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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-06-26 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesTown of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867-2683 Phone: 781-942-6612 Fax: 781-942-9071 Email: creilly@ci.reading.ma.us Community Planning and Development Commission CPDC MINUTES Meeting Dated: June 26, 2006 Location: Police Community Room, 15 Union Street 7:30 PM Members Present: John Sasso (JS), Richard Howard (RH), Susan DeMatteo (SD), and Jonathan Barnes (JB). Members Absent: Neil Sullivan (NS). Associate Members Present: Brant Ballantyne (BB). Also Present: Chris Reilly, Town Planner (CR); Michael Schloth Attorney Mark Favaloro, Favaloro & Associates, 348 Park Place, North Reading, MA 01864 Mr. Paul Fontes, 89 Highland Street King Complete Auto, 550 Main Street Attorney Brad Latham of Latham, Latham & Lamond, P.C., 643 Main Street Mr. Brian Lynch, Metro Sign & Awning, 120 Lumber Lane, Tewksbury, MA 01876 Attorney Robert McCann of McCann & McCann, P.C., 100 Conifer Hill Drive, Suite 313, Danvers, MA 01923 Mr. Brian Milisci, P.E., Whitman & Bingham, 510 Mechanic Street, Leominster, MA 01453 Edward Shaw, Dickenson Development Corp. There being a quorum, the Chair called the meeting of the CPDC to order at 7:35 PM. Public Comments / Minutes There were no comments from the public. JB moved to accept the minutes of 04/19/06 as amended. RH seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0 Subdivision Approval Not Required (ANR) 1+ Harnden Street, McGriff Reading LLC. Page 1 of 10 RH moved to endorse the ANR. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. Walgreens Change. This item was not on the agenda. CR said he found what he deemed an inconsistency between the stonework requested and the elevation plans. The stone in question should be cast stone but looks more like cinder block. Attorney Brad Latham said Walgreens is prepared to make changes and has signed a letter to that effect. Walgreens also agrees to put $20,000 in escrow towards the changes. CR said the amount was adequate and shows Walgreens' good faith. He added that no action by the Board was necessary. The Board expressed their appreciation for Walgreens efforts. As there was time before the scheduled Public Hearing, the Board decided to address a few of the Administrative Review items. Administrative Review CPDC Venues CR said he has not yet heard from the RMLD concerning the availability of the meeting room there. Also, he was not sure if the Selectmen's room was available again or if the School Committee was still meeting there. The consensus of the Board was they need a definite location given the number of public hearings they schedule and since the availability of both the Selectmen's Room and the RMLD meeting room is unknown the Board will continue to meet in the Police Community Room until further notice. JB said the Board needs to meet in a room equipped with the necessary technology to allow electronic documents to be projected on a screen. The Board agreed. CPDC Action Item Status JS said most of the Board's action items have been completed. A few of the unresolved items are • Adoption of changes to the Subdivision Regulations. CR said he is still waiting to hear from the new Town Engineer. • Review of the PUD-R overlay language. • Review of the Johnson Woods zoning language. • Amendment of the Site Plan Review Waiver procedure to require notification of abutters. Page 2of10 Public Hearing: Site Plan Review 88 & 89 Walkers Brook Drive, 128 Ford The application proposes to demolish the existing showroom, construct a new service center and remodel the existing service center for use as a new showroom, with related site improvements. JS opened the pubic hearing and explained the procedure. As no draft decision had been written, the hearing will most likely be continued. RH read the legal notice. Mr. Robert McCann, the applicant's attorney, described the site and his client's plans. • There are currently two building on the site: a Service Building and a Sales/Showroom Building. There will be no major changes to the Sales Building but they propose to demolish and rebuild the Service Building with three floors and a new section to the rear. • A number of parking spaces will be removed from the front of the building to improve access. • The rear parking lot will be restriped and swept more frequently. • The town has utility and drainage easements and a right-of-way between the two buildings. This will not change but the applicant proposes the construction of a canopy over the right-of-way and connecting the two buildings. DRT Issues. Next, CR presented the minutes from the 6/19/06 meeting of the DRT. CR said the entire site needs a full Site Plan Review. Mr. McCann agreed as far as the new Service Building was concerned but he was looking for an exemption for the Sales/Showroom building because there would be no external changes to that particular building and so nothing to trigger a review of it. CR said the [parking] aisle widths are inadequate; more landscaping is needed; and details of the dumpsters and their enclosures need to be provided. Mr. McCann said they would bring the aisle widths up to standard; they are willing to discuss more landscaping; and they would provide details on the dumpsters CR said the DPW has an issue with the design of the canopy. It will span the right-of-way and the 20-minute disassemble time is inadequate. Mr. McCann said the canopy is more like a "temporary tent" built from sail cloth and poles. It is needed to provide protection from bad weather when walking between the buildings. It will be 35 feet high so should high enough for most vehicles to pass under it with the possible exception of cranes. He added that in early discussions they had been told they had to be able to disassemble the canopy with 24 hours notice 'and they have managed to come up with a design that can be taken down in 20 minutes. BB said it looks like the plans show the top of the canopy at 35 feet but the clearance looks to be closer to 20 feet. The consensus of the Board was they Page 3 of 10 need more information from Mr. Ted McIntire the Director of the DPW. CR said he would ask Mr. McIntire for a memo on the canopy. CR said the DRT was looking for more sidewalks. Mr. McCann said they want to be able to direct where their customers go. Mr. McCann said sidewalks in the front are fine but they don't want them all around the buildings because there are certain areas they don't want customers wandering into. He cited safety issues. CR said only certain areas need sidewalks. The consensus of the Board was that the town needs to give the applicant more direction as to the placement of the sidewalks. CR said the signage dimensions need to be reviewed. Mr. McCann said they were proposing no changes to the site's signage. The Board explained to Mr. McCann that the town has been phasing in new signage requirements and even if no changes to their signs are proposed they must be reviewed for compliance with the new requirements. CR said the striping plan for the parking spaces is confusing. Mr. McCann said they believe their parking calculations are accurate and he referred the Board to sheet A100 [of the plans]. RH said he believed the required parking calculations seem to be there but not presented in an obvious way. CR suggested the Board have the Building Inspector make the determination of the number of parking spaces. The Board agreed. BB asked the applicant to please make clear on the plans the square footage of each parking type: sales/showroom vs. service. CR said the site needs landscaping to restrict illegal parking on the right-of-way where trucks have been known to park and unload. Mr. McCann said they cannot landscape on Massachusetts' right-of-way. CR said Board regularly requires this and the applicant needs to apply to Mass. Highway for permission. CR said 128 Ford employees park behind the gas station across Walkers Brook Drive. This requires an off-site parking permit. Mr. McCann said they plan on providing more on-site parking for their employees. CR said the Town Manager wants the site to have a single entrance. Mr. McCann said they have applied to Mass. Highway for signal lights but have not yet heard back from them. Mr. Milisci, the applicant's engineer, said the conduit for the lights is in place and a traffic study of the lights has been done and is currently being reviewed by Mass. Highway. CR said the curbing should be granite throughout the site. Mr. McCann said they were willing to make the cubing of the entrances granite but they prefer bituminous curbing for all curbing within the site. CR said the DRT suggested a sidewalk along the frontage. Mr. McCann said such a sidewalk would lead nowhere and might be considered a hazard. Mr. Ed Shaw said Walkers Brook is willing to provide an easement in front of Chili's Restaurant for a sidewalk. Page 4 of 10 CR said cars for sale cannot be parked in the town's right-of-way. Mr. McCann said this would not be an issue. CR said there is land in the rear of the site that should not be paved and the Town Manager feels the existing parking should not be allowed there. Mr. McCann said the site was built on a landfill so the ground is soft and needed paving. Mr. McCann said the Conservation Commission wants the tarmac dug up and replanted. He said the paving was done in the late 60s through the 80s and it may not be permitted today but we can't change what has been done. CR said they want to see details of the lighting. Mr. McCann said they are not changing the lighting. The Board explained that this is similar to the signage situation. The lighting needs to be reviewed to determine if it meets current standards. Mr. McCann said they would provide details. CR said the DRT suggested moving the new building closer to Walkers Brook Drive to allow for more parking in the rear. Mr. McCann said they wanted to use the existing foundation because: • they know it works • if they build a new foundation they would have to deal with the soft landfill all over again • the existing foundation is already very close to the front setback CR said the Fire Department wants to know if the turning radius is adequate for their trucks. CR suggested adding a turning template to the plans. CR said Engineering is concerned about the drainage and they need details of the floor drains and the storm water drainage. Mr. Milisci said they would try to use existing drains where they can. He said the storm water drainage is almost fully developed and it would be very difficult to mitigate runoff further. He said the DEP "Redevelopment" regulations require them to show they meet DEP standards to the best of their ability. Dickenson was able to construct special drainage systems for their Walkers Brook development because they're on raised ground - the 128 Ford site doesn't have the room for such improvements. He said they will be going before the Conservation Committee on the matter. Mr. McCann said a compromise may be they add no new impervious areas and not increase runoff. Also, they may be able to add a recharge system. He said the problem is the ground water table is just below the surface. He suggested making approval of the drainage etc contingent on the Conservation Committee's approval. Mr. McCann said they have not yet filed a notice of intent. CR said extensive comments from the Conservation Administrator are listed in her memo of 6/21/06. Mr. McCann said they had not yet seen that memo. Page 5of10 Mr. McCann said a "21E" was done on the property less than 10 years ago and there are no underground tanks. He said the owners, the McManuses, built the original buildings and they say no asbestos was used. Comments from the Board. Regarding Mr. McCann's request for the exemption of the Sales/Showroom site from full review, JB said he did not see how the exemption applies as the site meets none of the three requirements for exemption [bylaw 4.3.3.11]. It was the consensus of the Board that the traffic study submitted to Mass. Highway on the impact of traffic lights at the site should also be submitted to the Board for peer review. It was the consensus of the Board that the applicant should provide detailed information (including the "lumens") on all the lights on and around the buildings and parking lots. RH moved to continue the Site Plan Review of 88 & 89 Walkers Brook Drive until 8:00 PM, 7/24/06 at the Police Community Room. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. No additional notice would be given. Certificate of Appropriateness 550 Main Street, King Complete Auto The applicant said there would be two signs: one on the front and one on the side. She distributed samples of the sign and lettering materials to the Board. She said the lettering would be flat, not raised. The signs would display a phone number too. The consensus of the Board was they would prefer the phone number removed and the letters raised. CR said the letters are very big and asked the Board if they would like to see them smaller. The consensus of the Board was smaller letters would be better but the primary consideration is that they should be raised or engraved. The Board requested the applicant resubmit. RH moved to continue until 8:00 PM, 7/10/06. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. Certificate of Appropriateness 525 Main Street, Cooling & Heating Unlimited & Salon Muffle Page 6of10 Mr. David Lynch of Metro Sign & Awning presented a plan for an awning and window graphics. Mr. Lynch said currently "Salon Muffle" has no sign and "Cooling & Heating" has a sign that shouldn't be there. His plan calls for: • Older-style graphics • Colors that blend with the building • Fabric awnings • No illumination. Mr. Lynch pointed out that the address is not "525" but "565" Main Street. JS said awnings need to be at least 8 feet off of the sidewalk if retractable and 10 feet otherwise. This is not a retractable awning. Also, the frontage slopes. CR said the Board has the discretion to approve awnings less than 10 feet off the sidewalk and has approved them at 8 feet in the past. RH moved to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness to 565 Main Street, Cooling & Heating Unlimited & Salon Muffle with the following conditions: • No lighting • The minimum height of the awning above the sidewalk will be 8 feet • The address will be changed to "565" JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. Zoning Workshop The Board thanked the Town Planner for getting the amendments ready for approval. Amendment to Zoning By-Laws Section 4.9.6.2.h to accelerate allowable residential development from 2009 to 2007 CR said Town Counsel suggested only one minor change to the wording of the amendment. CR asked the Board to please provide him with the exact wording they would like to see in the Legal Notice. The Board agreed. RH suggested the addition of language providing the context of the change to help the public to better understand the reasons for the change. The Board agreed. RH said he would provide CR with an updated notice to present to Town Counsel for review. CR said he would schedule the Public Hearing for this amendment at 9:30 PM, 7/24/06 at the Police Community Room. Page 7 of 10 Section 4.3.3 Site Plan Review: Minor/Major Amendment CR said this would probably not make the 7/24/06 meeting because Town Counsel has changes to suggest but he didn't know what they were. CR suggested the public hearing for this amendment be posted for the 8/14/06 meeting. The Board agreed. The Board decided to change the word "procedures" in section 4.3.3.13 of the amendment to "provisions". Other Items CR said the Town Engineer is still reviewing the proposed changes to the subdivision regulations so the public hearing for that would have to be postponed until at least the 8/14/06 meeting. JS asked CR to prepare draft legal notices for the "Flood Insurance Program" and any outstanding Zoning Bylaw changes for review during the 8/14/06 meeting's Zoning Workshop. JS said the Board will discuss Accessory Structures and Cluster Zoning at the next meeting. RH asked CR to provide him with an exact definition of "Affordable Housing" for the Cluster Zoning amendment. Administrative Review CPDC Reorganization JS asked to speak on the Board of Selectmen's proposal to create a Master Plan Group. JS proposed asking the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen to table their plans for a Master Plan Group and instead allow the CPDC to schedule an additional meeting each month devoted to planning issues only. The Board endorsed this proposal. Returning to the topic of the Board's reorganization, RH said they could have a preliminary discussion but no vote should be taken until all members are present and BB is an official member of the Board. The Board agreed. RH said that although he is scheduled to be the Chairman next he cannot accept due to prior commitments and a heavy workload. He passed the Chairmanship to JB. JB said he too has a heavy workload and cannot accept the Chairmanship. He said he would like to see the current Chairman continue for another year. No vote was taken. The Board expressed their thanks and gratitude to SD for her years as a member of the CPDC. Page 8of10 CPDC Tracking JS said BB has updated the list through 06/19/06. He asked CR if the DRT had reviewed the list. CR said the DRT had not because the Building Inspector has not been present. The Board reviewed the list. • Sovereign Bank - Signage Permit. • Danis - Drainage Issues. • Benjamin Lane - Under appeal to Conservation Commission. • 137 Main - Tree Issue. CR said the Town Manager met with them and approved some things. • Venetian Moon - CR said they are seeking entertainment and liquor licenses. There are many Building and Health Code issues. It is not at the point to review compliance. • Kylie Drive - Mylars have been signed. CR said there are no problems there. • Stop & Shop - Under appeal. • 175 Franklin Street - Mylars have been endorsed and covenant signed. CR said there are no problems. • 55 Walkers Brook Drive - ANR: CR said from now on he'll have applicants write something declaring that signing the ANR does not endorse zoning compliance. He added that if an ANR shows adequate frontage, the Board must sign. The Board asked CR how the compliance pre-meetings with the Building Inspector have been going. CR said they were going well - the Building Inspector comes to him on his own initiative. 505 Main Street, Quiznos. This item was not on the agenda. Attorney Mark Favaloro represented the applicant. Mr. Favaloro said they have not received a letter from the Building Inspector confirming that what the CPDC had asked for by way of changes to the site would not invalidate the ZBA's waiver. Quiznos would like to open next week and they wanted to know if they could proceed without the Building Inspector's letter. They would like to proceed with the original plan. JS asked if the applicant had sent a formal request in writing to the Building Inspector. Mr. Favaloro said they had not as they did not think it was necessary. JS said: if the Building Inspector says the Board has invalidated the ZBA's waiver, then the applicant must comply with the original plan. However, if the Building Inspector says the CPDC has not invalidated the ZBA's waiver, then the applicant must make the changes the CPDC requested. Page 9of10 CR said he discussed the matter with the Building Inspector and the Building Inspector told him he thinks the CPDC had acted appropriately and the CPDC's changes do not invalidate the waiver. CR recommended the Board draft a letter to the Building Inspector asking him to respond directly. Mr. Favaloro and the applicants took issue with the Board's proposed changes: • The location of the trees would cause access problems. • The proposed curbing will make parking difficult. • Some parking spaces need to be reoriented for better access. • A telephone pole is in the way of at least one of the parking spaces. • A tenant is concerned that the trees will block his sign. CR left the meeting at 11:00 PM. RH moved to modify the waiver: • to remove the trees next to P 1 and P2; • to replace the vertical, granite curbing along E8 with sloped, granite edging; • to reorient parking spaces E8 and E9 so they are parallel to E7; and • to approve the landscape island of 6/20/06. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. RH moved to adjourn. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. The meeting ended at 11:15 PM. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on August 14, 2006; the minutes were approved as amended by the CPDC on August 14, 2006. Signed as approved, c) Howard, Page 10 of 10