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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 04/11/2018Planning Board Minutes April 11, 2018 Present: Tom French, Chair; Don Cleary, Clerk; Michael McClanahan, Ralph Penney, Rich LeBlanc; Alternates Joe Cerretani and Sharon Friedman Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Davis, Administrative 1. Minutes March 28, 2018 Mr. Cleary suggested adding a note to the minutes that the frontage in the R3 zone is 80 feet, not 100 feet. Motion: To approve as amended (Cerretani-Friedman) Four in favor. Three abstentions. PASSES 2. Special Permit to be signed — 214 Rumford Avenue rooftop wireless Motion: To sign the special permit (McClanahan -Friedman) Six in favor. Penney abstained. PASSES 3. March 20, 2018 memo from Mr. Burke to the Board of Selectmen re: Affordable Housing Units — Willowdale Estates and Over 55 Development at 130 Spring Street 4. 2018 SRPEDD Commissioner appointment form 5. Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, Foxboro, North Attleboro 6. April 9, 2018 letter from Attorney Kim Saillant, Brooks & DeRensis None The applicant's engineer has requested the review be rescheduled so she can meet with staff. The clerk read the public hearing notice. Mr. Burke noted Town Counsel amended the introduction of all the zoning articles to reference the "Town Code" rather than the "Zoning By - Law" following recodification. All of the articles are now sponsored by the "Board of Selectmen for the Planning Board." Article 27 - Signs Mr. Penney asked if the last sentence of the marquee sign definition, which says "Flashing, animated, moving or otherwise distracting marquee signs are not permitted," is broad enough to manage signs the town does not want. Mr. Burke said he thinks the language is broad enough to cover any possibilities. Mr. French said the building inspector would decide if a sign complies. Public Comment There were no members of the public present. Motion: To support Article 27 at Town Meeting (LeBlanc -Cleary) All in favor. PASSES Planning Board 4/11/18 Article 28 - Parking in Bl & B2 Mr. Burke said the intent is to make the parking requirement for restaurant and retail uses the same. The current parking retail requirement is currently one space per 1,000 square feet; the proposal is to require one space per 500 square feet for both retail and restaurant. Ms. Friedman asked if this could create more of a parking problem downtown. Mr. Burke said he thinks it will result in fewer residential units built in mixed-use developments downtown because the developer will have be able to plan to provide enough parking for the commercial uses. Mr. Penney said he thinks this would help encourage commercial development downtown. Mr. Burke said it would provide greater flexibility when tenants change because the parking requirement would be the same for either retail or restaurant uses. He said the Zoning By -Law already allows valet parking for downtown restaurants, but no one has used that option yet. Mr. LeBlanc asked what businesses this would apply to; Mr. Burke said it would apply to new construction, renovation or changes in use. Public Comment There were no members of the public present. Motion: To support Article 28 at Town Meeting (McClanahan - Mr. LeBlanc asked if this would help existing businesses; Mr. Burke said if a business is in existence before the by-law is changed, it would not be affected. Mr. French said, for example, a 48 -seat restaurant would require one parking space per eight seats, or six spaces. That could be increased to 60 seats and six spaces would still be required. Mr. LeBlanc asked if this would make it harder for businesses to change from restaurant to retail, which would result in the need for more spaces. Mr. Penney said applicants in that situation could apply for a variance. Mr. LeBlanc said he agrees having two standards for restaurant and retail uses can cause problems for re-leasing. Mr. Cerretani asked about the fire code; Mr. Burke said the fire code requires a certain amount of space per person, rather than per seat or square feet. -Friedman) All in favor. PASSES Article 29 - Recreational Marijuana Cultivation; Article 30 - Recreational Marijuana Retail; Article 31 - Recreational Marijuana Local Option Tax Mr. French said the board discussed allowing the uses near highways to keep it away from residential areas. He said the feedback he has heard from other boards is that the uses should not be allowed downtown or in the business park. Mr. Burke explained town counsel's changes were intended to more fully reflect the wording of the statute; he removed references to the Board of Health and Board of Selectmen because those boards are not included in the enabling legislation. The special permit statute is three years, but the statute for marijuana businesses is five years. If either article is approved at Town Meeting, it would have to go to a special election. Mr. Burke said the board should think about whether it wants to go forward with one or both recreational marijuana articles. Mr. Cerretani said if the board's articles are the first of the marijuana articles on the warrant, the board should go forward with both. Mr. French said if 2 Planning Board 4/11 /18 Town Meeting approves the ban, one or the other or both of the board's articles should go forward. Public Comment There were no members of the public present. Ms. Friedman said each article should be explained to Town Meeting, which can decide whether it wants to allow retail, cultivation or both. If either or both pass, it will still have to go to the ballot. She asked if Town Meeting votes no on both Planning Board articles, would Town Meeting still have to vote on the ban? Mr. French said if the ban passes and both Planning Board by-laws pass, and they all go to the ballot, the ban would take precedence over the zoning articles. Mr. Cerretani asked what would happen if both the retail and cultivation by-laws pass. Mr. French said there could the same number of retail uses as the town has medical marijuana facilities; which is one. Mr. Burke said cultivation is also limited to one. Mr. Cleary said he would like to submit both articles and let Town Meeting decide. The board took a straw poll and consensus was to go forward with both articles. Motion: To support Articles 29 and 30 at Town Meeting (Friedman -McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Burke explained Article 31, the local option tax on retail sales, falls under a separate statute than the retail and cultivation uses, so it has to be a separate article. He explained retail sales can have a local option tax, but there is no local option tax on cultivation or medical marijuana. Mr. Cleary asked if the word "retail" should be included in Article 31. Mr. Burke said he would check with town counsel. Mr. LeBlanc asked why the tax would be included in a zoning article. Mr. Burke said the local option tax originally part of the retail by-law he drafted, but town counsel pulled it out as a separate article. Motion: To support Article 31 (Cleary -McClanahan) Six in favor. LeBlanc abstained. PASSES Motion: To close the public hearing (McClanahan -Cleary) All in favor. PASSES �. �'gblic Com�nt None - Mr. Burke said the Northeastern University students presented their study of Route 140 to Board of Selectmen tonight, which will be posted on the town's website. Planning Board 4/11/18 Mr. French asked about the wireless consultant for the 241 Branch Street tower application. Mr. Burke said the consultant is working on his review. Mr. French asked if he would be willing to come to a Planning Board meeting prior to the public hearing; Mr. Burke said he would talk to the consultant tomorrow. Mr. French asked about the Master Plan; Mr. Burke said there is no Master Plan funding in the current budget. Mr. McClanahan asked if funding could come out of the parking fund; Mr. Burke said he would look into that. Mr. LeBlanc asked about the Chocolate Factory. Mr. McClanahan said they have funding, but have not closed yet. Mr. French asked if there is a way to ask the department heads to provide their comments earlier. He suggested a letter thanking them for their expertise and comment, but asking them to allow the board more time to review and prepare prior to the meeting. Mr. Cerretani said the Finance Committee supported the Master Plan, but it was taken out of the capital plan because it does not fall within the definition of a capital item. He asked if there is a timeframe when the town will start losing out on state funding if the Master Plan is not updated. Mr. Burke said the plan will be more than ten years old in 2019. Mr. Cerretani said people should understand the Master Plan's importance in grant funding. Mr. French said he would talk to the Finance Committee and Town Manager about whether there may be funding available in the fall. Mr. French said in the past, Town Meeting has always supported funding the Master Plan. Mr. Burke said the budget is balanced right now; the Finance Committee is meeting with the Board of Selectmen and School Committee tomorrow. Mr. Cerretani said DPW has proposed a salt shed across from the new municipal complex on East Street, the current location of Mansfield Green; CIP has funded $20,000 for preparatory site work. Mr. Penney noted that site is very close to the Canoe River Aquifer, which is the town's drinking water source. Mr. Cerretani said he thinks there should be some discussion about where the salt shed should go. Mr. Cleary asked about the TIF for Rolf C. Hagen; Mr. Burke explained that is on the warrant for the Special within the Annual Town Meeting. Motion: To adjourn at 9:10 p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next Planning Board Meeting: April 25, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Aigneler DateofAproval 4 Planning Board 4/11/18