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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 05/15/2019Planning Board Minutes May 15, 2019 Present: Donald Cleary, Chair; Richard LeBlanc, Clerk; H. Thomas French, Beth Ashman - Collins, Ralph Penney, Michael Feck Alternates Sharon Friedman and Joe Cerretani Shaun P. Burke, Director of Planning and Development; Jennifer Davis, Admin. Secretary Motion: To appoint Mr. Cerretani Acting Clerk (Feck-French) All in favor. PASSES 1. April 24, 2019 minutes p. 9 - "Rhein' p. 3 - 46 4th para — Attorney Thrasher said this would complement "the" IDC's [Ms. Ashman Collins arrived at 7:05 p.m.] Motion: To approve as amended (Feck-Penney) Six in favor. One abstention. PASSES 2. May 7, 2019 minutes 2"d paragraph — outside the overlay district, that property would have to go to four floors to get to the FAR Motion: To approve as amended (Penney-Feck) All in favor. PASSES 3. Public Hearing Notices — Attleboro, Easton, North Attleboro 4. May 13, 2019 memo from Mr. Burke re: draft 5G wireless technology policy Mr. Burke explained providers are starting their 5G wireless technology rollout and want to put their arrays on light department poles. He said the town does not have standards for arrays like that and it has been suggested a policy be adopted. The draft policy is based on the FCC's guidelines, which he said should be adopted and published before they can be enforced. The 5G technology runs on very low watts compared to 4G, so towns will see applications for small arrays placed 200-600 feet apart, on top of things like light poles, traffic signals and buildings, with equipment cabinets on the ground. Mr. Burke said the the town has been already been approached by two providers, and he will be meeting soon with representatives from those companies and MMED. Ms. Friedman said there have been rulings on FCC regulations constraining what cities and towns can do in terms of wireless providers; Mr. Burke said the draft policy includes about as much regulation as the town will be allowed. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked if the equipment cabinets can be installed on private property; Mr. Burke said they can be installed on private or public property. Mr. Feck asked if the equipment cabinets could block sidewalks; Mr. Burke said the sidewalk would still have to be ADA-compliant. Mr. Burke said some providers have said they will be using their 4G networks rather than switching to 5G. He said it may be a few years before 5G really gets going, but said the town should have regulations in place. Mr. Cleary asked about taxes; Mr. Burke said the town would have to keep a list of providers and their equipment for the Assessors' Office. Planning Board 5/15/19 Mr. Cerretani asked if this would replace equipment on cell towers; Mr. Burke said it may happen eventually, but said it probably be more common in urban areas. None The clerk read the public hearing notice. conducted. how the public hearing would be Owners Wander Rezende and Danna Martini-Rezende were present. Mr. Rezende said his wife currently works in a similar business and would like to take care of small dogs, which would be inside the house most of the time. The business hours would be 7:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m., customers call when they arrive, staff goes out and puts the dog on a leash to bring it inside. Mrs. Martini- Rezende said small dogs prefer to stay inside most of the time. Ms. Martini-Rezende said she has been working at a dog day care for 10 years, and this type of business would allow her to work at home and take care of her in-laws. She said the business she works for now is also in a residential district with close neighbors, so she is experienced with issues around pick-up and drop-off and controlling barking. She said they have great neighbors and she will be concerned about them; she said they will make changes as necessary. Public Comment The clerk read letters opposing the special permit from Nitu Ahuja, Jyoti Abuja and Sumeet Ahuja, 10 Hidden Lane and from Dustin and Amanda Waldron, 301 Plain Street Board Comment Ms. Ashman -Collins asked about changes to the property. Mr. Rezende said they plan to fence in a small area close to the house. Ms. Martini-Rezende said they could make the fenced area smaller and closer to their house if the size is a concern. Mr. Penney asked if the property abuts town -owned property; Mr. Rezende said it does. Mr. Penney noted the neighbor has a pool and fenced in yard. Mr. Penney asked how the size of the dogs would be limited; Mr. Rezende said they schedule an interview before taking a dog. Ms. Martini-Rezende said their advertising would note the size limit. Mr. Penney asked if the size and number of dogs could be included in the special permit; Mr. Burke said those could be conditions. Mr. Rezende said Plain Street is a busy street and the neighborhood can be a noisy because of the highway. He said they have spoken with Mansfield Animal Control Officer Jeff Collins, who directed them to the Planning Board. Ms. Friedman asked what would happen with barking dogs; Ms. Martini-Rezende said dogs bark because they want attention or because someone has knocked on the door or rang the doorbell. Planning Board 5/15/19 She said one of the reasons she will plans to get each dog from the car is to prevent people from ringing the doorbell or knocking. Mr. Rezende said the dogs will not be outside unsupervised at any time. He said some dogs will not be a good fit, which would be established in the interview and contract with the owner. Ms. Martini-Rezende said preventing the dogs from barking will be a priority for her. Ms. Ashman -Collins asked how many dogs would be allowed without permission; Mr. Burke said three dogs would be allowed before a kennel license would be needed. Mr. Penney said more and more people have dogs, so there is a need for this service. However, he said he understands the neighbors' concerns about noise and asked if a condition could be crafted to address that. Mr. Burke said the condition could state the dogs are not to be outside unsupervised and that if they do start barking, they be brought inside. Mr. Burke said enforcement would be through the zoning enforcement officer and the dog officer, who has control over the kennel license. Mr. Rezende said animal control does random inspections for the kennel license. Mr. Cerretani asked about staff. Mr. Rezende said his wife will be there full-time, with help from his father. He said if they are successful, they will hire more help. Ms. Friedman asked if they have dogs of their own; Mr. Rezende said they have two dogs of their own. Ms. Friedman asked if there would be for 10 additional dogs or their two dogs plus eight others; Mr. Rezende said they expect to bring in eight dogs, plus their own two. Ms. Freidman said she thinks the permit should limit it to ten dogs, including the owners' two. [Mr. LeBlanc arrived at 7:45 p.m.] Mr. Feck said most of the existing dog kennels in town provide overnight care, but this will only be during the day. Mr. Cleary asked if there would be a sign for the business; Mr. Rezende said no. Mr. Cleary said this is a busy street and he is concerned about customers backing out of the driveway onto Plain Street; he suggested putting in a turnaround to avoid that. Mr. Rezende said they could do that. Mr. Burke suggested adding the driveway turnaround to the plan. Mr. Burke asked if the applicant has a kennel license now; the answer was no. Public Comment Bill Clemmey, Fowler Street, said there are over 2,100 dogs registered in town and only three kennels. He said this would be a good idea. Ken Meyers, Brown Avenue, asked if the business would stay with small dogs or eventually have larger dogs. Mr. Cleary said the board could add a condition about the size of the dogs allowed; he said if they do not comply, they could be shut down. Ms. Martini-Rezende said large breed dogs are high-energy and she does not plan to accept them. Planning Board 5/15/19 Mr. French said the business would require a kennel license, but the Planning Board special permit could add conditions to limit the hours of operation, size and number of dogs, require complaints to be addressed by building inspector and animal control officer, repeated complaints could result in loss of special permit. Ms. Ashman -Collins said this is mostly an in -home business, and many types of home businesses would be allowed in this zone without a special permit. She said she thinks the proposal and special permit conditions will limit the amount of impact the business would have on neighbors. Motion: To ask Mr. Burke to draft a special permit approval for a dog daycare at 301 Plain Street with conditions to require the dogs to be supervised when they are outside, limit the hours of operation, size of dogs, number of dogs, complaints to be addressed by building inspector and animal control officer, repeated complaints could result in loss of special permit. (Friedman-Cerretani) All in favor. PASSES Motion: To continue the public hearing to May 29, 2019 at 7:10 p.m. (Feck-Penney) All in favor. PASSES ���I�e�t�Q�t�eet�iing b%:l]!'�olc�s'bn`��Mastet^'P1�n�Co�i�'��ui�ta�its/yMaster�Pla�,Gdnum�tiec-: Jenn Walsh. School Committee representative and Frank DelVecchio. Select Board representative, were present. Jennifer Goldson and Anna Callahan, JM Goldson Community Preservation and Planning Ms. Goldson thanked the board for choosing her team and briefly explained her company and subconsultants. Ms. Goldson said the Master Plan is intended to help a community be thoughtful about change, to make decisions in a conscious way, use town resources, time and funds to accomplish what the town really wants. She said it would be a plan for the community's physical evolution, but also for social evolution. It is a long-range plan that should be updated every 10 years or so, but should also look even further in the future. She said the plan will have policy documents for the town to follow over the next 10 years, so it is important to understand who the voices are who should be engaged and to get different perspectives to produce a policy document that is well - vetted. She said they will think about the Master Plan elements in an integrated way and engage the community to identify and put together strategies so all the elements work together. She said the existing Master Plan has served the town pretty well, so they will want to discuss what has changed. Ms. Goldson described the nine elements required in a Master Plan, but said there may be other, related issues, like public health or sustainability, the town also wants to address. Ms. Goldson explained the proposed project schedule: Phase 1 Spring -summer 2019: prepare existing conditions report; Phase 2 Fall 2019: public engagement and vision for the future; 4 Planning Board 5/15/19 Phase 3 Winter 2020: strategies through policies and by-laws; Spring 2020: finalize plan, assign responsibilities; present plan at 2020 Annual Town Meeting. Ms. Friedman asked whether one community workshop will be enough; Ms. Goldson said that is what is in the RFP and budget. She said there will be opportunities to use all the meetings to supplement public engagement. Ms. Callahan said the summer is not a great time for community engagement, so the schedule works perfectly for them to work on existing conditions over the summer and begin the public engagement element in the fall. After identifying the vision and goals, the group will work on strategy and talk with department heads and other stakeholders. They can provide "kits" for small groups to hold meetings, which will included a mix of questions and exercises. Ms. Goldson said the idea is to get people talking to one another. Mr. Penney asked about bringing Zoning By -Law amendments from the Master Plan to 2020 Annual Town Meeting; Mr. Burke said he expects there will be some policy or by-law changes. Ms. Callahan presented a schedule for focus group meetings with the consulting team throughout the summer. Ms. Goldson said they would like to conduct a tour of Mansfield prior to the first focus group meeting. Ms. Callahan asked about the key stakeholders. Ms. Goldson said the focus groups will be made up of 5-10 people with different perspectives. The board discussed the option of a social media site, which would be an extra fee; Ms. Callahan said Phases 2 and 3 would be the optimal time to use that site. The site would allow people to participate virtually, read drafts and post questions and ideas. The board discussed using the town's website for announcements. Peter Kortright said there are a number of existing social media channels that can be used, but said he thinks the idea is to involve as many people as possible. Ms. Goldson said they could arrange to generate some polling questions for presentation at a large community event, like Special Town Meeting in the fall. Ms. Goldson asked the group to respond to a series of questions: What are your top 3 hopes for this project? What do you most want to learn through this process? What is Mansfield's greatest opportunity? What is Mansfield's most challenging issue? Master Plan Committee Citizens -at -Large Interviews Mr. Cleary said while there are only three citizen positions on the committee, all the meetings will be public and everyone is welcome to attend. Diana Bren — 65 Samoset Avenue. Ten-year resident, lived several places downtown, has young children and is interested in the schools, works in the business park, wants to see opportunities Planning Board 5/15/19 for the next 10-20 years executed, passionate about progress, Masters' in Management, loves the town, past president of Mansfield Women of Today. Can make meetings. Bill Clemmey - 55 Fowler Street. Knows the town well, been involved in zoning decisions, family is developers in town, done projects in town, children in schools, understand where the town wants to go, Masters' in Electrical Engineering, can help with the process. Cable access could run a monthly update on the committee's progress, think social media will have an impact. Mark Tartlon — 32 Newton Street. Twenty-year resident, background in education and facilities management, site and organizational master planning, worked with charrette groups, fresh set of eyes. Judy Foley — Samoset Avenue. Background in education, taught at QMS and MHS; member of Mansfield Women of Today for 10 years, three grown children, love Mansfield and want to see positive change, want to make change implementable and sustainable. Masters' Education and Business Ryan Maxwell —149 Park Street. Lifelong Mansfield resident, works for a civil engineering company that does land use and planning, has served on the Conservation Commission and is currently on the Zoning Board of Appeals, interested in local government and planning process Allen Bryer —187 Copeland Drive. Mansfield resident since 1993, raised two children, history buff; Mansfield has strong bones and needs to develop organically and incrementally, has served on the Historical Commission and Open Space Committee Matt List —19 Liberty Street. Ten-year resident, economist, interested in history and architecture, chose Mansfield because of transportation and location, a lot of vibrant businesses, but still a lot of vacant space. Should be a cohesive plan for downtown and how it ties in with the TOD district. A lot of people parking at the train station, and we spend a lot of time thinking about how to get them out of town efficiently, but could be thinking about how to keep them downtown. Use existing train capacity to attract reverse commuters, partner with business parks. Walter Jenkins —15 Coined Court. Resident since 1991, raised two children, served on Planning Board, worked on 2008 Master Plan, served on IDC and worked on early TIFs. Real estate asset manager working for DCAM leasing space. Mansfield has tremendous opportunities, issues with making downtown a better place to visit, increase value of business park, Xfmity Center is an asset, parts of industrial base need attention, housing sustainability. Suggested adding more citizens -at -large. Peter Kortright —1766 West Street. Worked for the Commonwealth, municipal finance and public banking, Chamber of Commerce, planner, worked with SRPEDD. Want to participate and share experience. Concerned Mansfield chopped up by interstates. Planning Board is doing a great job. Brendan Roche — lifelong resident, BS & MS architecture, residential/ commercial architecture firm, interested in planning, urban design and architecture, think opportunity to be a full Planning Board 5/15/19 community, more than just downtown and train station, wants to help improve the town, will plan to attend meetings even if not appointed. Louis Amoruso — 6 Brookside Road. Great participation, think people serving the group should be real citizen representatives. Serves on the Mansfield Housing Corporation and think that group should be involved in the Master Plan. Ms. Friedman thanked everyone for their interest and said the amount of expertise and enthusiasm is wonderful. She said when she was looking at the applications, she understood people already on other boards and committees would be involved in the process, and thinks it would be nice to have committee members who have lived in town a long time, as well as people new to town. Mr. French said he was surprised to see so many applications and was impressed with people's backgrounds. He suggested increasing the number of citizens -at -large; he said everyone would not be able to make every meeting, so increasing the number wouldn't make the committee unmanageable. Ms. Goldson said she is working with a 20-person Master Plan Committee, so a larger group would not be unmanageable. Mr. Cleary said he doesn't think adding more citizen members would be unmanageable. Mr. Feck said he would be concerned about too many members bogging down the process. Ms. Goldson said their job is to make things run smoothly and they will not let things get bogged down. Mr. LeBlanc said he would like to have representation on the committee from all parts of Mansfield. Ms. Ashman -Collins said there should be broad engagement and said the board will allow everyone who attend meetings participate anyway. Mr. Cerretani said he would be comfortable with a larger group if Ms. Goldson is confident she can keep the process from getting bogged down. Ms. Walsh said people don't need to be on the committee to be actively involved with the process. Mr. DelVecchio said he doesn't think a large board is necessarily a problem, especially with an effective facilitator. He said the Planning Board had discussed allowing the other boards an opportunity for input, so applicants who are already on other boards will have an opportunity to participate. Mr. Burke said he can work with a larger group. Mr. Cleary said he thinks people on the committee will feel more like stakeholders. The Planning Board discussed adding a representative from the Housing Partnership to the core group. Planning Board 5/15/19 Motion: To appoint the 10 citizen -a -large applicants (Diana Bren, Bill Clemmey, Mark Tarlton, Judy Foley, Ryan Maxwell, Allen Bryer, Matt List, Walter Jenkins, Peter Kortright, Brendan Roche) plus one representative from the Housing Partnership, to the Master Plan Committee (Penney -French) All in favor. PASSES Ms. Friedman said she attended an Open Space and Recreation Committee meeting on Monday Mr. French asked about the Chocolate Factory; Mr. Burke said the rehab is moving along quickly. Mr. LeBlanc asked about the train station project; Mr. Burke said he doesn't know the MBTA's completion date. Ms. Ashman -Collins said the downtown holiday lights have been ordered and the light poles will be renovated. There have been discussions about an electronic message board at Route 106/North Main Street. The board discussed a successful Town Meeting. Mr. Cerretani asked about the Town Manager coming to a Planning Board meeting. Ms. Friedman asked about getting in touch with Mr. Thorne regarding public art; Mr. Burke said he will look into that. He said he has recently spoken with the Town Manager about public art. Mr. French asked about the Nelson -Nygaard parking study; Mr. Burke said he has received a draft. He said the Town Manager's Strategic Development Committee has slowed down; he said TOD zoning would probably go to Town Meeting next spring. Mr. Cleary said he is concerned about work on the TOD conflicting with the Master Plan. Mr. Cleary asked about putting the parking spaces back around the North Main Street fire station now that the station is closed; Mr. Burke said there has been a discussion about that. Motion: To adjourn at 10:15 p.m. ( Penney- ) All in Next Planning Board Meeting: May 29, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Signature of Cl rk ( ( Date oflApp%oval Planning Board 5/15/19