the vehicles in the proposed new 192 space lot. He said they will need flexibility because they don't know which sections of the site will be worked on first, or what the work on the catch basin, for example, will involve. He said they would be willing to have the board place a time limit on the temporary parking lot; he said his clients did not buy this property to put a parking lot on it. Attorney Valanzola said they would offer resident parking at the Mansfield rate. He noted that currently, 30-35 vehicles park on River Street. He proposed eliminating those spots and having those people park in this new lot. He said the town has discussed making River Street one way. Mr. LaPointe explained the plan for the 6.3 acre site, some of which is currently wooded. He said there is an existing parking lot with 172 parking spaces, and the proposed new spaces are on the site of the old Cleveland Twist slab. He said access to the site is currently coming from Draper Avenue or River Street, across a driveway that bisects the site. He said the AUL encompasses the lower area of the site due to prior contamination and restricts excavation of the site without oversight by licensed site professional. Mr. Valanzola said the AUL covers the entire site and any work would have to be monitored step-by-step. Mr. LaPointe said the proposed parking lot would have two potential ticket taking locations, bike racks, handicapped spaces and painted lines to mark the parking spaces and islands. He said they 2 Planning Board 1/25/2017 want to avoid excavation if possible. They propose three new lights, with no light shining off site, and a fence with privacy slats to prevent headlights from shining onto residential properties. Mr. LaPointe said they have gone to the Conservation Commission, and no additional filing is needed. Attorney Valanzola said they had discussed a berm and vegetated screen at the ZBA meeting, but a lot of that area is town -owned and there will not be room on this property; instead, a fence with slats will provide screening in the area they have to work in. Mr. Cleary asked where the Rumford River is located; the river comes across from Highland Avenue and goes under Route 106, but not under this site. Mr. Dirk explained the traffic assessment, especially in terms of new traffic. They are proposing 192 additional parking spaces to be added to the existing just over 800 parking spaces. They looked at the traffic patterns and at traffic when trains come in. He said when trains come in in the evening, everyone leaves the site at the same time; during a one-hour time period in the evening, he said there are around 350 vehicles coming out of the station for a very intense 15 minute period. He said traffic is more dispersed in the morning, and most uses Allen Street to get to the parking areas, while in the evening, traffic uses Allen Street or Howe Street. He said there is a detail officer in the evening at the intersection with Chauncy Street, but the amount of traffic he can move out of the site is limited because of the traffic light at North Main Street. He said the town has looked at the area and discussed the importance of a secondary means of access to disperse traffic and alleviate the problems at Chauncy Street. I -Ie said the addition of 192 new parking spaces, with existing traffic patterns, would add 80-90 vehicles during the peak traffic hour, or about 40 vehicles per train. He said it may be less if this project offsets the existing River Street parking. He said he did his analysis using 40 vehicles per train, and found conditions will stay the same as currently. He said this project will not send traffic out the back, so new traffic would use the current pattern. He said it will not alleviate existing congestion, which would require a second access and improvements to the Chauncy Street intersection. Attorney Valanzola said they would use "Left Turn Only" signage at the exit to the new lot to prevent traffic from using River Street. Ms. Ashman -Collins said there is no new use proposed at this time; Mr. Dirk said people who currently park elsewhere may use this new lot. He said the stations closer to Boston are at capacity, so there may be some new traffic. He said it will also depend on whether a new station opens in Foxboro. Mr. Cleary asked how close Mansfield is to being full. Several private lot owners said their parking lots are full. Mr. Dirk said the town has to deal with River Street; he said it may not be the minimum 20 feet wide now, with two-way traffic and parking. Planning Board 1/25/2017 Mr. Cleary asked if moving the entrance to this lot to the left would help; Mr. Dirk said it would help remove traffic from the intersection. Mr. Cleary said traffic would still queue up, but it would be within the parking lot. Mr. Dirk said they estimate 87 vehicle trips in the morning and 96 vehicle trips in the afternoon per train. There are currently 367 total morning trips, 405 in the evening. Ms. Friedman said the traffic signal at Chauncy Street/Copeland Drive also impacts the Highland Avenue/Chauncy Street intersection. Mr. Dirk said that is true; the Highland Avenue/Chauncy Street intersection is currently at service level F, with traffic backing up through successive signals. Ms. Friedman said she thinks the backup is longer than 15 minutes, depending on which train is coming in. She said 194 additional parking spaces is a little bit less than half the vehicles there now; Mr. Dirk said he applied the physical traffic counts from the existing spaces to come up with the amount of new traffic. He said traffic volumes can be slightly different depending on factors like the day of the week and weather. Mr. Dirk said the impacts of this lot will also depend on what happens in the adjacent lot. Ms. Friedman asked where the future proposed development will go. Mr, French said the town approved the TOD by-law a few years ago and thinks the board members are disappointed to see a parking lot plan and no long-term development plan. Attorney Valanzola said his client bought this property in September and does not have plans for the whole site at this time, but he said it will be consistent with the town's TOD plan. He said his clients plan to develop the site and suggested a time limit could be placed on the temporary parking area. Ms. Friedman asked if the long-range proposal will include disturbing the existing wooded area; Attorney Valanzola said they do not know what that development will look like at this point. He said he hopes to work with the neighbors on the development and traffic issues. He said they are not planning to have a parking lot for the next 10 years and suggested the special permit be issued with a "short leash;" he said the areas they build on will be subject to the board's review and abutters' input, Ms. Friedman said the applicant is asking for 194 spaces on the site next to the existing Ditchman parking lot, but at the same time they want to develop the area. She asked how the parking spaces could be used and the same time the site be developed. Attorney Valanzola said he doesn't think they will park cars on both lots while they develop the site, but that will depend on the site limitations. Ms. Ashman -Collins said that would require flexibility about the location of the parking spaces. Attorney Valanzola said there will be some work they can do on the site that would not require a special permit. Mr. LaPointe said the AUL is on the existing parking area, the former building area and into the wooded area. He said there were some monitoring wells installed when the building was demolished; Mr. Turner said the site is clean and there is no migration of pollution. Attorney Valanzola said they will have to have a licensed site professional before they can do any work on the site. 4 Planning Board 1/25/2017 Mr. Penney said the site was contaminated by the cutting oils and TCE, the degreaser used to get the cutting oils off the parts. The site has been examined and found not to be a risk unless there is excavation; if that is to be done, the owners will have to hire a site professional to monitor the soils. Mr. Cleary asked if there are some quick fixes the town can do. Mr. Dirk said a second means of access would be a benefit, sending traffic to the right rather than left would help. Mr. French said the residents are concerned about adding more traffic to an area that doesn't work well already. Mr. Turner said he wants to work with the town to develop a plan; Mr. French suggested using this as a relocation lot and moving the 30-35 spaces from River Street into this lot. Attorney Valanzola said the number may not be 192 spaces, but asked for that number to be higher than the relocated River Street spaces. Mr. French suggested a mechanism could be set up for the town to use the area for the River Street spaces, and then for additional parking as the site continues to be developed. Ms. Friedman said there are residential spaces on Howe Street and asked if they should be considered. A resident said there are about eight existing spaces on Howe Street. Mr. Valanzola said they can look into moving those spaces into their new lot. Department Head Comments The clerk read memos from Mr. Burke; Officer Kinahan and Mr. Alves Public Comment The clerk read emails from Mark Nappa, Morrow Street; Dennis and Debbie Mall, Highland Avenue; Lisa Bell, Highland Avenue Mike Brophy, Draper Avenue, said Allen Street is less than 200 feet long and it doesn't take many cars to back up traffic. He said between 4-6:30 pm, there is gridlock in the neighborhood and adding more cars to a space that is already overcrowded will make it worse. Doug Anderson, 27 Highland Avenue, said between 4:30-7:00 pm, people don't stop at the stop signs. He said getting out of the neighborhood in the morning is hard because of the commuters coming in. He said the town has to come up with a plan for another exit before adding more parking. He asked where the snow removed from the parking lot will go and said the site already has drainage problems. Pete Farrell, 23 Morrow Street, said he is discouraged because there have been repeated attempts to add parking to this part of town. He said the Police Department has been against it because of safety issues, and he is concerned about medical emergencies in the neighborhood in the late afternoon. He said both the Town Manager and Planning Director have suggested no new parking be added until a second access is worked out and asked why the developer would not have listened to that. Planning Board 1/25/2017 Donna Harrington, Highland Avenue, said she has no problem with idea of developing the area, but is concerned about adding more parking to an area that already doesn't work. She said there is new development happening now on the other side of the tracks, which will add more traffic to Route 106. She asked what the future development on this site will be, and whether there will be a parking garage. Sharon Racine, 22 Howe Street, said the existing spaces on River Street are resident spaces and if they are moved into a lot, it would bring in non-residents. Attorney Valanzola said they would be willing to make those spaces moved from River Street resident only. Ann Farrell, 23 Morrow Street, said there was a cap laid out in the Master Plan on the number of parking spaces and asked if that has been met. Mr. French said he understands the Board of Selectmen set a number several years ago, and said the town is probably at that number. Mr. Penney said the 2014 BETA study laid out some alternatives; Mr. Turner said their intention is to develop the site in accordance with the Master Plan and the BETA study. Mr. Penney said he is concerned this plan would block access to a second entrance. Mr. Turner said that is not his intention. Mr. Penney said he hopes the landowners will work with the town to develop the area. Mr. McClanahan said there are plans for the second entrance. Mr. Turner said he would like to help alleviate the traffic problem by allowing the use of their driveway; Mr. French suggested Mr. Turner talk to the Board of Selectmen about making River Street one-way. Ms. Farrell asked who would monitor the parking space "swap" from River Street into the new lot and whether the new spaces would be resident only. She said the neighborhood has train traffic five nights out of seven a week and the parking lot has an existing drainage problem. She said she is concerned about buffering adjacent to the parking lot. Mary McGrath, Morrow Street, said the traffic on Route 106 has gotten worse over the last five years, and she thinks that traffic comes from out of town. She asked the board and the town to stick up for the residents. Diana Kinney, Morrow Street, said having traffic only turn right from the train station will make Chauncy Street to Morrow Street and Perkins Avenue worse. She said there is a problem in the morning for pedestrians crossing Highland Avenue at Chauncy Street because the street is very wide. Kathy Healy, Draper Avenue, said she attended the ZBA meeting, at which Attorney Valanzola said the parking lot would be temporary, but he didn't say how long temporary is; she noted variances last in perpetuity. She said it is better now that Attorney Valanzola said it would be a short-term timeframe. She said she takes the train every day with people from around the region, and if there are additional spaces, people will come. She said Allen Street goes into Highland Avenue, and noted Mr. Turner said a right turn out of the parking lot would pull traffic out of the neighborhood. She said that is still pail of the neighborhood. She said during the discussion of Planning Board 1/25/2017 the TOD by-law at Town Meeting a few years ago, she asked about the possibility of a TOD development happening without a second means of egress; Mr. Ross said that would not happen. Ms. Healy said the existing impervious material is an eroding concrete floor. She said the only contact the neighbors have had with the landowner has been at the ZBA and Planning Board meetings; she said if they really want to work with the neighbors, they should start working with the town on the second means of egress. She said the neighborhood is at capacity and adding 194 additional spaces will bring more traffic. Attorney Valanzola said he represented his clients bought the property in September and met with Mr. Ross and Mr. Burke, telling them of their intention to develop the site according to the TOD zoning. He said he does not want an adversarial relationship with the neighbors. Mr. French said he thinks most people support the idea that this site would eventually have a TOD development, but the board has to vote on the application before it, which is a special permit for a 194 -space parking lot. Mr. Turner said they suggested having traffic go through Allen Street to Highland Avenue because he thinks it would help slow the speed of travel. Mr. Valanzola said Allen Street Extension is not a public way, easement or public way; it is private property. He said his clients hope to align Allen Street and Allen Street Extension. Dave Homan, 61 Draper Avenue, said everyone acknowledges there is a serious traffic issue and adding 194 spaces would exacerbate the problem. He said his main concern is safety; traffic backs up on Allen Street and Allen Street Extension and drivers don't pay attention to pedestrians or other cars at the stop sign. Charlene Giblin, 18 Draper Avenue, said there are a one-way sign and a stop sign at corner of their property that are ignored; traffic comes right across Allen Street. Lawrence Malsky, 26 Draper Avenue, said he thinks traffic control is the key to this problem. He said there should be a traffic signal at Highland Avenue/Chauncy Street, and possibly one on the site. He said there should be more stacking space on the site itself because now, the surrounding roads become stacking space. He said part of Draper is one-way going in, and if there is no second exit, he suggested making that part of Draper Avenue one-way going out instead of going in, and having parking areas exit onto an exit road parallel to Route 106. Mr. French said that was one of the options the BETA study looked at. William Clemmey, 55 Fowler Street, said he owns the parking lot next door with 173 parking spaces, the license for which the Board of Selectmen granted to match the number in the existing Ditchman lot. He distributed a handout including an aerial photograph of where the Cleveland Twist building was. Mr. Clemmey said there are 715 spaces on that side of the tracks and an additional 194 would be a 27% increase over existing conditions. He said there are no legal spaces outside of the fences. He said there is no need for additional parking at the train station today, so taking away spaces 7 Planning Board 1/25/2017 on River Street would not help. He said they traffic study the applicant used was the BETA study. The intersection is currently an F level of service, and with a detail officer on site, it is around a B level. Their traffic study says there will be 308 additional trips/day. There are existing drainage issues, and the applicant is seeking a waiver on drainage. He said there is currently ponding on site during heavy rain, so cars cannot park there, and the owner pumps water onto Allen Street. He said the drain has to be repaired, but the owner cannot touch it without a licensed site professional being present. He said they have to meet the drainage requirements, and the town has never given a drainage variance. Mr. Clemmey said the paving regulations require 2.5 inches of pavement and the slab is not impervious in many sections. He said it is not known what is under the slab. He said the owner is requesting a landscaping waiver because he cannot dig on the site without an licensed site professional. He said he put up 20 10 -foot white pines on his site for the abutters. He said he wants to develop the area, but not with a parking lot. He said fencing is not landscaping and a fence would provide minimal protection from things like light and snow. He asked how the fence would be put up. He said there are only 10 feet between Draper Avenue and the slab, and zoning requires a 20- or 50 -foot setback depending on where the frontage is. Mr. Clemmey said at the ZBA meeting, the owner said he doesn't want to be in the parking business, but also said he wants to do temporary parking and build a parking garage. He said the TOD plan said there should be no additional development without a second egress. He said the applicant said he wants to stuff as many cars as possible on the site and did not respond to the town engineer's comments until this week. He said the applicant said he would address the existing drainage issue, but has not. Mr. Clemmey said with the AUL on the property, it will be hard to work with and an LSP needs to be involved in any work on this site. He said there was a 1990 report stating there was improper storage of hazardous waste on the site. He said when the building was demolished, there was a "beneficial use determination" done in 1995, which says debris cannot be removed without proper waste management and notification to DEP. He said it does not say the slab can be used as replacement for paving. Mr. Clemmey said the BETA study was an access evaluation tool, out of which nine options came, none of which included adding parking. He said the goal was to look at options to enhance vehicular access. He said we cannot do anything without the second egress. He said there are things that can be done without a special permit, but TOD development needs a special permit. He said some ideas from the BETA study were used in the TOD by-law. He said the whole area should be developed, but it should be done right. He said the BETA study calls for a cohesive plan, which is what he said he wants to do. Mr. Clemmey said the Planning Board has to consider the special permit requirements, including the need for the applicant to show the benefits outweigh the detriments. Karl Clemmey, 175 Essex Street, asked Mr. Dirk to show the audience where Allen Street goes across River Street, Mr. K. Clemmey said it goes all the way to the railroad station. He said he would like to see the road go all the way through to the CSX land. He said if they try to make Planning Board 1/25/2017 River Street one-way, he would go to the highest court. Attorney Valanzola said Allen Street is registered Land Court land with no easement or right of way, and the town cannot vote to accept that land by easement or use. Mr. K. Clemmey said he was referring to Allen Street at the end of River Street. Mr. W. Clemmey said the area of Allen Street being referred to is from the end of the applicant's parking lot, takes a left and extends to the end of Mr. Clemmey's second row of parking. He said that road was reapproved at 2014 Town Meeting. He said that would be the way to connect the road to go along the tracks and across the tracks to County Street. He said that part of Allen Street will be critical to the future development of the area. Mr. French suggested the applicant talk with the Town Engineer, considering the concerns of the residents and considering a parking space trade off. Ms. Friedman said she is concerned about the AUL and said she would like to know what the plan is, would like the initial activities spelled out and a proposed and a proposed schedule. Attorney Valanzola said they are not at that point. Mr. Turner said they intend to fix the drainage. Ms. Friedman said she would like information about what is going to happen next and a specific plan regarding the AUL issues. Mr. Turner said the AUL is specific about the responsibility of the person who assumes it; there will be a plan of the sequence of development. However, he said at this time, there is no plan. He said he would like to fix the drainage because he cannot park cars there when it floods. He said he cannot park cars outside the gate. He said they have been trying to be good neighbors. Mr. French asked for a plan of what will happen on the site. Mr. Turner said they are not proposing the temporary parking lot as a way to generate parking revenue; he said he turns away a large number of cars every day. He said when they bought the site, the town asked them not to shut down the existing parking lot. He said they will have to do drilling and testing for soil conditions. Mr. Penney said the board would like to see aplan of the proposed work on this site. Mr. Turner said he understands the neighbors' concerns and said they will prepare a conceptual plan. Mr. Penney said the AUL document is available on the DEP website. Motion: To continue the public hearing to February 8, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. (McClanahan -Penney) All in favor. PASSES �, ArtTu tt�aXte ' .�ttu�rmnt . ti i r c d Motion: To adjourn at 10:05 p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next P ann'ng Board et' g: February 8, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. vi Z Sf na re of Clerk Date of Apoval 9 Planning Board 1/25/2017