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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-08-10 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesTown of Reading RED c ~ 16 Lowell Street 1 ~ D ~;c_N~JNCaa P1r,SS Reading, MA 01867-2683 ~y Phone: 751-942-66'12 010 l~ 21 A {g '4' Ob Fax: 751-942-9071 AN Email: jde1ios@ci.reading.ma.us Community Planning and Development Commission CPDC MINUTES Meeting Dated: Augu t 10,200 9 Location: Selectmen's Meeting Room, T8wn Hal Time: 7 30 PM Members Present: Nicholas S Tina (N$), Chairman', John. Weston (JW) ecre aly, J seph Patterson _ . ..z (JP), Clair Paradiso (CP), and. David"Tittle (DT) Also Present: George Zamboras (GZ), Town Engineer; Abigail McCabe (AM), Staff Planner; and Michael Schloth, Recording Secretary. Mr. Gordon Whitman, Linear Retail, 5 Burlington Woods Dr., Burlington, MA Attorney Christopher Coleman, 248 Main Street, Reading, MA Attorney Brad Latham of Latham, Latham & Lamond, P.C., 643 Main Street Mr. Michael Palmer, Owner of 107 Main St. Ken Schroeder, Darlow Christ Architects, 2326 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA Mr. Jack Sullivan, Sullivan Engineering Group, LLC; 22 Mt. Vernon Road, Boxford, MA Mr. Salvatore Santorelli, Santor Realty Trust, Reading, MA Ms. Nancy Twomey, 23 California Road Mr. Bruce Murison, Director of Mission of Deeds Mr. Art Scarpa, 679 Pearl Street There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM. Public Comments None. Site Plan Review (Continued): 345 Main Street, Receding Plaza Attorney Christopher Coleman represented the applicant, Linear Properties. Also appearing for Linear was Mr. Gordon Whitman. The meeting was devoted to the review of the draft site plan review decision. The only substantive changes to the draft were: • Adding language to specify the L.E.D accent lighting will be mounted such that the light _ source is not visible from street level and that the lighting will not blink, move, or change color. Page 1 of 6 CPDC Minutes of 8/10/2009 • Changing the pre-construction meeting condition to allow the applicant to schedule such a meeting with the Building Inspector, Town Planner, and Town Engineer ten instead of thirty days prior to requesting a building permit. • Correcting a strange syntax in the language of the Major and. Minor Modification section of the decision (a section common to all site plan review decisions) as follows. The sentences beginning "Include but not limited to" will in this and all future decisions be corrected to read "This includes but is not limited to". DT moved the Board approve site plan review decision for 345 Main Street as amended. JP seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. Site Plan Review (Continued): 107 Main Street, SVam's Bistro The applicant, Mr. Michael Palmer, was present and represented. by attorney Brad. Latham. A draft decision had. been prepared by the Staff Planner and distributed to the Board and applicant prior to the meeting. Mr. Latham summarized how they have addressed the Board's and Town Staff's concerns raised when the applicant was last before the Board. • Drainage. They have met with the Town Engineer and per his recommendation the drainage system has been enlarged. An additional stormcepter chamber and manhole has been added to the site. Updated drainage plans have been submitted. • Employees and employee parking. Efforts are being made to secure off-site parking for employees but for now and the foreseeable future the number of employees will be held. to ten and they will park on-site. • Deliveries. The owner has his own delivery vans and therefore can schedule deliveries so as not to disturb abutters. • Lighting. Catalogue cutsheets of fixtures and a plan detailing the distribution of illumination across the site have been submitted. The Board discussed the Town Engineer's recoiumended changes to the site plan decision's conditions as outlined in his memo to the Staff Planner dated 8/10/2009. The Board agreed with four of the five suggestions. • The Board agreed the Conservation Administrators' language specific to the drainage system should be added to the decision but that only the portion requiring the applicant to submit a final drainage plan prior to constriction should be made a condition. The rest of the administrator's language should be a finding. • The Board agreed trash removal should be scheduled before normal hours of operation and determined those hours to be between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM. • The Board agreed snow should be hauled off site as needed. • The Board agreed the curb cut onto Hopkins Street should not be an emergency exit only but a normal exit instead. Mr. Latham added the Fire Chief told him he was in favor of this change. Page 2 of 6 CPDC Minutes of 8/10/2009 • The Board did not agree with the Town Engineer's recommendation to eliminate the tree proposed for the landscape island at the corner of Main and Hopkins because it would block sight lines. The consensus of the Board was the tree would not be a hazard if located on the island as far back away from the streets as possible. The Chair asked if there were any comments from the public. There were none. There followed a review of the draft decision. Mr. Latham asked for and the Board agreed to the following changes. • Under the list of Materials, and the Town Engineer's memo, the new drainage plan, and the. site lighting plan. • To the condition referring to the proposed freestanding sign, add language stating the applicant shall receive the approved sign permit "from the Building Inspector". • Rearrange the wording of the condition referring to seeking and entering into a shared parking so that it starts with the phrase, "when and if the safety of the surrounding street is compromised in the judgment of the Chief of Police,...." Other issues: • Deliveries. As the plans do not specify a loading zone, the Board restricted deliveries to the hours of 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. • Lighting. The Board. emphasized all lights should be screened or shielded to mitigate light spill into abutting properties as much as possible. • Screening abutter at 113 Hopkins. Mr. Palmer said he had spoken with the abutter and may replace the fence on the abutter's property. JW moved the Board close the public hearing for 107 Main Street. DT seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. DT moved the Board approve the Site Plan Review decision for 107 Main Street as amended. NS seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. Request for a Determination of Minor Modification to Site Plan Decision: 1349 Main Street The owner Mr. Santorelli was present as was his engineer Mr. Jack Sullivan. The-applicant asked the Board for a determination on two items: • The addition of seven, employee-only, parallel parking spaces along the north (4 spaces) and south (3 spaces) sides of the building. This was first presented to the Board at its 7/27/2009 meeting at which the Board had decided to defer its decision until after the applicant had obtained the Fire Chiefs opinion. Since then, the Fire Chief has replied by memo that he did not have an issue with the applicant's proposal. Mr. Sullivan said they are attempting to have spaces that would be used. for parking anyway formally acknowledged by the Board.. • A future tenant of the building is a delicatessen. The Building Inspector would like the Board to determine if the delicatessen-use is a Change of Use. If the Board does so determine, the Building Inspector would like the Board next to determine if the Change of Use is a Minor or Major Modification to the Site Plan Review decision. Page 3 of 6 CPDC Minutes of 8/10/2009 The Town Engineer said. the Board. should deny the parking space request because the proposal does not meet basic safety concerns the Board has had for parking spaces elsewhere. How will tricks negotiate to the dumpsters in the rear? What happens when snow is on the ground? The Board. was in general agreement with the Town Engineer. Regarding the delicatessen, the consensus of the Board was the use is not a Change of Use and therefore neither a Minor nor a Major Modification is required. DT moved the Board find the Delicatessen-use not to constitute a Change of Use and that a Determination of Minor Modification is not required. NS seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. DT moved the Board approve the request for a Determination of Minor Modification for the additional seven employee parking spaces. NS seconded and the motion was denied 0:5:0. Request for a Determination of Minor Modification to Site Plan Decision: 296 Salem Street, Mandarin Restaurant Mr. Ken Schroder appeared for the applicant and summarized the proposed changes: • Sunroom: Modify existing sunroom by removing skylights and replacing with shingled roof. Windows will be added to side wall to match windows elsewhere on the building. The footprint will not change. • Front Entryway: Replace existing slab and canopy. To allow for more, the new slab will be almost half the width of the old (I Oft vs. 24ft wide). • Illuminated Roofline-Screen: The screen is to shield mechanicals on the roof. The illumination will be soft wash from fluorescent bulbs. The brightness can be adjusted and a filter can be placed over the bulb if necessary. A photometric report, lumen calculations, and light fixture cutsheets have been submitted for review. The Board expressed concern over the use of a fluorescent bulb noting such bulbs tend to flicker when failing and when they do fail look like a missing tooth. Mr. Schroder assured the Board the owner would replace broken bulbs but suggested making the replacement of broken bulbs a condition of the determination if it would satisfy the Board. Mr. Schroeder added that the light would be a white light that would wash against a red. screen. The screen would absorb approx. 70% of the light and the light source would not be seen from street level. NS noted that the Building Inspector considers the wash lighting to be signage but the Board just allowed much the same kind of lighting at Reading Plaza (345 Main) and did not consider the lighting there to be signage. Mr. Schroeder said the applicant would be willing to accept a condition to filter the light more if after it is installed the Board finds the light to be too bright. DT moved the board determine the proposed changes to be a Minor Modification to the prior approved Site Plan Review decision for 296 Salem Street. JW seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. Page 4 of 6 CPDC Minutes of 8/10/2009 DT moved the Board approve the Minor Modification to the Site Plan Review decision for 296 Salem Street with the following conditions. • The wash lighting shall be no brighter than 11.3 foot candles • The lighting is sub iect to further review as the Board deems necessary. JP seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. Request for a waiver from Site Plan Review 6 Chapin Avenue, Mission of Deeds The applicant was represented by Attorney Brad Latham. Also appearing for the applicant was the project's architect Ms. Nancy Twomey, and the Director of Mission of Deeds Mr. Bruce Murison. Mission of Deed is a non-profit organization already located at 6 Chapin Ave. The applicant proposes to expand within the same building into an adjacent space that was previously occupied by a NAPA Auto Parts store. The applicant emphasized the purpose of the expansion was not to increase the number of customers (they don't expect the level of customer activity to change) but to improve existing conditions and customer service by providing more room to display stock and work with customers. Ms. Twomey described the changes they proposed for the site. • Replace the Chapin Ave-side garage doors with canopied windows. • Add both an entry door and a garage door to the wall facing the parking lot. • Add new office space and storage space. • There will still be a door on the Chapin Ave-side but it will be for emergency use only. • A wall sign is proposed for the Chapin Ave wall but will not be presented to the Board tonight. The Town Engineer said the curbing should. be added. along Chapin Ave and the parking lot's curb cut reduced to 24 feet. Cars should not be parking against the building along Chapin Ave. He pointed out the Board that the parking standards here were overlooked because the auto parts store owner argued his customers were short term parkers. The Board. noted a recurring issue for this site is the lack of a sidewalk along Chapin Ave. It was the Board's understanding that the last time site came under the Board's review the site owner had said he would address this issue when the next tenant signed on. Mr. Latham argued against requiring his client providing a curbed. sidewalk: • The Mission of Deeds could not afford the construction of a sidewalk and if a sidewalk was required his client would have to drop the project. • Chapin Ave is a narrow street already and adding a sidewalk would make it narrower still. • Mission of Deeds operation is a less intensive use than any retail store. Mr. Art Scarpa, a volunteer with Mission of Deeds,said he had lived at 15 Chapin Ave for eight years and in his opinion if a sidewalk was added cars would simply park further down Chapin in the residential section. Page 5 of 6 CPDC Minutes of 8/10/2009 The consensus of the Board was requiring a curbed sidewalk was too much to ask the applicant but the sidewalk area should be striped and the regulation width of the parking lot curbcut demarcated. with durable paint. DT moved the Board approve the request for a waiver from Site Plan Review for the plans submitted by Mission of Deeds for work at 6 Chapin Avenue with the following condition. The sidewalk area on the applicant's side of Chapin Avenue will be striped and the location of the. regulation width of the entrance to the parking lot will be demarcated with durable paint. JP seconded and the motion was carried 5:0:0. Other Business Minutes The Board voted 5:0:0 to approve the minutes of July 20, 2009-as amended.. The meeting adjourned at 10:40 PM. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on October 19, 2009; these minutes were approved by the CPDC on October 19, 2009. Signed as. appvroved, Johe on, Secretary Date Page 6 of 6