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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-05-09 Board of Selectmen Minutes Board of Selectmen/CPDC Meeting May 9, 2005 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 7:45 p.m. in the Multi-purpose Room, Parker Middle School, 45 Temple Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present were CPDC Members Neil Sullivan, Chair, Jonathan Barnes, Susan DeMatteo, Richard Howard, and John Sasso. Selectmen Ben Tafoya, Richard Schubert, Camille Anthony, James Bonazoli, and Joseph Duffy. Also Present: Chris Reilly, Town Planner; Michael Schloth Richard Askin, Project Manager, W/S Development Associates LLC, Attorney Mark Favaloro,representing W/S Development Associates LLC, Bob Frazier, Vice President of Development, W/S Development Associates LLC, Brian Sierra, Vice President of Lifestyle Centers, W/S Development Associates LLC. The following people signed the Attendance Sheet: Mr. Richard Roketenetz, Ms. Jean Roketenetz, Ms. Mary D. Avery, Ms. Diane A. Weggel, Ms. Marianne McLaughlin-Downing, Mr. Christopher Diemer, Mr. Brad Fuller, Ms. Angela Binda, Ms. Heidi Bonnabeau, Mr. Joe Westerman, Mr. Frank Touserkani, Mr. William Pike, Mr. Bill Webster, Mr. Rick Rostoff, Mr. David Zeek,Mr. Michael Giacalone, Neil Sullivan called the CPDC to order at 7:45 PM. All members were present. He explained that this meeting was a joint zoning workshop between the CPDC and the Board of Selectmen and then handed the control of the meeting to Selectman Richard Schubert. Joint Zoning Workshop: CPDC and Board of Selectmen Downtown mixed-use zoning amendment-Due to a lack of time this item was not visited. Addison-Wesley Zoning Amendment - Selectman Richard Schubert called the Board of Selectmen to order. All members were present. He explained that this although this was not a public hearing the public would be given a chance to speak at the end if there was time. Selectmen Schubert asked the public to please refrain from commenting during the developers' presentation and the Selectmen's and CPDC members' discussion. He explained that the CPDC members must leave in time to preside over a public hearing at the Police Community Room at 9:30PM. Developers' Presentation. - Mr. Frazier noted that they had been busy gathering traffic data with special attention to the "cut through" problem. He said that due to time constraints his team would be presenting only a summary of their traffic findings tonight. He said that they were still at the start of the process and that the DRT alone could take six months or more to complete. He then handed the presentation over to project manager Richard Askin. Mr. Askin said that the development team had decided to give the project the name "Park Square at Reading". He then began a slideshow about "Lifestyle Centers" showing how different their proposal was from a typical mall. Board of Selecbnen/CPDC Meeting-May 9,2005-Page Mr. Brian Sierra, Vice President of Lifestyle Centers, then spoke briefly. He too stressed the difference between his team's proposal and the Burlington Mall. He said that the tenant mix will be small — no "Big Box" companies -- and upscale with a focus on service and distinction. He added that their Lifestyle Center will be 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the Burlington Mall and cover an area roughly 10%of what Burlington Mall and its grounds cover. Mr. Askin continued. He said that their largest tenants would be along the lines of a Talbots ("junior anchors"). Parking would be convenient to all stores because the stores encircle and face the parking lot. Landscaping would be employed to keep the development intimate and pedestrian-friendly. He suggested the possibility of summer concerts. He concluded by reminding his audience that five years ago the same site was rezoned for use as a 6,000 square foot hotel project but the Lifestyle,Center would only cover 4,000 square feet. Traffic Studies-Mr. Askin next presented a summary ary of his team's traffic studies to date. The study focussed on two points: 1. the intersection of Main and South Streets, 2. "cut-through"traffic. Mr. Askin suggested that the first point might be improved by the addition of dedicated lanes turning north and south onto Main Street at the intersection. He presented two drawings of two different examples of possible "traffic lane geometries". Neither was definitive and others may be considered. He noted that Pearson had suggested plans for an improved intersection five years ago. Before going into possible solutions to the "cut-through" problem, Mr. Askin presented a handful of charts to explain where the traffic might come from if the Lifestyle Center was built. In short, the charts showed that roughly 80% of the traffic would come from Rt.128. A smaller amount would come from the north up Main Street(Rt. 28). Smaller still would be the amount of "cut-through"traffic coming down South Street. Next, Mr. Askin presented a chart that rated the "Level of Service" of the roads servicing the Addison/Wesley property. He explained that Levels of Service ratings run from"A" (the best)to "17" (failure) and that in this,case the roads were rated based on both the time of day (morning and evening) and the use of the Addison/Wesley site(current, office/hotel, and retail). Currently, in both the morning and the evening, the area roads are rated "IF". If Addison/Wesley became an office park, the morning and evening ratings would both be ccD". If"Park Square at Reading" were to be built, the morning level of service would be "C" and the evening rating would be "D". The level of service on Saturday mornings would be worse than for an office development. He then offered a few "traffic calming" suggestions for the cut-through traffic. Speed Table: a raised section of road. Used to cut traffic speed and volume. Gateway: the "strategic placement" of various features usually found in a gated community to discourage through traffic. Board of Selectmen/CPDC Meeting—May 9,2005-Page 3 Mr. Askin summed up the traffic study by saying that their proposal would make the cut-through traffic no worse and the intersection better. Buffer - Before ending his presentation, Mr. Askin said that the plans for the buffer between "Park Place at Reading" and the 26 or so homes that would boarder it should be ready by early June. Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Manager, noted that five years ago Addison/Wesley was rezoned (Business C) to allow a hotel or office park to be built there. The market for hotels and office parks tanked and has not improved in the meantime. On the other hand, there is a market for retail and residential properties. This developer wants to build a retail center. The developer has completed a traffic study and the data will be studied and discussed in future meetings. The data will be available for review on the planning website. The developer now requests that we rezone theproperty for retail. The project can't move forward until the property is rezoned. Town Planner Chris Reilly said that the developer had made three presentations to the CPDC to date. The last, on February 15th° was open to the public. It was made very clear at that meeting that the public's #1 concern is traffic. Traffic is one of the responsibilities of the Selectmen in their capacity of Road Commissioners so he advised the CPDC to meet with the Selectmen in a joint zoning workshop to discuss the matter. The developers made a promise at the February 15th meeting to make a study of the traffic. They are here to show that they have fulfilled that promise. Selectman Camille Anthony was confused why rezoning was even being discussed before the matter of access to the property is resolved and she also had concerns regarding traffic. The Town Manager replied that the reality of the situation is that there is only one way to access the property. Selectman Schubert said that we must be aware of the limitations of the access and of our opportunities to improve it. No matter how the site is used, access will be a problem. Do we not rezone and accept the access as is, or do we rezone and work with the developer to improve the access we have? Selectman Tafoya was disappointed that after four meetings with the developer.we still have not had a thorough discussion of the traffic situation. Also, how did the developers design their traffic study? What assumptions have they made? He too has questions regarding access of the site from Rt.128. He asks if the town has made any effort to actively seek developers who may want to build something other than a retail center? Richard Howard said that the hotel project of five years ago took six months of traffic studies, discussions of intersection reconfigurations, public meetings...and when it was all worked out and we were on the verge of proceeding, the market tanked. We still have the data from that project. That project had a different traffic dynamic but can it help us today? Attorney Mark Favaloro noted that the developers are prepared to present their traffic study data in full but it would take at least three hours to do it properly and it was their understanding that Board of Selectmen/CPDC Meeting-May 9,2005-Page 4 tonight's meeting would be a high-level discussion of the project. Also, all traffic issues were fleshed out in 2000 during the Pearson project. Today—because it is a retail project—we do have to look at weekend and weeknight scenarios too,but the access problem is not a new issue. Selectman Anthony agreed that plenty of work was done back in 2000, but she emphasized that this is a different situation. We're dealing with a retail center not an office park. Office parks have only two bad traffic times: the morning and evening rush hours. Attorney Favaloro agreed and added that the traffic studies will show that most of the traffic will come from Rt. 128 and not down South Street as"cut-through"traffic. The Town Manager reminded the Selectmen that there is no market for hotels or office parks. There is a market for retail and residential. Regarding the accuracy of the traffic study, he said that it would be peer reviewed by an expert of the town's choice hired at the developer's expense. Selectwoman Anthony said that according to an article she had recently read, the hotel industry is up to pre-9/11 levels. Hotels could be coming back.. She also noted that Walkers Brook Drive is supposed to have very good access but when it opened traffic was a"morass". Selectman Schubert noted that the site isn't perfect but its what we have to work with. Walkers 'Brook was a different situation. The town owned the landfill it was built on. The town does not own the Addison/Wesley site. We don't have the same control over the situation. It's up to us to signal the direction the town should take with the Addison/Wesley project. Selectman Tafoya said that we need a thorough discussion of the direction of Reading's economic development. We need to develop our own options for both publicly and privately owned properties. He is willing to head a task force to look for developers who may have projects that would fit Reading better. Richard Howard had a question for the developers. Could they look at the feasibility and impact of adding a residential component to the project? It could help us to evaluate the best use of the site. Selectman Schubert said that the last comments sound like points the Master Plan would cover and asked if someone from the CPDC could speak briefly on the Master Plan. John Sasso said that he and other members of the Master Plan Advisory Committee (MPAC) have been working on the Master Plan for over a year now and it is still difficult to say what direction we'd like to see Reading take. We have many ideas. An economic development task force is something we'd like to see. Reading has few remaining open lots and developers will target them. We need guidance to their best use. We hope the Master Plan will be the framework to provide such guidance. Selectman Schubert said that Richard Howard's suggestion raises the issue of "mixed-use". We have traffic data from the hotel project in 2000, and traffic data from the current retail center Board of Selectmen/CPDC Meeting-May 9,2005-Page 5 proposal. Can the developer provide us with traffic data on a possible mixed-use of the site? Does the developer have any experience with mixed-use? Mr.Frazier said that he did have experience with mixed-use projects and he was certainly willing to have his team look into adding some kind of residential component to the Addison/Wesley project, but: • Most people don't like them because of 40B. • You also have potential problems with parking. In the evening,the people who live there and the visiting shoppers both are trying to find places to park. • Most communities seem to like the retail component but not so much the residential because of the impact more residents could have on their schools, etc. • Usually with such projects we build next door to residential properties so the residential developer can present the retail center as an amenity for the residential buyers. The Town Manager summarized the discussion so far. • We want access to the complete traffic study. • We want to have the traffic study vetted by an expert of our choosing. • We would like to know what business plan drove the traffic study • We would like to see alternatives modeled--mixed-use alternatives included. At this time CPDC adjourned to continued their meeting at the Police Station. James Bonazoli noted that we need to learn from the Jordan's experience. He also noted that we need to think about the Route 128/1-93 intersection. He asked for an update on the meetings and Rick Schubert and Camille Anthony indicated that meetings are still being held on this potential project,but that there were no plans proposed at this time. Chairman Richard Schubert opened the meeting to the public. Walter Begonis from 289 South Street spoke regarding the Hingham project. He noted that there are highways on three sides including Route 3, and the rest of the area is commercial. There is a service road. He went on a Sunday afternoon in February and all of the parking spaces were filled. The neighborhood does not want the traffic, lights or noise from such a facility. He's in favor of a mixed use facility on the site. The study that was done five years ago was five years ago and there is a different situation now. Perhaps you should be looking at a retirement community with other uses. The Town should not pay for Pearson's buy-out of Addison Wesley. The traffic study should be broad enough to include not only South Street, but Route 128/Route 28 intersection, Summer Avenue, Hopkins Street, Walnut Street, etc. He noted that the traffic from the election last November could happen every Sunday at this site. George Katsoufis is a member of the Master Plan Advisory Committee felt that there were three elements that need to be consider: downtown viability, traffic and housing policy. The development has a regional interest in the community as a local interest and we would need to balance the two. Board of Selectmen/CPDC Meeting-May 9,2005-Page 6 Angela Bender of 10 Orchard Park Drive spoke. She got a notice of the development even though it's in a Business C a distance away from her. She's.interested in the economic impact on the Town. This could put a strain on services. It would increase tax revenues. The multiplier affect from locally owned businesses is greater than for regional chains. Marshfield, Massachusetts did a study indicating that growth doesn't necessarily mean more tax dollars. She's in favor of smart growth. Steve Morrison of 178 Walnut Street asked how people would know about meetings such as this (the Town Manager noted that it was noticed, advertised, included in websites). He also noted that if we close off South Street, cut through traffic may use other locations. Bill Brown, 28 Martin Road indicated that we could have a 40b project on this site. The Town Manager outlined the process for a 40b project. Mr. Schubarth from Sturgis Road noted that he didn't see the last meeting on TV. He should use channel 22 for information. South Street and 128 had four accidents. With Addison Wesley expanded they could build a second building 70 feet high. We should eliminate the 90 foot height that's allowed within a zone. We should put a stop sign at the corner of Jacob and South. We should put in signs that say no left turn. There are other ways to make improvements. Jim Doherty from Curtis Street spoke about the desirability of a mixed use and diversity on the site for the economic sustainability of the site. When the current zoning was put into place we thought it was the right thing it would be developed, and it has turned out not to be. We need to do an economic model with different percentages of use. With regard to the level of service at South and Main he doesn't think it is currently an F. It was in level service A when Addison Wesley did their study. Michael Jacoloni of Orchard Park Drive has about the legal recourse if the property is not rezoned. In addition to traffic in the neighborhood, he asked what the impact would be on downtown. He noted that there would be negative impacts around the Addison Wesley property with the development. David Zakem, 176 Pearl Street, spoke. He felt the Town should seriously consider the proposed development. It would make living in Reading fun. He misses upscale retail development and thinks it would be desirable use in the community. Mary Ann Downing of Heather Drive noted that 3 %i miles up the road, Burlington is putting in a similar development on Route 3A— the Ratheon property. We could get specific traffic counts from that. Frank Kazatomis, 21 George Street, noted that the neighborhood fought the 40b development next to them for six years. He felt the Town of Reading is not required to consider rezoning this property. He noted that there were questions about the hotel industry, but*it is not dead. It is hard to get rooms during the week. Engineers can simulate anything. We need to have a peer traffic review. Board of-Selectmen/C PDC Meeting-May 9,2005-Page Joel Westerstem from Avon Street feels that zoning is necessary to protect the inhabitants. The. proposal doesn't match that description. As consider solutions, we need to aware of the demand for increased services. He suggested that we consider an increase in the business tax rate. George Katsoufis noted that we want to consider a design overlay district for mixed use onthe site. Joe Duffy asked about the construction at the Red'Stone Plaza. The developer indicated that as redevelopment of the site which they lease and manage, Nit do not own. Duffy asked whether there is a conflict of existing vacancies there and trying to build a new center here. The developer noted that the proposed development is much different than Red Stone Plaza. The eight buildings that are currently vacant there are prepared for redevelopment. James Bonazoli asked if they were part of the Burlington project. They are not. Stan Kanatolis from 197 South Street was concerned about traffic at West and South Street. He asked how much residential uses were required to support the retail use. He also asked how many vehicle trips were required to support them all. He asked about the possibility of access directly from Route 128. Mr. Schubarth had experience with similar facilities in Branston, Missouri. There was discussion about next steps: 1. A traffic study presentation needs to be made to the CPDC and the Board of Selectmen. 2. Other alternatives of mixed use need to be reviewed. The developer agreed to both. On motion by Anthony seconded by Tafoya, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. on a vote. of 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted,