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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 01/09/2019Planning Board Minutes RECEIVED January 9, 2019 �j R� � Present: H. Thomas French, Acting Chair; Richard LeBlanc, Clerk; BWY1A l n�' Ali'hff10E Michael McClanahan, Ralph Penney 1019 JAN 25 A 9t 10 Alternates Sharon Friedman and Joe Cerretani Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Davis, Adrj ,, Rg(FrIfgr0 Motion: To appoint Mr. French Acting Chair (McClanahan -LeBlanc) All in favor. PASSES 2. Correspondence 1, December 12, 2018 minutes p. 4— last para, 4°i line "Mr. Burke" Motion: To approve as amended (Friedman -Penney) All in favor. PASSES 2, Public Hearing notices — Attleboro, Easton, Norton, Sharon 3. The Beacon Master Plan RFP Ms. Friedman asked about the two mentions of Routes 495 and 95 at the beginning of the RPP; Mr. Burke said that was included twice intentionally, partly because the highways can be both benefits and detriments. Mr. Burke said lie thinks the plan will evolve when the board begins to review proposals and talks with consultants. Mr. Cerretani asked how potential consultants are notified; Mr. Burke said the RFP will be advertised in the Central Register, and on websites like MassAPA and the Mass Association of Planning Directors. The board discussed the Master Plan process and the importance of public participation. Mr. French asked about the Strategic Development Committee; Mr. Burke said there will be a meeting in January, but the date has not been set. Mr. Burke noted the board has a discussion of possible zoning articles scheduled for January 23; Mr. French suggested coming up with a list of possible articles, including changes to the Downtown Overlay District and downtown restaurant/retail parking. Mr. Burke said he would Tike to have the town's parking consultant come to a Planning Board meeting to discuss downtown parking issues. He said at the last Strategic Development Committee meeting, Matt Smith from Nelson-Nyygard discussed downtown parking issues such as winter parking, weekend night parking and sticker parking. Mr. Penney said downtown parking has been difficult on Thursday nights for several years. Mr. Penney asked about a by-law regarding signage on trucks. Ms. Friedman suggested looking at downtown density and the scale of buildings next to existing neighborhoods. Mr. French said he doesn't think downtown is wide enough for a step-down zone, but suggested looking at that issue along with the downtown overlay district. Ms. Planning Board 1/9/19 Friedman said a lot of downtown properties have sold recently, so there may be a number of projects coming before the board soon. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked about zoning for shared car parking; Mr. Burke said Mansfield's zoning does not address that use, but said Mr. Smith is looking at whether downtown has the density that would warrant shared parking. None The clerk read a request from the applicant to continue the public hearing to February 6, 2019 Mr. Burke said the applicant wants to complete the Zoning Board of Appeals process before coming back to the Planning Board. Motion: To continue the public hearing to February 27, 2019 at 7:15 p.m. (Penney -McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES 5. Special Permit Public Bearing continued —11 North Main Street' -10 Residential Units Conserv Group, Inc. Mike Ililsinger, LonNery croup; rJr. r rtnuuiy LYII� , „�.._... Mr. Hilsinger explained the proposed 10 one -bedroom apartment conversion of the former Methodist Church. He said the lot is small and the ZBA has granted a variance for 10 parking spaces. Mr. Hilsinger said he has corresponded with ADA and AAB, which both said they have no jurisdiction on this project. Mr. Hilsinger said the originally approved special permit on this site was for five three-bedroom units, or 15 bedrooms. This proposal is for 10 bedrooms. Mr. Hilsinger said the 10 bedrooms will generate trash equal to or less than five three-bedroom units and said they understand the trash will not be picked up by the Town of Mansfield. He said the proposed 10 bedroom project could have 20 residents, which would be approximately 228- 457 gallons of trash and recycling per week, or four to eight 64 -gallon trash and recycling carts. He said realistically, there will not be two people in each unit, so there will be five to six carts of each. Ile said the two trash areas shown on the plan can each hold eight carts. Mr. French said the trash and recycling will have to be privately picked up as often as necessary; Mr. Hilsinger said he understands that. Mr. Penney said the ZBA has granted a variance to allow 10 parking spaces; he said the Planning Board would have to approve the percentage of subcompact cars. Mr. Hilsinger said the plan shows five subcompact spaces, or 50%. The other five will be standard -size spaces. He said there will be a bicycle rack on the same side of the building as the trash areas, with additional storage in the basement, Mr. Hilsinger,said the trash area will be kept presentable. 2 Planning Board 1/9/19 Mr. Penney asked about the parking easement; Mr. Hilsinger said the parking is via an easement over the abutting property. He said the' two parcels are owned by different corporations, and if this prgject is approved, the easement would be granted and recorded. Ms. Friedman asked if the Fire Department has weighed in on access; Mr. Hilsinger said it had no concerns about access to the site. Mr. Burke said the Fire Department would be able to access the structure on four sides. Correspondence The clerk read a memo from Mr. Blackman. Mr. Hilsinger said the age of the building, its size and the fact there are no public spaces dictate it does not have to be ADA- or AAB-compliant. Ms. Friedman said there will be one work -live space and asked how the exemption would apply. Mr. Hilsinger said a live -work space is defined differently than a business use; live -work is intended to describe someone who works from home, so it does not open up the building to the classification of"public space." Ms. Friedman asked if there is a way to eliminate the basement steps and make it a sloped entrance. Mr. Hilsinger said they may be able to do that on the left side of the building and will do that if possible. Ms. Friedman said if that can be done, unit I or 2 could be universal design. Mr. Hilsinger said with a universal design unit, there would have to be a handicapped parking space, which they would not be able to fit on the site. Mr. Hilsinger said if they possibly can, they would do a universal design unit, but he said he doesn't think it will be possible. Mr. Penney said he is glad the building will be retained, Mr. Cerretani said he doesn't like the parking situation, but understands the` constraints on the small site. He asked about structural problems. Mr. Hilsinger said the parking lot would have to be lowered to level it, which would leave the building's footings at less than four feet below grade, so they will have to work with the foundation. Mr. Penney said the Adaptive Reuse of Historic Structures by-law requires the architectural character of the building be retained and asked about the proposed dormers. Mr. Hilsinger said all the second floor bedrooms have to have windows for emergency egress, so the dormers are necessary. Mr. Penney said he is glad to see the belltower and the fieldstone foundation will be retained. Mr. Hilsinger said they will retain as much of the foundation as they can. Mr. Penney asked if the basement door opens into the parking lot; Mr. Hilsinger said that is a Proposed door. Mr. Penney said it appears that door would open directly into a parking space; Mr, Hilsinger said they could add a small sidewalk there. He said that is not a main passage door, but leads to the laundry area. He said the two basement doors are emergency egress for the basement apartments and there are two other entrances. Mr. Penney asked if there will be a utility easement; Mr. Hilsinger said they will probably need utility easement because of the street cut moratorium on North Main Street. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked if each unit would have one parking space; Mr. Hilsinger said yes. Planning Board 1/9/19 Mr. McClanahan asked about the entrance on the north side of the building; Mr. Hilsinger said there will be a bumpout with a door on that side. He said there is another entrance to the basement Pacing 25 North Main Street, which appears to be a window on the plan. Mr. French said the final plans should correct that. Mr. French said the final plans should show the elevations, materials, colors and lighting. Dr. Lynch said he would like to light the tower. Mr. Hilsinger said they are trying to decide how much more time and money to spend on the concept; he said if the project is not approvable, there isn't much point in pursing those details. Mr. LeBlanc asked if the parking layout meets the requirements for design and turning radius. Mr. Burke said he thinks it does. Mr. LeBlanc asked about monitoring the adaptive reuse requirement on rental units; Mr. Burke said the town doesn't really monitor that, but expects at least some tenants will have a home business or work from home. Mr. Burke said he is happy to see the building being preserved and reused, but said he would like to see additional detail on the plans. Mr. McClanahan said the building would be modernized, but still retain the character of the historic building. Mr. McClanahan said he would like to see the roofing material. Ms. Friedman asked the condition of the siding; Mr. Hilsinger said they will probably have to replace some siding, but will retain as much as possible. Ms. Friedman said the board should be advised if the siding has to be replaced. Mr. LeBlanc asked about work on the foundation; Mr. Hilsinger said most of the work will be underground. Mr. LeBlanc said there is a two -foot grade difference between the interior concrete wall and the stone foundation; Mr. Burke said they could use stamped concrete to replace portions of the foundation. Motion: To approve five, or 50%, compact parking spaces (McClanahan -LeBlanc) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To ask Mr. Burke to prepare a draft decision including the compact space finding, bike racks, parking and utility easements granted and recorded, detail on trash area, lower lighting, landscaping plan, signage detail, snow removal. (Ashman -Collins -McClanahan) Mr. Penney asked if the trash removal would be done by a private contractor; Dr. Lynch said it would be. All in favor. PASSES Motion: To continue the public hearing to February 6, 2019 at 7:15 p.m. (Friedman-Cerretani) All in favor. PASSES 4 Planning Board 1/9/19 6. Discussion of Chauncy Street/Route 140 Mr. Burke said the commonwealth is studying the Route 140 corridor, and the town is trying to piggyback on that contract to do the survey from Route 140 to Copeland Drive The Town has done the surveying and preliminary design up to Copeland Drive, but Mass Highway has not decided whether to fund that work. Construction is anticipated in 2022. Mr. Penney said this has been going on for years and he is glad to see it going forward. He said Mr. Azinheira said MassHighway proposes to extend the Route 140 on-ramp for additional storage; Mr. Burke said that is primarily for pedestrian safety. Mr. Penney said the biggest problem is when trains arrive, so turning lanes would help. Mr. Burke said the last BETA study showed intersection improvements with turning lanes would help to alleviate that problem along Chauncy Street. Mr. Penney said left turns at Copeland/Chauncy always cause problems. Mr. Burke said that intersection doesn't really align, and there are a number of utility poles. Mr. French asked if there has been discussion about land taking for a right -turn lane at the Paine School. Mr. Burke said the town actually owns quite a bit of land at that intersection. Mr. French said the survey the Town is preparing for Route 140 to Copeland Drive is to put Mansfield in a position for the state to fund some of the work. Mr. Burke said the town's consultants are working on options. Mr. French said turning lanes at the intersection of Chauncy/Copeland would be an improvement. He said the Commonwealth should do that work. He said the MBTA continues to add ridership, but does nothing to help the town with the road issues that creates. Mr. McClanahan said he thinks the long-term improvements will help. Mr. Penney said it is increasingly difficult to pull out of Giles Place to Chauncy Street. Mr. Burke said Mr. Azinheira and Mr. Alves are doing great work designing a project so the plans can simply be handed to MassHighway. Mr. Penney said a third lane on Chauncy Street could be useful if it were only a turning lane rather than a travel lane. Mr. Burke said that can work with the correct markings. Kevin McNalt, 150 Rumford Avenue, said the stained-glass windows from the Methodist Church were auctioned off. Mr. LeBlanc asked if work at the train station will be completed in September; Mr. Burke said it will bc. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 8• p.m. (McClanahan- ) All in favor. PASSES Next PJa ring Boar ceting: January 23, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Lnatur o Clerk Date of Approval Planning Board 1/9/19