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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 03/08/2017Planning Board Minutes.�,,�, March 8 2017 4 " E D �r� ,<<,, OFFICE Present: Tom French, Chair; Don Cleary, Clerk; Beth Ashman -Collins, Michael' IvlcCIanalan, Michael Feck, Ralph Penney, Richard LeBlanc All: Ill Alternates Joe Cerretani and Sharon Friedman Jennifer Davis, Administrative Assistant February 8, 2017 minutes p. 3 Public Comment — arborvitae is one word; Mr. Lazzara proposed removing the wall, "regrading and planting" p. 5 - Town Meeting — renderings with "special permit" applications, not "site plan." Motion: To approve as amended (Peck -Penney) Six in favor. LeBlanc abstained. Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, Norton, North Attleboro, Plainville, Sharon The Planning Board will have three zoning articles (public hearings April 5, 2017); decide on final wording at March 22, 2017 Planning Board meeting. Renderings with Special Permit Applications Tandem Parking Temporary Recreational Marijuana Moratorium Recreational Marijuana Mr. French said the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with a temporary recreational marijuana moratorium at the 2017 Town Meeting. The board discussed several towns that have already voted or proposed a moratorium. The Commonwealth has delayed allowing retail sales until June 2018, so a temporary moratorium would give towns the chance to study the issue and work on by-laws. Ms. Friedman said the Commonwealth's Cannabis Advisory Board has not even been formed yet; Mr. Feck said that is a good reason for towns to consider a moratorium. Mr. French asked if the town's moratorium should start after the Commonwealth's policy is established; he said the idea of the moratorium would be for the town to decide whether or not it wants to allow retail sales, after the Commonwealth has begun to allow the use. Ms. Friedman said that is one way to look at it; the other would be to see what kind of guidance comes down from the Advisory Board. She said if the town wants to see what is happening with legal retail sales, it can look at the states that already allow it. The board discussed having the moratorium run through June 2019 instead of June 2018. Ms. Friedman said a moratorium can be lifted early, but may not be able to be extended. Tandem Parking Mr. Feck said tandem parking should be allowed in the B4 zone, but not in B3 as drafted. Planning Board 3/8/2017 Mr. Penney asked how a bonus density would work with tandem parking; Mr. Feck said he thinks it would be similar to the way the board can allow compact car parking on a project, depending how it would fit in with the site. Mr. Penney said tandem parking has not been addressed in the Zoning By -Law before, and this by-law would allow the board more flexibility. Mr. LeBlanc asked about lowering the parking requirements and said tandem parking would be comparable to lowering parking requirements. Mr. Penney said the number of parking spaces required would not change with tandem parking, the difference would be the way the spaces are accessed. Mr. LeBlanc said in zones like TOD, the idea would be to encourage less car use because of the proximity to public transportation, so it may make sense to lower the requirement. Mr. Feck said allowing tandem parking would allow higher density development in the zone. 2 ,Specral Permit Public Heax ngcanhnued 13D'Sraug street 1-[Inita5 and Ore ResidentiaiAeveMopm@nt Gro'veBuilrugRealiyTrast Owner James Lazzara explained the proximity of the building to Willowdale subdivision Lots 6 and 7 (Marie Drive) and the houses across Spring Street. He said it is 245' from his building to Lot 6 Marie Drive. He said the third floor elevation of the new building is 164.5; the second floor of Lot 6 is at about the same height. Landscaping — Mr. Lazzara said there is an existing bank of arborvitae and a mix of 30 to 40 -foot high oak and maple trees. He said at there is going to be a retaining wall and a four -foot fence at the end of the Marie Drive cul-de-sac, which drops about six feet in grade to the street. He said it doesn't make sense to remove the existing oaks and maples and replicate them, and the area is close to the 100' wetland buffer. He said the revised landscaping plan shows a bank of 10 Norway spruce on the bank on the upper part of the disturbed area; he said the original plan showed 10 Norway spruce at the northern end, near lot 7. He said he is proposing to disturb as little as possible and to add as much as possible on the southwestern end to provide a buffer. Mr. French asked if Mr. Lazzara has spoken with the neighbors across Spring Street, who were concerned about headlights shining in the windows. Mr. Lazzara said the house is a split level, and headlights will hit around the front door area. He said he placed his driveway in the only location it can go; he said his residents will not do a lot of night traveling and there will be no deliveries at night He said there will be no cars backing out onto Spring Street. Mr. French asked if Mr. Lazzara would be willing to plant some trees on the neighbor's property; he said he would be willing to do that, but was concerned that would make it hard to back out of that driveway. Mr. Lazzara explained where the new driveway would be located in relation to the existing driveway. Mr. Penney suggested low -growing shrubs on that property; Mr. McClanahan suggested a short fence. Mr. Lazzara said he made the new driveway as wide as possible to avoid it being in line with the existing driveway. He said about one third of his residents work, about one quarter do not have cars and some go away seasonally. He said there will be no deliveries, mail or trash on Spring Street; all of those services will take place inside the site. The abutter said it would be acceptable if Mr. Lazzara plants some low -growing landscaping on her property. Mr. LeBlanc asked if the driveway were designed with an arc, it may take some headlight glare from the property across the street. Mr. Lazzara said he has put the driveway in the only possible Planning Board 3/8/2017 place because of wetland concerns. Mr. LeBlanc asked if the wetland would be relocated under this plan; Mr. Lazzara said it will not be, but he will have to do some removing and replanting. Mr. Lazzara said he has addressed the Town Engineer's comments. Mr. French asked if the site would tie into sewer by gravity or pump; Mr. Lazzara said he would have to use a pump. Department Head Comments The clerk read a memo from Mr. Alves. Public Comment The clerk read a March 6, 2017 email from Gil Lahlum, Spring Street and a March 4, 2017 email from Brian Tighe, 56 Spring Street. John Walsh, Walsh Brothers Building Co., said the new building will be close to Lot 7 Marie Drive and he is concerned this building will not provide enough privacy. Mr. French asked the distance from the foundation on Lot 7 to the property line; Mr. Lazzara said it is 70-80 feet. He said he has proposed the arborvitae to provide more of a barrier, but he does not want to disturb too much existing planting. He said he would be willing to move some of the existing trees; Mr. Walsh said he thinks more should be done. Bob Tomasello, Lot 6 Marie Drive, asked if the landscaping plan shows the dumpster. Mr. Lazzara said the dumpster is screened. Mr. Tomasello asked the about the trash schedule; Mr. Lazzara said the dumpster will probably be emptied once every two weeks. Mr. Tomasello said he is concerned about the noise of the dumpster being emptied. Mr. Lazzara said it is around 300 feet from the dumpster to Lot 6 Marie Drive. Mr. Lazzara said the Conservation Commission has a list of plantings he has to install on the site. He said he would submit the plan to the Planning Board. Board Comment Mr. Feck asked if the dumpster is screened by a chain link fence with slats; Mr. French said it is. Mr. McClanahan asked Mr. Lazzara to plant more arborvitae along Lot 7 Marie Drive, on the back side of the new building. Mr. Penney said when the trees are in bloom, he doesn't think the abutters will be able to see much on this site. Ms. Friedman asked about regrading at the back of the building. Mr. Lazzara said that will be in the disturbed area; the plantings and gulley are along the property line. He said there is a lot of scrub material in that area, which will be raised up about four feet with swales to either side to allow runoff. The area will be graded about 10 feet from the back of the building. Ms. Friedman asked if runoff would go into the wetlands; Mr. Lazzara said the drainage will go toward the new driveway and the runoff from building and paved areas will go to a drainage system in the parking lot. Planning Board 3/8/2017 Mr. Penney said it would be preferable to connect the sewer by gravity, but he understands it may not work. Mr. Cerretani asked if the retaining wall will still be installed; Mr. Lazzara said that is part of the Willowdale subdivision, not his project. Mr. Cerretani asked if there would be landscaping installed at the wall; Mr. Lazzara said to add landscaping, the existing trees would have to be removed and the site would have to be filled in order to plant new trees. Mr. LeBlanc asked about the drainage; Mr. Lazzara said the existing grade is at 136', goes down to 134' toward the street, and to 132' at the drainage system and wetland. Mr. Lazzara said salt, sand and deicing materials used on the sidewalk and parking lot will go into the drainage system; he said the south side of the site would be left as close to natural conditions as possible. He said all runoff would stay on the property. Mr. French asked Mr. Lazzara to add the additional landscaping and the Conservation Commission plan to the landscaping plan and to work out plantings for the neighbor across Spring Street. Ms. Friedman asked about drainage going into the wetland; Mr. Lazzara said all runoff from the building and driveway will go through the drainage system. Motion: To continue the public hearing to March 22, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. (Penney-Cerretani) All in favor. PASSES [Mr. Feck left the meeting at this time] 3.Special Permitl'ub�c Haring continued 75 Chauncy Street Parlstng--Mansfield ,= Attomev Edward Valanzola, Georgie Turner, Robert Turner, David LaPointe, Beals & Thomas, Brian Klingler, licensed site professional Attorney Valanzola presented the modification to the special permit application, an updated traffic report and new plans showing 75 parking spaces, 17 of which already exist outside the Cleveland Twist Drill site. The remaining 58 spaces are within the site. He said there are also 35 existing, town -owned, on -street parking spaces along River Street, which in effect make River Street a one-way street. They are proposing to eliminate those spaces, which would allow River Street to have safe two-way traffic, and bring them onto their site. He said the net gain would be 40 spaces. He said with 75 new spaces, the revised traffic report includes projections of about 34 additional trips in the morning peak, 38 in the afternoon peak; with 40 net additional spaces, there would be 18 morning peak trips and 20 afternoon peak trips. He said the projections in original traffic report were 80-90 trips during peak hours. Attorney Valanzola said they would like to do a one-to-one swap and be able to move spaces from the existing lots as they close off other parts of the site to do work. He said they could do that through the submission of a plan showing the portions of the site being shifted as the work is happening. He said this is not a long-term parking project and suggested an 18 -month window. Planning Board 3/8/2017 Attorney Valanzola said he understands there are exiting drainage issues on the site and suggested adding a condition that Mr. Alves must be satisfied with how they have addressed the drainage issues before they can use the special permit. Attorney Valanzola said under the AUL, they can do work on the site's surface, but when they put in a building, they will need an LSP on site. He said the parking plan is for a striped parking lot with a concrete surface, which may have to be repaired in some places. Department Head Comments The clerk read memos from Mr. Alves and Officer Kinahan Attorney Valanzola said Officer Kinahan's opposition to the 75 additional parking spaces indicate the Police Department would be opposed to any new parking. He said it would not be 75 parking new spaces, it would be fewer because of the River Street spaces. Ms. Ashman - Collins said the River Street parking spaces are not part of this project; Attorney Valanzola said they would have to go to the Board of Selectmen to request they eliminate those 17 spaces and move them into this proposed parking lot. Mr. French said the Planning Board has to know exactly what the special permit application is for; Mr. Valanzola said they are requesting 75 new spaces on this site, including the River Street spaces. Mr. McClanahan said they should have gone to the Board of Selectmen first to work out the River Street spaces first. Mr. French asked if the River Street spaces would be for residents only; Mr. Turner said they would reserve them for residents at $2 each. Attorney Valanzola said if the Board of Selectmen does not agree with eliminating the River Street spaces, there could be a special permit condition that spaces lost from the existing 172 - space lot during construction cannot be replaced in this lot. Mr. French said the neighbors are concerned about adding parking because of existing traffic conditions. He said he thinks the neighbors and the board were comfortable with the idea of shifting the existing parking onto this site while development is happening on other parts of the site, but thinks everyone is concerned about adding traffic. Public Comment Steve Spilewski, 42 Howe Street, said he is concerned about taking on -street spaces from River Street and not from Howe Street, which would result in more people using Howe Street. Mr. Valanzola suggested asking the Board of Selectmen to take the eight spaces from Howe Street as well. Caroline Homan, 61 Draper Avenue, said the current traffic pattern is dangerous for pedestrians. Cathy Deely, 48 Draper Avenue, said she is concerned about safety and traffic issues. She said the current parking lot has painted lines, but several cars park outside the lines. She said if they are allowing people to park with no supervision now, that situation could get worse. She said it appears the landowner is trying to put as many cars on the site as possible. Planning Board 3/8/2017 Board Comment Ms. Friedman said she has visited the area and is concerned about the AUL status. She said she understands some of the areas on the site are ok to use now, but when it is disturbed, there are contaminants that would require significant supervision. She said she is concerned about the issues Mr. Alves brought up, and said it does not seem that this plan addresses them. She said if this site is to be further developed, she would be reluctant to allow it without seeing additional plans. Mr. Klingler said the contamination issue is not with the soil; the purpose of the AUL is that if a building were constructed and the soil excavated, barriers must be installed to mitigate groundwater impact. He said a parking lot use would not conflict with the AUL. Ms. Friedman said it may be a challenge to park on the area because of elevation changes; she said she would be concerned that even a parking lot could disturb the ground. She asked if bringing in fill to level off the area would impact the AUL; Mr. Klingler said it would not. Mr. Valanzola said they do not plan to bring in fill for the parking area; they plan to clean up the concrete apron, level, pave and stripe the spaces. Mr. French said the installation of a drainage system, which Mr. Alves wants to see, would involve excavation. Town Manager William Ross said the Board of Selectmen has not discussed the elimination of parking spaces on River Street and Howe Street, so they do not have a position at this time. Attorney Valanzola said he would be happy to discuss the matter with the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Spilewski asked who has the authority to eliminate existing on -street parking; Board of Selectman Chair Aptowitz said it would be up to the Board of Selectmen, which would take public comment before making a decision. Mr. McClanahan said he is concerned this application is asking the Planning Board to make a decision before that issue is decided with the Board of Selectmen. Attorney Valanzola said he thinks the Board of Selectmen would like the Planning Board's guidance on the issue. Mr. French said he thinks the question of eliminating existing on -street parking could be a discrete question the Board of Selectmen could answer independently of the Planning Board. Mr. Turner said he would be happy to continue the hearing until they can talk to the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Ahsman-Collins said the application before the board is for a temporary parking use, and she does not feel the elimination of on -street spaces on River and Howe would be temporary. Mr. Cerretani said he visited the site and watched the 4:00 train come in, and said the first 10 cars coming out of the parking lot go very fast and many drivers do not observe the stop sign. Mr. Turner said they could cut off access to eliminate drivers coming through their property; Mr. Cerretani said he thinks people would simply do the same thing using a different route. Mr. Turner said he plans to repair the cracked areas of the parking lot, remove the pile of debris and Mr. Klingler will be on site any time there is a net removal of material from the site. Ms. Friedman asked how to tell when materials being removed may be trigger the AUL; Mr. Turner said if there is any potential for hazardous material disturbance, it would be regulated. Attorney Valanzola said the materials on the surface are not considered hazardous material, so they can be removed. Mr. Cerretani asked when the LSP is necessary; Mr. Valanzola said the LSP must be on site when the site is disturbed, such as when digging occurs. 6 Planning Board 3/8/2017 Mr. Ross said the Town has been working with MassDOT and he thinks there will be meeting in the next few weeks to talk about the second exit. He said MassDOT has informally indicated it is something they can do, but the process takes time. Mr. Turner said they hope to be part of that process and to help change the traffic pattern. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the peak time for the proposed parking will be exactly when the existing problems are occurring. She said she is sympathetic to the one-to-one swap idea, but said she isn't sure how the board can move ahead with the application without the drainage issue solved. Mr. LeBlanc said he would be concerned about where the 75 commuters will park when the site begins to be developed, and said the spaces removed from River and Howe would be permanently lost. Attorney Valanzola said eliminating those spaces would improve safety on those streets. He said his client is in the business of developing sites, not long-term parking, and asked the board to work with them. He said they want to be able to have a place to move parking spaces during construction. Mr. LeBlanc said he is concerned about what would happen if the board granted an 18 -month special permit; Attorney Valanzola said they would be back before the board to develop the site. Mr. Turner said when they bought the lot, they were asked by the Town not to shut it down; he said if the board does not want them to do the additional parking, that is fine with him. He said he understands the neighbors' issues, but he doesn't think 75 additional spaces are going to make a big difference in that issue. He said he thinks when they develop the whole site, it will be a benefit. Attorney Valanzola suggested a 75 -space parking lot rather than going to the town to eliminate the River Street and Howe Street spaces. Mr. Turner said he thinks those spaces should be eliminated for safety; Mr. French said that would be up to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Turner said the traffic is already there, with people driving around the area looking for a parking space. Mr. French said the problem with the special permit is the number of moving parts, with the outstanding issues before the Zoning Board and now the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Valanzola said with the revised plan, there would be around 20 additional trips during the afternoon peak. Mr. McClanahan said he wants to be sure the second means of access is worked out; he said the town has been working on it for a long time, and he does not want to add another problem when the town is so close to that solution. Mr. French asked if the proposed parking area floods now. Mr. Turner said the building's roof drains were tied into the drainage system, and the town's drainage is going to his lot. He said when they come back with a development plan, they will have all the answers to the questions that have come up. He said there is a rumor the property is for sale, which he said is not true. Mr. Turner said the portion where they propose to park cars does not flood. Mr. French said the board would like these issues worked out before it votes on the special permit, but said the residents still have a problem with additional parking. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the elimination of the River and Howe Street spaces will not solve the net parking problem. Planning Board 3/8/2017 Attorney Valanzola asked if the board would be willing to take a straw vote; Mr. Penney said he would like the board to vote the issue one way or the other. Mr. Turner suggested adding a condition that the Town Engineer's concerns about the drainage be resolved; Mr. French said he thinks the drainage issues involve more than one catch basin. Mr. Penney said he thinks the drainage is a secondary issue; the main issue is adding more traffic. He said the Board of Selectmen voting to move the River and Howe Street spaces would not impact his vote, and said drainage in this area has always been a problem. Mr. Turner said they would like to withdraw their application. Motion: To close the public hearing (Penney -McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES Renderings — The last sentence should read "The Planning Board shall have the authority to approve modifications to the building design requested by the applicant." Mr. Cerretani said the sign at the Subway plaza on Copeland Drive has been falling down for a year and asked to contact the Building Inspector. Mr. Penney said the National Lumber situation is getting worse. Mr. McClanahan said Francis Avenue and Maple Street are being used like a parking lot. Mr. Penney said trucks come in at 3- 4 am and park on the street until National Lumber opens. He said National Lumber also conducts training courses with many people parking on the streets. Motion: To send Mr. Blackman a memo informing him of the problem with National Lumber exceeding their parking and parking in the landscape areas (Penney -Ashman -Collins) Five in favor. Two abstentions. PASSES Mr. Penney said the board has discussed how building heights are measured; it came up during the discussion of the parapets on the self -storage building on Wood Avenue. Mr. French read the definition of "building height" in the Zoning By -Law. 9. �d�ourniment, Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next Planning Board Meeting: March 22, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. r Signature of Clerk Date of Approval 8 Planning Board 3/8/2017