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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-02 ad Hoc - Zoning Advisory Committee MinutesTown of Reading 1_ "I Meeting Minutes ,a` Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Zoning Advisory Committee Date: 2014 -06 -02 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: David Tuttle George Katsoufis Eric Bergstom Jeff Hansen David Traniello Erin Calvo -Bacci Members - Not Present: Marsie West Others Present: Time: 7:30 PM RECEIVED TOWN CLERK FADING, MASS. NA JUL I N P 12 54 Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Session: Jean Deiios - Assistant Town Manager, Community Services Jessie Wilson - Community Development Administrator Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jessie Wilson, Community Development Administrator Topics of Discussion: There being a quorum the Vice Chair called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM. Mr. Bergstrom said that the last public forum was good, but expressed concern that the Consultant was not as prepared to answer some of the questions he was asked. Ms. Wilson said the ideal topics would be Parking, Signs and Non - Conforming. Ms. Delios said that it may be helpful to preamble the presentation informing the public that we want to move through the presentation and then take questions after. It was agreed to better stage the presentation. Mr. Traniello expressed concern with not having reviewed the revised materials on those topics. Mr. Bergstrom said that he feels the hot topics are accessory apartments and aquifer protection district. The ZAC discussed the aquifer protection district, noting that many people are uneducated on the topic and do not understand why the district is in place. Mr. Traniello said the goal is to make it easier to read and understand so that people know why we need it. Ms. Dellos said that the owner of the Dirty Doodle is interested in hosting an evening forum similar to the Reading Co -Op. She said maybe it may be worth waiting to discuss the issues related to signage. She felt it would be beneficial as that is on South Main Street where there has been many comments from businesses on issues related to signage. Mr. Tuttle said that it would be a good idea to ensure that the residents get informed of that discussion. Mr. Traniello said that if we do that, we should have a high level overview of Page I 1 Town or Reeding - Meeting Minutes signage including taking into account business owner concerns vs residential property owner's concerns. For the public forum, Mr. Hansen suggested to set the context and then talk about the feedback we have received in regards to signage. Mr. Katsoufis suggested that the ZAC set the tone for signage and that the presentation should be constructed not to open It up for free - for -all. He feels it is important to have the committee take a position on signage. Mr. Traniello said that design, size, location, number and aesthetics and lighting are the main concerns related to signage. Mr. Hansen made the point that many people think the signs in downtown look very nice and are well designed. He also suggested that many people feel that the signage on south Main Street looks much different. He questioned whether there needs to be a change in the regulations there. Mr. Tuttle said that he feels the regulations work well and no matter what happens someone may not be happy and will try to challenge what is not allowed. He does believe that the Town should consider moving the requirements from the Zoning Bylaw and into the General Bylaw. Mr. Bergstrom asked about the review process for signage in Business A. Ms. Delios clarified that unless the site goes through Site Plan Review the Town has no control over design of signs in Business A. Mr. Traniello pointed out that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes it is difficult to determine what looks good. The ZAC discussed the issue of enforcement. Ms. Delios said that enforcement is tough and it does take up a lot of Staff time. There is a position open for Code Enforcement for the Town that will have 8 -hours a week. She gave an example of a recent violation across from the McDonalds. Mr. Katsoufis said it seems the ZAC is and should be concerned with aesthetics. Mr. Traniello feels that the regulations are not broken, but it is Important and the ZAC should talk about those 5 points at the public forum and should have the community talk about what they want to see. Mr. Tuttle discussed residential signage. Ms. Delios said the only residential signs would relate to construction signs, business signs that are in residential signs and real estate signs. Ms. Wilson said also subdivision signs. Mr. Traniello said that he recommends at the public forum to talk about the 5 areas in which we think are Important. He suggested to also have the turning point activity on this topic. Ms. Calvo -Bacci said the most direct approach in getting information is the best. Ms. Delios said that there may be some discussion about political signs as there are some people that may feel there should be a lot less regulations for those signs. She also noted that single - tenanted buildings in Business A can only have one sign. She added that in the past there was an article before Town Meeting to have this changed, but it did not pass. Parkina Mr. Traniello said that he agrees that parking bylaw does need updating, specifically as it relates to exempt uses. Ms. Wilson said that it was updated for Dover Amendment Uses last fall. Mr. Tuttle said that a few years ago the setback for Business A was reduced from 50 -ft to 15 -ft which would allow buildings to be closer to the street enabling parking to be at the rear. Mr. Traniello asked what the ZAC should discuss with regards to parking at public forum. Mr. Hansen said that in his experience the topic of parking does not seem to be controversial, but that the bylaw is more unclear than anything. He feels that the updated table will help with that. Page 1 2 Town of Reading - Meeting Minutes Mr. Traniello suggested talking about what we are working towards such as an updated table, easier to read, more uses in the table, etc. Ms. Calvo -Bacci said that she expects people to talk about the 2 -hour limit downtown. Ms. Delios said that is a separate process that will be discussed with the Board of Selectmen in the future and not related to zoning. She added that one of the big issues is remote parking which is now allowed under the bylaw. The CPDC wanted to allow businesses to use parking lots which have alternate hours of operations so that they could meet their off -street parking requirements elsewhere. Mr. Tuttle said for the public forum the ZAC should point out and emphasize that the discussion is for off- street parking requirements and not public parking. Mr. Katsoufis asked why Business A and Business B are in the same category and are required to provide the same amount of parking spaces. He noted there Is the exemption for the 300 -ft within municipal lot, but feels that is not a permanent fix. He feels that is not smart zoning for downtown parking. Ms. Delios agreed, but noted the challenge is that we do not know the build -out of the vacant spaces in downtown and what their parking needs will be. Mr. Katsoufis said that a few years ago when the parking study was completed, the Consultant determined there was plenty of parking downtown. Ms. Delios agreed, but noted that many of the parking spaces are privately owned. Ms. Calvo -Bacci suggested showing the map that depicts all the parking to inform people where they can or cannot park and to inform them of how many spaces there are. Mr. Katsoufis said that a different formula is needed for parking downtown. He said a generic formula based on square footage is not efficient and does not work for downtown. It was agreed to also do a high level review of the parking updates and indicate that ZAC has the requirements under review. Mr. Hansen suggested some turning point questions related to Mr. Katsoufis' point. Mr. Traniello suggested putting a slide question related to any parking hot spots and then also to George's point. Non - Conforming Mr. Traniello said that his experience with the non - conforming bylaw is with applicants proposed to demo a non - conforming structure and construct another non - conforming structure. In many cases the structure may be outside the existing footprint but does not exceed any of the other dimensional controls. He said it is so common in Reading that maybe it is time to think about an as -of -right option. Ms. Delios said that this bylaw was updated a few years ago which improved it greatly, but still has some challenges. The ZAC continued to discuss non - conforming. Mr. Traniello said that for the purposes of the public forum he would mention the many cases for tear -downs and re- builds as well as applications for covered porches that encroach on the setback. He also pointed out it would be good to note that we are looking to make the process easier. Mr. Katsoufis said the ZAC and staff needs to be prepared for the bigger picture. Ms. Dellos said maybe the goal would be to ease up on the small issues and leave the ZBA to tackle bigger issues such as tear - towns. Mr. Katsoufis pointed out that the ZAC should think more strictly on the topic. Ms. Traniello suggested keeping it to more high level material. Ms. Wilson gave an example of the property on Ash Street and Ms. Delios gave an example of the property on Green Street. Mr. Hansen made a suggestion to have some of the ZAC members do the presentation since the ZAC represents the Town. Mr. Tuttle feels that the current regulations are good but that the language could be Improved upon. It was suggested to speak with Nancy Twomey, local Architect in regards to the issue of non - conforming. Page 1 3 Town of Reading - Meeting Minutes In regards to the public forum, Mr. Traniello suggested going with Mr. Hansen's suggestion and having the ZAC do the presentations. Mr. Hansen will present Signs, and Mr. Traniello will take non - conforming and Mr. Willmer will take parking. Mr. Hansen suggested that Marsie do the presentation on parking. Mr. Traniello will touch base with Marsie to see if she will do the introductions and the presentation on parking. Ms. Delios asked if Staff should work with the Dirty Doodle on an evening forum. However, there was concern about scheduling it around 41h of July. It was agreed to discuss and see what time would work best for him. Mr. Traniello tabled the remaining agenda items for June 11`h. It was agreed to include parking, signs and non - conforming on the joint meeting on the g`h. Mr. Katsoufis moved to adjourn the ZAC meeting at 10:00PM. Mr. Hansen seconded and carried 6 -0 -0. Page 1 4