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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 09/26/2018Planning Board Minutes September 26, 2018 Present: Don Cleary, Chair; Tom French, Ralph Penney Alternates Joe Cerretani and Sharon Friedman Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Davis, Administrative Secretary Motion: To appoint Mr. Cerretani Acting Clerk (Penney -Friedman) All in favor. PASSES 2. Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, Foxboro, North Attleboro, Plainville 3. The Beacon 4. September 25, 2018 memo from Mr. Cleary to Mr. Trowbridge re: Comprehensive Plan Mr. Burke explained the memo asks for time on the Board of Selectmen's agenda to discuss updating the Master Plan, explaining the importance of an up-to-date Master Plan and asking the Board of Selectmen co-sponsor the article. 5. September 26, 2018 memo from Mr. Burke to Mr. Dumas re: Draft Master Plan Article for Special Town meeting Mr. Burke explained the Town has accomplished around 70-80% of the recommendations that came out of the 2008 Master Plan. [Mr. French arrived at 7:10 pm] 6. September 26, 2018 memo from Mr. Burke to Planning Board re: Special Town Meeting, which will be financial articles, remaining articles from the 2018 Annual Town Meeting and street acceptances. Mr. Dumas has asked Mr. Burke to ask the Planning Board to hold off on zoning articles until 2019 Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Burke explained the Town has contracted with Nelson -Nygaard on downtown parking issues and suggested the board meet with them before proposing any parking changes. The clerk read the public hearing notice. Craig Cygawnoski, RIM Engineering, explained the proposal to remove three 2" hickory trees within the right-of-way at 279 Gilbert Street. The lot has been approved for a single-family house with a 12 -foot wide driveway. Mr. Cygawnoski said there is a buried stone wall on the property, but they do not plan to remove it. Mr. Burke asked if the three trees can be replaced in the frontage of this lot without impacting sight distance. Mr. Cygawnoski said there is room to replace, or possibly replant, there. Mr. French suggested there are already a lot of trees in front of this lot and suggested replacing the trees further down the street. Planning Board 9/26/18 Motion: To approve the scenic road application to remove three 2" trees within the right-of-way at 279 Gilbert Street and replace or replant them within the right-of-way of Gilbert Street (Penney-Cerretani) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Penney suggested letting Mansfield Municipal Electric Department know where the trees will be replanted. 1. August 15, 2018 minutes "Mansfield Cultural Council Cultural District Subcommittee," not "Historic." Motion: To approve as amended (Friedman -French) Three in favor. Two abstained. PASSES Mr. Burke said the first meeting with Nelson Nygaard, the town's traffic consultant, will be on October 2, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Burke said he met last week with the Housing Corporation to discuss the creation of affordable housing and with the Cultural Council about the Cultural District. Mr. Penney asked about including Fulton's Pond in the District; Mr. Burke said that is included in the plan. He said DPW is planning to improve the path between the Mansfield Bank and Fulton's Pond. Mr. Burke said the group discussed the possibility of retaining the North Main Street Fire Station for use as a cultural center. Mr. Burke said work has begun in earnest on the Chocolate Factory. Mr. Penney asked about the status of the proposed patio at Trattoria; Mr. Burke said it was constructed with the wrong materials, so it had to be removed and replaced. The clerk read a request from the applicant's engineer to continue the site plan to November 28, 2018 at 7:15 p.m. Marco Crugnale; Bob Rego, RiverHawk Environmental Mr. Cleary explained there are five members present and gave Mr. Crugnale the option of continuing the public hearing or presenting. Mr. Burke said board members can miss one meeting and if they read the minutes and feel comfortable participating, they can vote. Mr. Crugnale said he would like to go forward tonight with an update but wait until the next meeting for a vote. Mr. Rego distributed a letter regarding Mr. Alves's comments. He said an ENF has been filed with MEPA and the comment time has been extended two weeks. DEP had asked if there is enough sewer capacity for this project, and Mr. Azinheira has submitted a letter indicating there is sufficient capacity. Mr. Rego submitted a letter from the Norton Water and Sewer 2 Planning Board 9/26/18 Superintendent indicating there is sufficient hydraulic capacity in all the downstream links. Mr. Rego said there had been a question from MassDOT about the warrant analysis, and said he will provide that information to them before the MEPA comment deadline. He has met with the MEPA analyst on site. Mr. Rego explained the changes to the plans, primarily to address Mr. Alves's comments, including the redesign of eight parking spaces to reduce the amount of wetland disturbance within the riverfront protection area. Ms. Friedman asked if any of this project is within the 100 - year floodplain; Mr. Rego explained the entire site is outside the 100 -year floodplain. Mr. Burke asked if the driveway for the existing cell tower would be removed with this layout; Mr. Rego said it would be removed. Mr. Rego said they have met with the Conservation Commission, and the agent has met with the applicant's botanist to review the wetland line and riverfront area, and made some small changes to the wetland line. Mr. Burke said he has spoken with Ms. Gonyer, who said she is comfortable with the changes, but that the Commission has not met since then. Mr. Cleary asked if Ms. Gonyer would provide the board with a memo to that effect. Mr. Rego said he expects a letter from Mr. Alves before next Wednesday indicating his concerns have been addressed. Mr. Penney asked if Mass Highway would allow a curb cut onto South Main Street; Mr. Rego said it would not. Mr. Penney asked about a turning lane into the property; Mr. Rego said there will be one. Mr. Penney asked about sidewalks to get pedestrians to the Xfinity Center. Mr. Rego said there is an existing sidewalk on the east side of South Main Street, but nothing on the west side. He said they are proposing a sidewalk from their entrance to connect to the existing sidewalk on South Main Street, where there is a crosswalk to get to the Xfinity Center. Mr. Rego said Vanasse Associates conducted a traffic study, which indicates the existing level of service during the morning and evening peak hours on weekdays and Saturdays will be improved from its current level of service "F" to `B." Mr. Penney said there is a significant traffic issue there now because of events from May to September at the Xfinity Center. Mr. Penney said this project would probably have less of an impact on South Main Street/Reservoir Street intersection than the soccer bubble did. He said he is glad to see the property revitalized, but hopes the applicant tries to address the residents' concerns. Mr. Rego said the traffic signal will help the day-to-day traffic, but may not help during shows at the Xfmity Center because the Police Department will likely shut the signal down. Mr. Burke said turning left from South Main Street onto Reservoir Street is very difficult now, so installing the signal will improve the safety at that intersection. Mr. Penney asked if there will be a crosswalk across South Main Street at the new signal; Mr. Burke said there will not be because there is no sidewalk on the other side. Mr. French said he thinks the signal will be a vast improvement over the current situation and the proposed use would be a good reuse of the property. He said he hopes MassHighway approves the signal. Mr. Rego said they have met with MassHighway, which was supportive of the signal. Planning Board 9/26/18 Mr. French asked about elevations of the building; Mr. Crugnale showed the board an elevation of the retail space. Mr. Cerretani said the traffic engineer did a good job, and improving the intersection from a level "F" to a `B" will be a good thing. Mr. Crugnale said they have met with the Police and Fire Chiefs about integrating this project into the traffic management plan, and have also talked with the Xfinity Center about traffic issues. Mr. Burke said he has asked the Police and Fire Chiefs to consider possible special permit conditions; the Fire Chief has asked to include a condition requiring this developer to contribute to an ambulance detail during certain Xfmity events. Public Comment Sandy Baker, 15 Reservoir Street, said she is in favor of a light at the end of Reservoir Street. However, she said she is concerned about an additional light backing up traffic on Route 140. Mr. Rego said Vanasse will work with MassDOT to phase the lights. Ms. Baker said there are many events at Xfinity Center other than concerts that impact the Reservoir Street residents' ability to get in and out of their street. Carl Cruger, 15 Reservoir Street, asked if there will be a left arrow from South Main Street onto Reservoir Street. The answer was yes. Sheila Annello, 15 Reservoir Street, asked if there will be a marijuana dispensary at this site. Mr. Cleary said that is not currently an allowed use in this zone. He noted there will be a ballot question at the special election on October 16 to allow one retail and one cultivation marijuana use in specific zones. Muriel Flynn, 15 Reservoir Street, asked about sidewalks on Reservoir Street; Mr. Cleary said there will be a sidewalk from this development's entrance on Reservoir to South Main Street. A resident of 15 Reservoir Street, asked if the small retail shown on the plan will be a bank or coffee shop; Mr. Rego said it will not be a coffee shop because there wouldn't be enough space for queuing. A resident asked if there will be tailgating in the parking lot of the hotel; Mr. Cleary said he doesn't think there will be a commercial parking lot on this site. Mr. Burke said if the board votes to approve the special permit, there will be a condition prohibiting that. Michael Gambale, South Main Street, representing the South End Citizens' Association, asked if there has been any talk of a north -bound off ramp from Route 495, Mr. Cleary said that is not part of this project. Karl Clemmey said there is another group on South Main Street that does want a ramp from 495. He said Route 140 is backed up every night and there should be a ramp on South Main Street to take some of that traffic. Planning Board 9/26/18 Motion: To continue the public hearing to October 3, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. (French -Penney) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Burke told the board he met with MassDOT Rail today, which is moving quickly on the reorganization of the rail yard on County Street. Mr. Penney said Rep. Barrows has done a lot of work on this issue. Mr. Burke said he hopes work will begin at this time next year. He said the funding mechanism is in place through the federal government, MassDOT and MassWorks. Mr. Penney said this will be a win-win for everyone; Mr. Burke agreed. Mr. Penney asked about access to the back of the former Hatheway-Patterson site; Mr. Burke said there will probably have to be some land trading, but the details have not been worked out. Mr. Penney said there is a narrow tract of upland to access the back land, which is owned by the town. Master Plan Motion: To submit a warrant article to 2018 Special Town Meeting to fund the Master Plan update in an amount not to exceed $100,000 (French -Friedman) All in favor. PASSES Mr. Cleary asked if the Planning Board will have to hold any public hearings for Special Town Meeting issues; Mr. Burke said the board would have to make a recommendation on the street acceptance articles to the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Clemmey said there is a piece of land on Reservoir Street that belongs to the Commom which is not included on the 10 & 30 Reservoir Street plans. He said the applicant's sign is currently on that land. Ms. Friedman suggested asking Mr. Alves to look at that. Mr. French said the board's consultant on the Branch Street wireless tower suggested the board get an opinion from town counsel and asked if that has been received. Mr. Burke said it has not, and noted town counsel's office has been dissolved, so he is not sure who town counsel currently is. He said he would check on that tomorrow. Mr. Penney asked why there isn't a new sidewalk in front of the new IBEW building on South Main Street. Mr. Burke said the board did not require a new sidewalk to be installed as part of the site plan. Mr. Cerretani asked if there is a sidewalk in front of MMAS; Mr. Burke said there is. He said he would ask Mr. Stanbrook if there is any money available in the sidewalk fund to install sidewalk in front of the IBEW building. Mr. Penney asked if sidewalks could be required under site plan; Mr. Burke said he doesn't think so, but said they could be required under a special permit. Mr. Cerretani asked about the Complete Streets School Street meeting; Mr. Burke said the MassDOT engineer answered a lot of questions, residents were supportive and liked the idea of sidewalks. There were concerns about adding bicycle lanes to both sides of School Street, and the possibility of drivers using them as passing lanes, as well as concerns about drivers passing stopped school buses on School Street. Mr. Burke said all of the suggestions will be evaluated, Planning Board 9/26/18 the town will get a pre -project number and go to 25% design, then hold a public hearing and get in line for funding. Ms. Friedman said she attended the Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting on September 24. The committee is looking at trail maintenance for conservation properties and will be applying for a grant to remove fallen trees and open up the trails. She said the committee also discussed the need for signage to identify the land as passive recreation. Motion: To adjoyn at,8:50 p.m. (Penney- ) All in favor. PASSES Signature of 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. tl C7 d C) i � Date of Approval Planning Board 9/26/18