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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 10/25/2017Planning Board Minutes October 25, 2017 Present: Tom French, Chair; Don Cleary, Clerk; Beth Ashman -Collins, Michael McClanahan, Ralph Penney, Rich LeBlanc Alternates Joe Cerretani and Sharon Friedman Jennifer Davis, Administrative Secretary 1. Minutes October 4, 2017 Motion: To approve as submitted (Penney -McClanahan) Six in favor. Ashman -Collins abstained. PASSES 2. Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, Foxboro, North Attleboro, Norton, Sharon 3. The Beacon October 18, 2017 letter from Dr. Daniel Dulaski re: Route 106 traffic issues discussed at the October 4, 2017 Board of Selectmen's meeting Mr. French said Dr. Dulaski's counsel seems to be that changes could be effected with things like intersection improvements rather than widening the corridor. Mr. Penney said the Planning Board has made similar recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Cleary said Dr. Dulaski's recommendations included adding technology to traffic lights to allow large trucks time to get through intersections, and to combine curb cuts along that corridor. Ms. Friedman suggested sending Dr. Dulaski a letter thanking him for his suggestions and inviting him to the November 1, 2017 Board of Selectmen's meeting. The board discussed the future development of Chauncy and Central Streets and the possibility of pushing a new building further back on the site or widening the road at that point. Ms. Friedman said traffic may increase on Central Street because of new development on that street in Foxboro. Mr. French said the intersection of Copeland Drive and Chauncy Street is under state control and said Mr. Azinheira is putting together an application to MassHighway for a corridor study. Mr. LeBlanc suggested the town could.make some changes to the Chauncy/Copeland intersection based on the high number of accidents. None Ralph Maloon and Craig Cygawnoski, RIM Engineering Aksel Solberg, architect Karl Clemmey and William Clemmey Mr. W. Clemmey explained the proposed mixed-use building with 44 residential units and an affordable housing aspect. They have included several of the downtown overlay items including benches and lighting, which would allow higher density, but he said the proposed FAR is 1.8. He said there will be 5,000 square feet of retail along the first floor with 11 existing on -street parking spaces, 34 full-sized parking spaces in the parking garage and 32 compact parking Planning Board 10/25/17 spaces outside. The building will have an elevator in the middle and stairs on either end. Each floor will have a common area and there will be a terrace available for residents' use. Mr. Clemmey explained the Zoning Board of Appeals has granted several variances. Mr. Clemmey said a staff -level meeting was held on October 10; Mr. Blackman provided the board with a memo summarizing the comments received at that meeting, including Fire and Police. Mr. Clemmey said they will provide directional arrows and signage to ensure drivers go in and out in the right direction. Mr. Clemmey said Mr. Alves had been concerned about screening along the back of the site; he said there is an existing fence along part of the property line, and they will l�y continue the fence along the rest. He said if there is enough room they will add trees. ere is a moratorium on North Main Street, so they will bring utilities in from the side streets. Mr. Alves was concerned about possible damage to the sidewalk during construction; Mr. Clemmey said they may put up a bond and they plan to integrate the sidewalk into their terrace and landscaping. Mr. Clemmey said they held a neighborhood meeting in August and discussed snow removal and traffic. He said they plan to remove all snow from the site. He said there are now around 30 cars parked on the lot, and at buildout there will be about twice that number, and many will be commuters who will walk to the train station. He noted High Street and West Church Street are one-way streets. Mr. Clemmey said Mr. Alves's October 25 memo mentioned there were too many compact parking spaces and noted the Zoning By -Law allows 100% compact spaces. He said all the on- site parking spaces are for the residential uses, but the Zoning By -Law allows on -street parking for retail uses. Mr. Clemmey said they will comply with the engineering requirements with Mr. Alves before they submit permits. Mr. Clemmey said when the original building on the site was torn down, they found a stub for a four -inch sewer pipe, which would be in the middle of the commercial space, where there might be a restaurant. Mr. Alves said he would discuss using that pipe to connect a grease trap. Mr. Clemmey said if there is a restaurant in that space, they will install a grease trap. Mr. Penney suggested planning for a grease trap now; Mr. Clemmey said they have not decided if they will do a restaurant. Mr. Penney said the groundwater in the area is shallow in the spring and a grease trap may have to be anchored; Mr. Clemmey said they have done test holes in the parking lot so they will accommodate that. Mr. Cygawnoski said the one-way signs are shown on Sheet 3 of the site plan. Mr. McClanahan asked about a one-way parking pattern. Mr. Clemmey said the traffic engineer looked at that and did not think making the traffic pattern one-way would make a difference. Mr. Clemmey said he spoke with Mr. Alves today, who said he thinks everything in his memo can be addressed. Planning Board 10/25/17 Department Head Comments The clerk read memos from Kurt Gaffney, Water Operations Manager; Robert Blackman, Building Inspector; Chris Cox, MMED; Sandy Conaty, SRPEDD Ms. Ashman -Collins asked about the changes to handicapped parking. Mr. Cygawnoski explained a handicapped parking space has been added to the West Church Street side of the site. Mr. Clemmey explained there was a question about the distance to the accessible entrance and explained there are three accessible entrances, one of which is near the van space. Mr. McClanahan said there are existing light poles and fixtures on the street. Mr. Cygawnoski said there is an existing light pole on High Street abutting the property. Mr. Clemmey explained the architectural plans, including renderings, landscape plans and lighting plans. Mr. Clemmey said they will be providing light fixtures, planters, trash receptacles, a bike rack in the back and landscaping/patio along sidewalk. He said they will add sidewalk, outdoor seating, a courtyard, and a terrace upstairs. Mr. Cleary asked about loading areas; Mr. Clemmey said they would have delivery trucks use High Street rather than North Main Street. Mr. Cleary asked the height of the parking garage; Mr. Sjoberg said they expect to have a 16' poured floor. Mr. Clemmey said the doors would probably be 14' and will accommodate a pickup truck or UHaul truck. Mr. Clemmey said Section 230-4.4 requires one parking space per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for retail, so they would need six parking spaces for their 5,100 square feet of retail. Mr. LeBlanc asked if the building facade is brick; Mr. Clemmey said it has not been finalized, but it will be brick or hardie board. Mr. Penney said the color scheme shown on the plan is what the board would approve. Mr. Penney asked about the bedrooms per unit; Mr. Sjoberg said there will be 28 2 -bedrooms and 16 one -bedrooms. Mr. Penney asked about the amount of retail space. Mr. Clemmey said the layout of the retail space has not changed, but the depth of each space will differ. He said the retail spaces will be 1,300 square feet, 1,600 square feet and 2,100 square feet, but they could be broken up differently depending on the tenants. Mr. Penney said a majority of the parking is under the building, so snow removal will only be required for the spaces outside the building. Mr. Penney asked about the snow removal plan; Mr. Clemmey said there is no snow storage area on site and all the snow will be removed. Mr. Penney asked how that would be incorporated into the site plan decision. Mr. Clemmey said he will not plow snow on the streets and will manage the on-site snow. Ms. Friedman suggested including that into an Operations and Management Plan; Mr. Clemmey said that would be required with a special permit, but is not the case with site plan. He said the town's by-laws state Planning Board 10/25/17 snow cannot be plowed into the street, so he will not do that. Mr. Penney said the board typically asks how snow will be handled. Mr. Clemmey said he would send the board a letter saying they will not plow snow onto the streets and the parking will be accommodated for during snow events. Mr. LeBlanc asked how the dumpster will be sized; Mr. Clemmey said the dumpster company will help determine the appropriate size and how often they will be emptied. Mr. Penney asked if SRPEDD has reviewed the plans on behalf of the Planning Board; Mr. French said it has. Mr. Penney said he is comfortable with that. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked about parking for a restaurant use; Mr. Clemmey said there would be enough parking for a restaurant use. However if a restaurant wanted to have more seats than they have planned for, they would have to come back to the Planning Board. He noted the retail and restaurant uses may have different hours and different parking needs. Mr. Penney noted valet parking for a restaurant use would be an option. Ms. Friedman asked if any apartments will be designed specifically to be handicapped accessible and whether there will be affordable units. Mr. Clemmey said they have to meet the town's requirements for affordable units, but at this time they have not decided how they will do that. He said they have not determined whether units will be specifically designed for handicapped accessibility. Mr. Sjoberg said the building has been designed for handicapped access. Mr. Clemmey said they would need six affordable units, which could be done through a combination of constructing units on this site, on a different site or by a donation to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Mr. French asked for a planting plan showing species and spacing. Mr. French asked if Mr. Alves has approved the cultec design; Mr. Maloon said he has Mr. LeBlanc asked about the fence; Mr. Cygawnoski said there is an existing vinyl fence on an abutting property, so they may continue that fence toward High Street. Mr. Clemmey said the easiest thing would be to continue the fence, but they could also plant trees. Mr. Cygawnoski said there are only about two feet, so there are concerns about roots. Mr. Cerretani asked about the neighbor's questions; Mr. Clemmey said they were primarily about snow, traffic patterns and construction plans. He said they will put up a construction fence and keep their materials on site. Mr. McClanahan said it is a nice plan, the applicant has received the necessary variances and meets the parking requirements. Mr. Clemmey said the variance has been recorded at the Registry of Deeds. Mr. French suggested drafting an approval with the Building Inspector or SRPEDD, including the board and department comments being addressed, a landscaping plan showing species and spacing, snow removal, and the other comments from the board. 4 Planning Board 10/25/17 Mr. French asked if Mr. Clemmey would grant an extension of the timeline to have the decision drafted. Mr. Clemmey said he would. He asked if the board would consider voting on the site plan with the conditions that he supply the board with the snow removal plan and landscaping plan. Mr. Karl Clemmey said he would like the board to vote tonight. He said they will be removing snow from this site, but the town has asked them to provide snow storage for handicapped parking spaces at the train station. He said they met with the neighbors and this building will bring more jobs and taxes to the town. Motion: To direct staff to draft a site plan approval for the board's review, including the standard conditions such as the department head comments being addressed; landscape plan with list of species and spacing; lighting plan; snow removal; hours of operation for the board's review at the November 1, 2017 meeting (McClanahan -Cleary) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Clemmey said the site plan section requires a list of trees to be removed and retained, and said he will provide a list of plantings. Mr. Penney said the board has to look at landscaping and screening in accordance with the Zoning By -Law. Mr. Clemmey suggested amending the site plan section to require the submission of a landscaping list. Mr. Karl Clemmey suggested the town look at a road from Foxboro to Route 140. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the Downtown Committee is looking at Safe Routes School on Park Street and the connection from North Main Street to Fulton's Pond, as well as using the Fales Oil site for parking as well as a park and repaving the bike path on Old Colony Way near the Fales site. She said the Fales Oil site will see a net increase in parking. Mr. French said Mr. Azinheira has applied to MassHighway for Route 106 corridor improvements. Motion: To adjourn at 8:50 p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next Planning Board Meeting: November 1, 2017: 7:00 p.m. - Discussion with Board of Selectmen re: Route 106 Improvements, 3 a/b 7:30 p.m. — Planning Board, 2 a/b Next Regular Planning Board Meeting: November 8, 2017 at 7:30 p.m., Meeting Room 2 a/b Date o A ppro al r'lanning Board 10/25/17