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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 02/14/2018Planning Board Minutes „ o February 14, 2018 m' Present: Tom French, Chair; Don Cleary, Clerk; Beth Ashman -Collins, Richc lar% Alternate Sharon Friedman 9 3-, t M n Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Davis, Adrnri> trafive SecretaryU'rm 0 r i Motion: To appoint Ms. Ashman -Collins Acting Chair (Friedman -Cleary) All in favor. IMSSI 1. Minutes January 31, 2018 p. 3 – Mr. LeBlanc said he was concerned with typical zoning practices like setbacks Motion: To approve as amended (Friedman -LeBlanc) PASSES Mr. French arrived at 7:20 p.m. 2. February 6, 2018 memo from Mr. Ahern recommending the surety be set at $218,859.57. February 12, 2018 memo from Mr. Burke re: Willowdale Phase 2 Surety Amount; the developer plans to post an insurance bond. Motion: To set the bond for Willowdale Phase 2 (Lorraine Way and Julia Road) at $220,000.00 (Ashman -Collins -Cleary) All in favor. PASSES 3. Public Hearing notices - Attleboro, Easton, Plainville 4. The Beacon None - — – Ed Tartufo, Jack Conway Realty, representing the owners of American Paper Recycling; explained the industrial property is approximately six acres from Winthrop Avenue to Central Street. He said the owners would not be opposed to changing the zoning to TOD, which could allow more reuse options. Mr. French asked if there is an active rail spur; Mr. Tartufo said he thought there was, but he plans to verify that. He said mixed use is allowed with the current industrial zoning, which could allow around 70,000 square feet of residential, or 60-70 units. He said with TOD bonuses, there could possibly be more units. Ms. Ashman -Collins noted the property is on both sides of the railroad tracks. Ms. Ashman - Collins said if TOD were to be extended, it would not take away any of the existing I3 zoning options, but would add the TOD options as well. Mr. Burke agreed. Mr. LeBlanc said when he was talking about changing uses in the I3 zone, he was thinking about making the uses more compatible with downtown, like business or residential. Mr. French said he thinks the owners would rather keep the zoning the way it is, to avoid existing businesses becoming pre-existing, non -conforming uses. Mr. Tartufo said with TOD, there could be commercial, residential and restaurants uses. Mr. LeBlanc said with I3 zoning, the land could still be redeveloped as an industrial use. Planning Board 2/14/18 Mr. Burke said the east side of the tracks, on High Street, include an office condo, MMED equipment yard, Kirley Masonry and residential uses. He said changing the zoning could make the existing uses pre-existing, non -conforming and changes to those properties would have to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Mr. Tartufo said changing the zoning to TOD may give the town more control over future development of the site. Mr. Burke suggested the rezoning could be a citizens' petition, which would require 10 signatures to be included on the warrant. Mr. French said the owners may want to consider making this a separate article rather than linking it with zoning on the other side of the tracks. He noted when the board sponsored the TOD overlay district, it included a large area of land with many different owners. He noted the board would hold a public hearing on any citizens' petition. Mr. LeBlanc said he would prefer this came in as a citizens' petition because it is for a single property. Ms. Ashman - Collins agreed. Recreational Marijuana Ms. Ashman -Collins said the Downtown Advisory Committee has voted not to support recreational marijuana downtown. She said she had been in support of the idea of allowing marijuana growing in the business park, but has since learned that use may have a negative impact on investment in business parks. Mr. French said investors tend to be very conservative, which could have a long-term negative impact when businesses in the park turn over. There are also concerns about the smell of marijuana growing facilities impacting the business park. Police Chief Ron Sellon said there are a number of considerations the town needs to consider, including a number of different uses, such as distribution. He said federal banks will not process funds from recreational marijuana businesses, so those businesses tend to be cash businesses. He said cash businesses tend to be attractive for crime, and Mansfield's location on the highways make it an attractive location for organized retail crime. Chief Sellon said a lot of communities are looking at the odor and considering increasing the buffers and adding odor and noise mitigation. He said it is very difficult because towns are trying to head off problems, but the state does not have its final regulations in place. Mr. French said the Board of Selectmen are considering an article to extend the moratorium, there is a citizens' petition to ban the use, and the Planning Board has been asked to draft a by- law to allow the use. Mr. Burke said he doesn't think the town has to allow all of the recreational marijuana uses. Chief Sellon said he agrees. He said the town has to craft regulations that will be the least risk averse, while not opening the whole by-law to being thrown out by the Attorney General's office. Mr. French asked where the chief would recommend allowing and not allowing the use. Chief Sellon suggested away from the schools; he said the Cannabis Commission is looking at 1,000 feet from schools. Chief Sellon suggested locations with the least impact on businesses and said he thinks allowing the use downtown may have a negative impact on other businesses. He said he would like the location to be somewhere his department can best work with the business. Planning Board 2/14/18 Mr. Burke said he had liked the idea of allowing growing facilities in the business park, but after the information shared at last night's Downtown Committee meeting, he is no longer supportive of that idea. He said he is concerned about security and safety, and thinks the safest way would be a fixed, brick and mortar location that would be reviewed the same way the medical marijuana facility was permitted. Chief Sellon said the problem is that no matter the suggested location, he has a concern about allowing the use there. Ms. Friedman said any location is going to be a concern for someone, but noted the use has to be allowed somewhere; she noted the board has to decide which of the uses would be allowed. Mr. French said the town would have to allow at least one of the uses. Chief Sellon said he would be opposed to craft cultivation and retail because he is concerned about THC levels in edibles. He said things like noise and odor mitigation would have to be considered if grow facilities are to be allowed. With distribution, he suggested using the hackney license procedure. He said when he talked to the medical marijuana facility owners, they discussed routes so the Police Department would know those plans. Ms. Friedman said the board has discussed the potential revenue and tax base support of this business; Chief Sellon said he does not believe the 3% tax on the use will .A cover the impact on communities. Ms. Friedman said wherever the town ends up on this issue, it has to be able to communicate with the public about how the decisions were made. Mr. Burke said in Colorado, the impact on taxes was initially very high, but as the marketplace was inundated, the value decreased significantly, so the amount of taxes being generated was reduced. Chief Sellon said the town has to decide where to allow the use and how to minimize the impact on that area. Mr. LeBlanc suggested an overlay district allowing retail through the Route 140 corridor, where it intersects appropriate zoning. Chief Sellon said if the location could be narrowly defined and a special permit is required to ensure security, he can assign a liaison to the business and discuss routes of travel and security, which could help to mitigate problems. Mr. French said he thinks the town has the ability to regulate those types of things with a special permit. Chief Sellon said he does not like the idea of retail use, particularly because of the problems with edibles and children. Mr. Burke said with zoning, the town has to look at the intent of the regulations. He said allowing retail or a grow facility would meet the intent, but is not certain some of the other uses would. Ms. Friedman said even if Mansfield does not allow some of the uses, if Norton decides to allow them, there will not be any way to prevent things like deliveries in Mansfield. Chief Sellon agreed. Ms. Friedman suggested the I1 or 12 would make sense; Mr. Cleary suggested not 12 because there are several small pockets of I2 in residential areas. Chief Sellon suggested continuing the discussion about whether the town wants to allow retail or grow. Mr. LeBlanc said he would not be supportive of allowing grow facilities in Il, I2 or I3. Planning Board 2/14/18 Mr. Burke said he thinks a special permit can build in the security requirements the chief is concerned about. Mr. LeBlanc suggested an overlay district, which would allow for the use to locate without being overly restrictive. Mr. Burke said he would put together two drafts for the next meeting; an overlay for retail and an overlay for grow facilities. The board discussed allowing grow facilities in the area of the Nelson property on School Street; Mr. LeBlanc asked that would be too restrictive. Mr. Burke said he doesn't think so because there are several large properties with different owners there. Mr. French said the board should decide which draft articles it wants to bring to Town Meeting this year and focus on those items. Mr. Burke said recreational marijuana will be the most important article. Downtown Parking Ms. Ashman -Collins said the Downtown Committee discussed making downtown retail and restaurant parking requirements the same, which may avoid having developments being permitting with retail (requiring less parking), then wanting to put in a restaurant later and not having enough parking. Mr. Burke said the retail parking requirement would have to be raised and suggested one parking space per 500 square feet. Ms. Ashman -Collins said businesses may find they need more parking, but the number would be the minimum the town would require. Mr. LeBlanc asked what would happen to existing businesses; Mr. Burke said they would be grandfathered; if they were to expand, they would have to comply with the current regulations or get relief from the ZBA. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the Downtown Committee has been discussing expanding downtown parking, including additional parking on Old Colony Way, focusing commuter parking closer to the train station and away from the downtown businesses. Signage in Reservoir District Mr. Burke explained the revised by-law and asked if the board wants to allow the marquee signs in the downtown business districts, which he said he thought would be appropriate for the potential cultural district. Mr. French said he thinks this type of sign would be appropriate downtown. Restaurants in the Planned Business District Mr. Burke said most industrial parks have restaurants around the park, not inside the park; Mr. LeBlanc said that is basically what we have now. Mr. French asked if anyone in the park is asking for this; Mr. Burke said no. Consensus was to table the article. Industrial 3 Uses Mr. LeBlanc said these issues may require more discussion. He said when he brought this up, he was thinking about rezoning and whether the uses are the best things for the town. Mr. Burke said when zoning is changed, there can be unintended consequences, especially for existing businesses. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked about existing I3 parcels north of Route 106; Mr. Burke noted JP Noonan, Verrochi, MEMA, several vacant town -owned parcels on the former Hatheway-Patterson property. Mr. Cleary suggested there could be additional parking built 4 Planning Board 2/14/18 there, which could come out to County Street, which would help get the cars out of the Highland Avenue neighborhood. Mr. Burke said the town discussed that, but he said he would not encourage a pedestrian crossing there. Ms. Ashman -Collins suggested looking at this issue during the Master Plan process. Mr. French said the changes in this draft would take away existing uses from a site like the one Mr. Tartufo discussed earlier. Mr. LeBlanc said the I3 and TOD are drastically different zones and said he thinks at some level, the town recognized the I3 uses may not be the best uses. He said allowing both uses could result in a warehouse or light industrial business next to the TOD zone. Ms. Ashman -Collins said this is a historically industrial area, which is being allowed to change through TOD, but not being forced to change. Consensus was to table the article. Master Plan Mr. Burke recommended asking for funding for the Master Plan; he said economic development is vital and the town should evaluate where it is going. Mr. French asked what Mr. Burke thinks the climate will be for support of funding; Mr. Burke said he isn't sure, but said there was a department head meeting last week to discuss the budget. He said the funding request should be submitted. He said there are many positive things that come out of a Master Plan, especially making the town more eligible for grant money. Mr. French asked if the town would lose ground if the Master Plan isn't done this year; Mr. Burke said it would because the plan will be more than 10 years old. He suggested trying to arrive at a firm dollar amount for the funding request. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the town has good control on some of the Master Plan issues, like housing, so will not require as much expert help on those things and can spend on other issues, like economic development. Consensus was to go to Town Meeting with articles on recreational marijuana, downtown parking, signage in RD and Master Plan funding. Mr. French said mixed-use is allowed in B 1 with site plan, but requires a special permit in B2; he asked if mixed-use should be special permit in both zones. Mr. Burke said the idea of allowing mixed-use in B 1 with site plan was to encourage mixed-use in the traditional business core through site plan rather than special permit. However, he said that has encouraged some developers to pursue the path of least resistance, which is all residential development with site plan. Mr. French said special permit gives the board more control over new developments. Mr. Burke said he would be concerned about making every new building a special permit because it could lead to developers building all residential and no commercial. Mr. LeBlanc said with special permits, the board would have to be willing to say no to some proposals. Mr. Burke said the board would have to be careful about defensibility; he said subdivision control law is a process for the approval of plans, but with a use special permit, the Planning Board has to clearly explain its reasons for denial during the public hearing. Mr. Cleary asked about expiring affordable housing units; Mr. Burke said ownership has changed on some of the older units off Oakland Street and the new owners renegotiated with HUD. As of the last DHCD count, in December 2017, the town is still over 10% affordable Planning Board 2/14/18 units. Mr. Burke said the rate of residential growth is not as fast as it has been, and because of the town's affordable housing by-law, each new development has to provide a certain number of affordable units. Mr. Burke said new HUD mortgages are not affordable in perpetuity; those numbers are monitored by DHCD and CHAPA. He noted the new federal tax laws have eliminated most of the affordable housing tax credits, so developers will not have the incentive to keep the units affordable. Motion: To adjourn at 10:00 p.m. ) All in favor. PASSES Next Planning Board Meeting: February 28, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. ig e of Clerk Date 6fApp•oval 6 Planning Board 2/14/18