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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of planning brd 091207 Planning Board Minutes:? E C E ! V E n September 12, 2007 . ." 1- Present: Tom French, Chair; Fred Armstrong, ClerQ?~&r;o1m~t A:i~'neMassi, Doug Annino, Mike McClanahan, Stan Feck . '_' '-',~, Alternate(s): Anthony Jodice, Beth Ashman-Collinsh< (\ ISI~"t,il:: "..uj rll.., ..;/1., USETTS Il..MeetingcaUedfOOrder.f7:~Op.dI. Motion: To appoint Mr. Armstrong Acting Chairman and Mr. McClanahan Acting Clerk (Torman-DeMassi) All in favor. PASSES I 2.CorrespoBdenee I. August 22, 2007 minutes Motion: To approve as submitted (Torman-DeMassi) All in favor. PASSES 2. August Building Permit Summary 3. Meeting notices Attleboro, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville [Mr. Annino arrived at this time] 4. September 10,2007 Request for Release of surety - Gourdin Estates (Patriot's Way) / September 11,2007 Memo from Mike Ahern, DPW Special Projects Manager, recommending the release of$83,534.25 Motion: To release $83,534.25 (DeMassi-Annino) All in favor. PASSES 5. September 11,2007 memo from Mr. Burke re: Mansfield Crossing Issues 13. PlaBBingBoarclWorkshop__JsSand;OverB)'-Law Mr. Armstrong said the Zoning By-Law has been amended to allow 55 and over developments on six acres, down from 10. There was then a proposal to reduce that further to five acres, which was subsequently withdrawn. The board has discussed the appropriate minimum acreage and appropriate density for this type of development. [Mr. Feck arrived at this time] Mr. John Cooney said he has visited with the board and discussed a five-acre minimum land area with a density of eight units per acre. He asked the board for its input before he prepares an article for the town meeting warrant. The board members have had a number of varying opinions on the acreage and density questions; some members were supportive of Mr. Cooney's proposal, others were did not. Mr. Annino said there had also been discussion about what zone would be most appropriate for this type of development. Mr. Cooney said his development at Willow and School Street would be four buildings of eight units each. He said his site has 4.2 acres of upland area, which would allow 40 units, but he only intends to build 32 units. Mr. Cooney said he may have an issue with School Street being paved; if the final paving is done, he will not be able to open the road for five years. Mr. Annino said Mr. Cooney could install the utilities on his site and stub them off. Planning Board 1 9/13/2007 !I' T'IW"~' Ken Parsons said he had a citizens' petition last spring to allow 55 and over housing in the Rl zone, which he withdrew before the Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Feck said the board had been uncomfortable with allowing in R 1 what is now allowed in R2. He said there would have to be very different regulations for the board to consider the use in RI. Mr. Parsons said it could be more like a residential compound-type development. Mr. Annino said the Rl zone is an aquifer protection district and the zoning is much less dense than in other areas of town. Mr. Feck said this could still be done with different types of development scenarios, such as single-family homes rather than multi-family developments and requiring the development to be on sewer. Mr. Annino said it would still be a more dense development than what is allowed there now. Mr. Feck said it could be similar to a residential cluster; Mr. DeMassi disagreed because the developer of a cluster has to be able to prove he could do a traditional subdivision first. Mr. DeMassi said this type of development would hurt the character of the Rl zone. Mr. Annino said the character changes as soon as higher density is allowed. Mr. Annino said the reason the town went to 60,000 square foot lots was to protect the aquifer. Ms. Collins said there would also be issues with additional impervious surface and more lawns being treated with chemicals. Mr. Feck said there could be smaller lots clustered with smaller houses, with a different set of standards than what is allowed in R2. Ms. Collins said the by-law could be written so those new houses couldn't be as big as those allowed in Rl. Mr. McClanahan said he would be opposed to allowing cluster developments in the Rl zone because of the increased density. He said the downtown area would be more conducive to denser types of developments. Mr. Annino said the intent of the town's existing zoning is to encourage dense downtown areas and less dense areas further out. Mr. Armstrong suggested this might be an important issue to discuss under the Master Plan work. Mr. DeMassi asked what value this type of development would add to existing homeowners in the Rl zone. Mr. Parsons said rather than large lots, they would be smaller lots with more green space, costs to the town would be reduced with fewer services, and senior citizens would have more housing options. Mr. DeMassi said the current homeowners wouldn't benefit until enough of these developments were built to cause taxes went down. Mr. Annino said many of these 55 and over units are more expensive than a single-family home. Mr. Jodice said the question is about the fabric of the town and whether long-time residents are able to stay in town as they age. Fred Clark, Mirrione Realty, explained his company does 55 and over developments and cottage-type development. He said they have built two 55 and over single family developments in Easton on 14-15 acres, which is 3-4 units per acre. One is in the middle Planning Board 2 9/13/2007 . ~~. , T of a traditional residential neighborhood, and he said there has not been a diminution of housing values. He said they have worked with several towns to amend their 55 and over by-laws. He said the interests of the whole town should be looked at when discussing developments; he said Mansfield has one of the highest percentage of families with children in the area, so developers will build to that demographic. He said median income households have a problem affording houses in town, as well as in other parts of Massachusetts, an issue that come with larger lots and larger houses. He said with increased density, per unit costs could go down and more elderly and younger people would be able to stay in town. Mr. Annino said there is no guarantee this type of housing will not have any children and will be affordable. Mr. Clark said 55 and over development can be conditioned so children are not allowed. Mr. Mirrione said the other residents of that type of development do so with the intention of not living with children, and those residents tend to police their own developments. Mr. Armstrong asked about the Easton by-law. Mr. Mirrione said there is a minimum size of30 acres with 9,000 square foot lots and private roads. He said the density is determined similar to the way Mansfield's cluster by-law reads. He said the by-law requires single-family, free-standing homes rather than multi-unit development. [Mr. French arrived at this time] Mr. Armstrong asked the board what it thought about reducing the minimum acreage and the density issue. Mr. French said he thinks 10 units an acre is too high. Mr. Feck agreed. Mr. French said Village Landing on East Street has 11 acres of upland area and 82 units, so there are between seven and eight units per acre. Mr. McClanahan asked where Mr. Cooney would put his curb cut; Mr. Cooney said it would be on Willow Street. Mr. DeMassi asked if the current by-law discusses upland acres. Mr. French said it does. Mr. Feck suggested a sliding scale; depending on the number of acres, a different number of units would be allowed. Mr. French said the board's original idea for 55 and over housing was to create housing on a large enough parcel to create a community. Mr. Cooney suggested the maximum number of units per acre could be changed to something less than 10 per acre. Mr. French noted that the surrounding town's by-laws are all so different, it is hard to come up with an average for the area. Mr. Jodice said the average acreage requirement for the towns on the list is about 14.5 acres. Mr. Armstrong suggested anyone with ideas on this subject should submit them to the board for further discussion. Planning Board 3 9/13/2007 14. .. DiseussionofMaster Plan Is~ues I The board discussed the applications for the three citizens-at-Iarge positions, and whether the board wants to appoint members or interview them. Mr. French said he thinks the applicants should be interviewed. Mr. French asked to have Mr. Sullivan and Mr. D' Agostino review the RFPs to ensure they comply with the minimum requirements. The board discussed interviewing citizen-at-Iarge applicants on October 10 at 7:00 p.m. IS.Aroulldthe'l'abael Motion: To send the Building Inspector a letter asking if he thinks the special permit for the 905 South Main Street should apply to the whole site or simply to the proposed ExtraMart. (McClanahan-Annino) All in favor. PASSES !6.PubUcComuumt Richard Gordon, West Street, said he and his neighbors are very concerned about the 55 and over minimum acreage being lowered to five acres. Motion: To adjourn at 9:30 p.m. (Torman-McClanahan) All in favor. PASSES Planning Board 4 9/13/2007 , I' ~,