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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-21 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesIOw� CLm< Town of Reading Joint Meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Community Planning and Development Commission Minutes of June 21, 2012 Members Present: Jeffrey Perkins, Chairman John Jarema John Miles Damase Caouette Kristin Cataldo Members Absent: Robert Redfern A joint meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Community Planning and Development Commission was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts beginning at 7:23 P.M. In attendance for the CPDC were Charlie Adams, David Tuttle, Nick Safina, and John Weston. Call to Order ZBA Case # 12 -10 A Public Hearing on the petition of Home Depot USA Inc. who seeks a Variance under Section 6.1 of the zoning bylaws in order to allow Home Depot USA Inc. to have fewer than the number of parking spaces required for the zoning bylaw for retail use on the property located at 60 Walkers Brook Drive in Reading, MA. Jeffrey Perkins opened the hearing for the Zoning Board of Appeals. John Weston opened the hearing for the CPDC. Attendees were sworn in if they wished to speak. Attorney Brad Latham presented the history and description of the property involved and explained how it was a former dump and landfill for the Town of Reading. The landfill was capped and that is why there is such a hill on the lot. The back wall is a retaining wall not just for the building but also for the landfill. A radon pump system was installed to monitor the methane gas. The significant retaining walls are also part of the capping system for the site. These all reduce the amount of land available. Home Depot has displayed sheds outside of the building since the beginning. These shed displays use up some of the parking spaces. Cart corrals were also installed and these take up ZBA & CPDC Joint Meeting, June 21, 2012 further parking space. Home Depot would like to have seasonal open storage between March and July and cordon it off for various displays. They also want permission to expand the truck rental operations on the site. They would like to be able to store 8 rental trucks that are rented through Home Depot. There are excessive amount of parking space for Home Depot and it is never full. There are always vacant spaces. Patrick Dunn, Traffic Engineer, did a parking supply and demand study. With the new plan there would be 394 spaces available during the seasonal open storage. On Saturday, during the busiest time, there were 258 parked vehicles on site. This was approximately 65% of the available parking spaces being used. He thought there were more than enough parking spaces available and the spaces that would be occupied by the eight trucks would not adversely impact the overall parking available. Attorney Latham said no one cares more than Home Depot that they have enough parking spaces available for their customers. He presented what he thought were the four criteria required in order to obtain a Variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. He said there was ample parking available and this area is not visible to any residential abutters. Attorney Latham reviewed areas of the proposal that are crucial to any decision made by the CPDC. Since the Building Inspector was unable to attend the meeting, Jeffrey Perkins, Chairman read a memorandum from him into the record opining that truck rentals (Penske trucks) are not a retail use allowed by the Zoning By -Laws. John Jarema presented his questions relating to the proposal and John Kerekes from Home Depot and Attorney Latham answered. Attorney Latham explained the commercial condominium structure of the building in that Jordan's Furniture owned the top level and their parking area and Home Depot the bottom level and their parking area. Mr. Jarema said the exclusive outside storage areas were not painted as originally they were intended to be and Attorney Latham said that was correct. Mr. Jarema said the Home Depot area has been vastly cleaned up and improved since his previous visit three weeks ago. He questioned the 12 spaces for the truck rental and asked if Home Depot owned Penske. Attorney Latham said the trucks are Penske trucks but are under the control of Home Depot. Mr. Kerekes said it was the same as a tool rental business who rent out many different brand tools. Mr. Caouette asked questions about the amount of spaces that had been being used for open storage that are not being used for that anymore. Attorney Latham distributed a memo to both Boards that he had prepared and that was what he was presenting tonight. Mr. Miles asked if the count taken during the busy seasonal times was the average busiest. Mr. Dunn said from 12 Noon to 4:00 PM during a Saturday was the busiest time with the peak being about 2:00 PM. ZBA & CPDC Joint Meeting, June 21, 2012 At the conclusion of the Zoning Board of Appeals completing their questioning, the Community Planning and Development Commission began their question and answer period. Tony D'Arezzo of 130 John Street presented his concerns about the proposal. Attorney Latham responded to his concerns. Lorraine Talky Carnation Circle voiced her concerns about the fuel used by the trucks. Mr. Kerekes responded they were diesel. The ZBA closed their public hearing. Some additional questions, comments, and concerns were voiced by both the ZBA and the CPDC. Mr. Kerekes discussed the cart corrals and said they would like to actually only have 9 cart corrals and this would add 10 more spaces back to the total available parking spaces. Mr. Tuttle did not think a Variance needed to be granted by the ZBA. Attorney Latham said Home Depot did want a Variance to be granted by the ZBA. The CPDC wanted additional modification plans submitted to them and therefore they would not be closing their public hearing but will continue this case to another CPDC meeting. Attorney Latham asked if the ZBA would make their decision this evening and Home Depot could provide a physical plan with the changes clearly on it. On a motion by Damase Caouette, seconded by John Miles, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance under Section 6.1 of the Zoning Bylaws in order to reduce the number of parking spaces as depicted on the referenced plan. The vote was 4 -1 -0 (Perkins, Caouette, Miles, Cataldo in favor, Jarema opposed). The CPDC moved to continue their public hearing to July 9, 2012. Adjournment On a motion by Kristin Cataldo, seconded by Jeffrey Perkins, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to adjourn the meeting. The vote was 5 -0 -0 (Perkins, Cataldo, Miles, Jarema, and Caouette). Res Amppectful] ��u w�x�/ en N Recording ZBA & CPDC Joint Meeting, June 21, 2012