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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-28 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen Meeting August 28, 2007 For ease of archiving, the order that items appear in these Minutes reflects the order in which the items appeared on the agenda for that meeting, and are not necessarily the order in which any item was taken up by the Board. The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present.were Chairman James Bonazoli, Vice Chairman Stephen Goldy, Secretary Ben Tafoya, Selectmen Camille Anthony and Richard Schubert, Town Planner Carol Kowalski and Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner. Also present were Ted Tye and Scott Weiss from National Development, Chuck Eisenberg from Housing Partners, Ted Carman and Adam Duchesneau from Concord Square Development Company, Inc., Bob Fishman from Nutter, McClennen&Fish, LLP, and the following list of interested parties: Paul Feely, Ron and Thomas O'Keefe, Steve Vittonoso, Sheila Spinney, Joseph Westerman, George Katsoufis, Cromwell Schubarth, Joan Neary, Gerald and Keith Hersh, Thomas Loughlin, Jay Lenox. The meeting was called to order by Chairman James Bonazoli. Discussion/Actiori Items Hearing_ 40R Application for Addison-Wesley/Pearson Site - The first item on the agenda was the 40R application for the Addison-Wesley/Pearson site. Just before .this, however, Vice. Chairman Steve Goldy made an opening announcement regarding an RCASA membership meeting on September 6, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the YMCA—all residents who might be interested in participating in the community's Substance Abuse Initiative should attend. Selectman Ben Tafoya read the hearing notice. The Town Manager provided a brief summary of the discussions and process that have taken place with regard to the Addison-Wesley site. He pointed out who was present at the hearing from each of the interested parties, and stated what meetings had taken place leading up to the public hearing. He also stated that the Special Town Meeting is tentatively scheduled for December 13, 2007, and that the Town had hired Concord Square Development Company as a 40R Consultant for the project with funds provided by National Development. Selectmen Camille Anthony and Richard Schubert then asked clarifying questions about the 40R application process. The Town Manager answered these questions, and also pointed out that the 40R. District bylaw would include design standards. He went on to state that the entire application, including design standards, must be approved by the Department of Housing and Community Development(DHCD)before the zoning could be brought before Town Meeting. The Town Manager introduced Ted Carman, President of Concord Square who began his presentation regarding the proposed Reading 40R District. Board of Selectmen Meeting-August 28,2007—Page 2 Mr. Carman outlined the key features of Smart Growth Zoning which include the site being at a smart growth location; as-of-right zoning for specified higher densities, design standards for local control and State incentives. Mr. Carman discussed the boundaries of the proposed 40R District and reviewed the incentives provided by the State: ■ Incentive payments ■ Density bonus payments ■ Preference for State discretionary funds ■ 40S school cost insurance Mr. Carman described the incentive payments and the density bonus payments from the State. He also elaborated ori the current status of the 40R funding and the discussions that were taking place at the State level regarding this topic. Chairman James Bonazoli asked what communities have passed 40R Districts. Mr. Carman stated that 15 communities have passed-Districts that total about 5,700 units, and that there were four or five other communities that had 40R Districts in the works. He went on to state that another 15 communities or so have expressed some level of interest in the 40R program. Mr. Carman presented a diagram of the 40R process which displayed the time length of each approval stage. He then discussed the allowed uses and dimensional standards of the District. Mr. Carman's presentation then turned to a discussion of the design standards that would be part of the District. He pointed out that DHCD must approve these design standards to ensure that they will not unduly restrict development within the District. The required affordable housing components of the District were discussed, including what the approximate rental prices would be within the District. The Site Plan review process was discussed, and Mr. Carman stated how the infrastructure of the area must be certified as adequate before the State would give the proposed District approval. Chairman James Bonazoli then opened up the hearing to questions from the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Camille Anthony asked if there could be an "in perpetuity" clause inserted into the bylaw to ensure that the affordable units would remain affordable in perpetuity. Mr. Carman stated that he understood that there were some legal issues with regard to use of the term "in perpetuity" in affordable housing deed restrictions. He went on to say that he could not provide more detail on this issue, and stated that Concord Square would work with the Town to achieve this objective. The Community Planning and Development Commission's questions and comments were then outlined by Town Planner Carol Kowalski and discussed by the Board of Selectmen. Board of Selectmen Meeting—August 28 2007—Page 3 Selectman Richard Schubert asked about the transit qualifications for a 40R District, and asked how far the site could be from a transit stop and still qualify. Mr. Carman stated that the distance was a 1/2 mile radius from the station, or % of a mile radius from the station with continuous pedestrian access. The Addison-Wesley site did not meet these requirements. .Selectman Richard Schubert then stated how the adoption date of the Reading Master Plan should be in the application and if it already was, it should be more obvious. He then asked if the design standards within the draft Zoning By-Law would have the capability to be expanded once the 40R Application was submitted to the State. Mr. Carman stated that this section could be expanded even after submittal of the application. Selectman Schubert followed this question by asking how much flexibility the entire application has after it goes into the State. Mr. Carman stated that DHCD has been very sympathetic to changes to applications after submittal, especially in regard to affordability requirements within the Zoning By-Law. Selectman Ben Tafoya then asked about "adjacent areas" as stated in the 40R Application, and asked if these were applicable to the proposed District in Reading. 'Mr. Carman stated that this particular District would have no adjacent areas. Selectman Tafoya also stated how on the first page of the application "Yes" should replace "N/A" under the Category of Eligible Location description of"Area of Concentrated Development — City/Town Center, Existing Commercial District." Selectman Camille Anthony then asked a question about Section 4.11.10.5 of the proposed bylaw, and the number of bedroom units in an Affordable Unit. Mr. Carman stated that the Affordable Units in the District need to be similar to the number of standard units including the number of bedrooms. Selectman Anthony then asked what other communities have done with regard to the finishings inside the Affordable Units. Mr. Carman stated that typically Affordable Units would have the same finishings. Ted Tye from National Development. added that bathrooms and kitchens would have all the same finishings. Chairman James Bonazoli then opened the floor to questions from the community. George Katsoufis, an Associate member of the CPDC, stated that the way in which the development sits on the site needs to be considered. Parking requirements on the site should be carefully examined. Housing for the elderly units on the site, and the staff that may be employed for those units also needs to be considered. Additionally,the reduction of the impervious surface area on the site from what it is today should be kept in mind. All of these elements should be looked into. Furthermore, the influx of children from this new development into the school system needs to be examined. Not only do children from this particular development need to be considered,but also those children who will come into the school system as an indirect result of this development. With the construction of this development, existing homes will be put on the market as people in the community downsize.and move into the District. What this may mean is that households where there were no children may become households with children. This could create a large influx of students into the school system. i Board of Selectmen Meeting—August 28, 2007—Page 4 Selectman Richard Schubert followed up these comments by asking how much does this happen. Is there a way to track homeownership to see if people with children move in to where there were not people with children living before. Selectman Ben Tafoya stated that with the supply of condominiums available in this market, he felt that homeownership decisions would not be effected by this development alone. Selectman Richard Schubert stated that this was probably true because you can never tie change to only one development. The effects of creating several of these types of developments over several years needs to be kept in mind. On a motion by Anthony seconded by Goldy,the Board voted to close the public hearing on the OR application for the Addison-Wesley/Pearson site by a vote of 5-0-0. The Town Manager then stated that some issues have been raised, and some of those can be addressed before the application's submittal on Friday but some cannot. The perpetuity clause is obviously the biggest issue and the design standards are an important issue as well. He then asked the Board, that with these concerns expressed, does the Board feel comfortable with submitting the application. Vice Chairman Steve Goldy asked if making changes to the application after submittal to the State would push back the review completion dates. Mr: Carman stated that it should not because DHCD has been very helpful with the application process, and they really want to see the 40R program work. Selectman Camille Anthony asked where in the whole review process is the infrastructure status examined. Mr. Carman stated that DHCD expects a letter from the Town Engineer stating that the infrastructure for the proposed District is adequate. The Town Manager added that there have already been discussions at the staff level with National Development regarding this issue. Chairman James Bonazoli stated that he strongly suggested that the Town have the traffic study for the proposed District before Town Meeting. Selectman Camille Anthony stated that she was somewhat concerned about the infrastructure issue because she wanted to make sure that the Town and the developer were clear on who would be paying for the infrastructure upgrades. Selectman Richard Schubert then asked if it was necessary for a memo to be written and included with the application stating that the application elements are a work in progress. Mr. Carman stated that he would look into this matter. Selectman Ben Tafoya suggested that perhaps the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen could briefly look over the application before it was submitted to the State. Chairman James Bonazoli stated that he felt the key issues of the 40R Application had been outlined at the hearing. Board of Selectmen Meeting—August 28 2007—Page 5 On a motion by Anthony seconded by Schubert, the Board of Selectmen voted to submit i ^ the Smart Growth 40R Application as presented modified to incorporate as many of the suggestions by the Board of Selectmen and CPDC as could be included by the date of August 31st application The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0. Review Goals - The Board of Selectmen then discussed with the Town Manager progress on "2007 — Top 15 Goals." The Town Manager reviewed progress to date, and the Board of Selectmen had the following comments and suggestions: • Goal 5 —Chairman Training: Don't spend money on this—we should be able to do this "in house"with our own talent. • Goal 8 — Library Strategic Plan: Will the plan identify need for a new Library building. The plan itself would give an indication as to whether a new building or major renovation is needed. There would then be a process after that to determine what the needs are, and what the options are to address those needs. • _Goal 11 — Reduce Community Dependence on Energy and use of Natural Resources: The Board of Selectmen does not need copies of Civic Function Permits or sign permits unless they are denied—it will save a little paper o Goal 13 — Arts Center: We need to schedule some Board of Selectmen time to review this, and the potential for such a facility on the Oakland Road property. This site could also be a prime site for a new Library if needed. What about a combined Arts Center and Library. What about a Youth Center. On a motion by Schubert seconded by Tafoya, the Board of Selectmen voted to adjourn their August 28,2007 meeting at 9:45 p.m. by a vote of 5-0-0. RespXA.4ally submitted, 4ZetS6