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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-11-01 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesTown of Reading n I~itiJ~ 16 Lowell Street ,.n 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: November 1, 2005 Location: Reading Police Station Community Room, 15 Union Street 7:30 PM Members Present: John Sasso, Chair (JS), Jonathan Barnes (JB), Richard Howard (RH), and Neil Sullivan (NS). Members Absent. Susan DeMatteo (SD). Also Present: Chris Reilly, Town Planner (CR); Michael Schloth Reading Police Chief James W. Cormier Mr. Joe Delaney, Town Engineer Ms. Virginia Adams, Madam Chair of the Historical Commission Mr. Michael Cassavoy, Architect ,Mr. Bob Gargano, Supervisor, Johnson Woods project Attorney Brad Latham of Latham, Latham & Lamond, P.C., 643 Main Street Mr. Tom McKenna, 181 Franklin Avenue Mr. Ted Moore, Glover Property Management, Inc. 8 Doaks Lane, Marblehead, MA, 01745 Mr. John Ogren, Project Coordinator, Hayes Engineering, 603 Salem Street, Wakefield, MA 01880 Mr. Tom Ward, 11 Collins Avenue There being a quorum, the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:30PM. Zoning Workshop CPDC preparation for Town Meeting Zoning Articles JS said the Board has been asked to approve Article 20 for Town Meeting. RH said the F.A.R. tables on page 31 as written imply that structures could never contain more than seven units. He suggested adding "Etc." at the end of each table to show that the progression continues. The Board agreed. RH directed the Board's attention to section 4.2.2 "Table of Uses". He pointed out that the table lists "Business B" but not "Downtown Business B". The Legal Notice was checked and it specifically mentions that Mixed Use would be in "Downtown Business B". L Page 1 of 7 It was the consensus of the Board to add an asterisk after the "SSP" in the "Business B" column. Next to the corresponding asterisk would be written "applicable to the downtown portion only" or words to that effect. CR said this might cause problems. The amendment to the Zoning Map did not make it onto the Town Meeting's warrant so the Article is not internally consistent with the Board's recommendation. This could cause problems with the Attorney General. You can reduce the scope of what you've recommended but you can't expand it. CR said the Town Counsel agrees with him that there should be a Zoning Map Change. RH moved to recommend Article 20 to Town Meeting as submitted with the following amendments: 1. Under 4.2.2 "Table of Uses" add a asterisk after "SPP" and write "applicable to Downtown portion only". 2. Under 4.6.3 "Permitted Uses" add etc" after the "Seven Units" listings in both F.A.R. tables. 3. Add 4.6.11 "Zoning Map Amendment" which would designate a "Mixed-Use Overlay District" on the entire Downtown Business-B Zoning District as amended by the 2005 subsequent Town Meeting. It was the consensus of the Board that the third amendment would make the Article internally consistent with the Board's recommendation. JB suggested asking the Town Counsel for her opinion on the amendment. The Board agreed and added that the moderator should see it ahead of time as well. The Board asked CR how these amendments would be executed. CR said: first, the Board should recommend Article 20, with tonight's amendments, to Town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen will then snake a motion to amend the Article. RH moved to amend his motion to recommend it to the Board of Selectmen also. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. JS thanked RH for drafting the letter sent to the Board of Selectmen clarifying the CPDC's reasons for the size of the residential units. RH suggested that the memo should be brought to Town Meeting. Public Hearing (continued): Definitive Subdivision Richard Merrill Trustees, Dwight Road at 175 Franklin Street (Action Date: November 30, 2005) JS opened the Public Hearing. applicant. Page 2 of 7 Mr. Latham thanked the Board for their tolerance of the numerous continuations needed to allow his client to get relief on the matter of the Aquifer Protection District from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board asked him to summarize the Board of Appeals decision. Mr. Latham said the major issue was the amount of impervious cover pei7nitted. The Board of Appeals decided that there were sufficient grounds to grant relief so they allowed a variance with conditions: • the total impervious cover shall not exceed 22% • use will be made of paving stones and turf blocks on driveways and walkways • applicant must sign and record at his own expense a "restrictive covenant" agreeing not to pave over paving stones and turf blocks on driveways and walkways The engineer was able to redesign the plan to make it consistent with this decision. In general, the redesign consists of making the houses smaller and reconfiguring the drainage system. Mr. Ogren explained the redesign in more detail. Regarding the drainage system, Mr. Ogren said they were requesting a waiver on the slope of the Retention Pond. They are looking for a steeper slope. The Town Engineer presented his comments and concerns. Main points: • The stopping sight distance from the corner to the intersection is needed. • DPW would prefer no island in the cul-de-sac. He cited snow removal problems. • The wheelchair ramp needs to be changed. • When it is time, the Town wants to accept the road from the Developer only. • Unconvinced the proposed retaining wall would not impact abutting property. • He is not looking for the elimination of the 4-Bay storm water system, rather, he wants it designed to the Town's standards. • He does not agree with the developer's request for a waiver on the Retention Pond's slope. A gentler slope is in the public's interest. Easier to maintain. RH asked if the original DRT's comments have been addressed. CR said some have; most haven't. The Board is still waiting for an inventory of all trees 6" in diameter or greater. Regarding the waiver requests, RH agreed that the traffic study should be waived but not the slope of the Retention Pond. Regarding the island, the Town Engineer said the DPW does not like them but the Town Manager does. CR said he did not think the Fire Chief liked them. JS said the Board might want to develop a standard approach to such islands. It was the consensus of the Board to ask the Town Planner to draft a letter to the Board of Selectmen asking for guidance on the matter of islands in cul-de-sacs. JS asked for comments and questions from the public. Mr. Tom Ward, 11 Collins Avenue. Page 3 of 7 Mr. Ward asked that as many trees from a stand abutting the project and parallel to Collins Avenue be preserved as possible. CR reminded the Board that he is still waiting for the tree inventory from the developer. Ms. Virginia Adams, Madam Chair of the Historical Commission. Ms. Adams asked if the Board would please make it a condition of that the Historical Commission be allowed to photograph the interior of the "Ship" house. Mr. Latham said that would not be a problem. Mr. Tom McKenna, 181 Franklin Avenue. Mr. McKenna was concerned with the height of the proposed retaining wall and asked if a fence could be placed on top of it? The Town Engineer thought this a good idea adding that when they are over 4 feet they require fencing. Mr. Latham said they could discuss the matter with the abutter. Mr. Ogren added that the addition of fencing depends on how close the wall is to the public way. Mr. Tom Ward, I 1 Collins Avenue. Mr. Ward asked if the "Ship" could be preserved or moved somewhere? Ms. Adams said although it was an important building the Historical Commission's inventory does not include contemporary structures. Mr. Latham addressed some of the comments. Regarding islands, he agrees with the Town Manager. He added that "Homeowner Associations" have taken over the maintenance of such islands in other towns. Regarding having the developer alone pass ownership of the roadway to the town, he had no problem with this request. Retention Pond: he asked the Board to consider making it a private obligation of the neighbors. He said this is something else homeowner associations in other towns maintain. Mr. Ogren asked for guidance on how large the radius of the cul-de-sac should be. He also said the redesign of the Retention Pond's slope could get complicated. RH moved to continue until November 28, 2005 at 8:OOPM. CR said that meeting is scheduled for the Selectmen's Meeting Room at Town Hall. Administrative Review Site Plan Review: Minor Modification Request for 1 Harnden Street (Walgreens) Mr. Michael Cassavoy, architect for developer of the Walgreens project, represented Walgreens. Mr. Cassavoy said Walgreens is looking for the following to be approved as Minor Modifications to the rear of the site: • move the sidewalk between the building and rear parking lot out further to keep • increase the size of the tote storage. Page 4 of 7 CR said he would like to see more landscaping in the back. He suggested some kind of planters on either side of the tote storage. RH moved to approve the Minor Modification for the addition of the sidewalk and the expanded tote storage with planters on either side as approved by the Town Planner. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. Construction Hours of Operation for Site Plan Review and Subdivision Regulations is said this has been an ongoing discussion. He saw three issues: 1. What defines "Heavy Equipment"? 2. What is allowed to be delivered and when? 3. Who will enforce the code? The Board has sought input from many sources: the DPW, the Police, the Town Engineer, and the developer of Johnson Woods. JS suggested that the best approach may be to add more specificity to the Zoning By-laws. CR said that he has asked the DPW for direction but has not yet heard back from them. He has also spoken to the Town Manager, Building Inspector, and Police Chief on the matter. The Town Manager will bring something forward at the Spring Town Meeting for addition to the General Bylaws. JS asked if the Town Manager, Building Inspector, and Police Chief want the bylaw to be more specific? CR said that they do but if it is a General By-law it will not affect the CPDC. However, the Police Chief is still looking for our guidance. The Police have been given the job of code enforcers and they are not happy about it. The Town Engineer said that the Police Chief has been attending the pre-construction meetings with Danis and at one of them he defined Heavy Equipment as anything that moves earth. The Town Engineer thought that definition was "not bad" although he thought it should be somewhat discretionary. Regarding "Hours of Operation", the Town Engineer said they are fairly restrictive already. The reality is that, generally, contractors work from 7:OOAM to 3PM. The Town's own construction workers work those hours. He added that "Hours of Operation" should be specified in the contract. The contracts for the Town's construction jobs do. They specify that no work will begin before 7:OOAM. RH thought the Board had enough input already and should draft something for others to review. JS agreed. RH offered to put something together. CR said that he'd continue researching the topic and commented that it was strange that he has not been able to find _much-information -so far. Police Chief Cormier said code enforcement is not generally the concern of the police but with the building boom and staffing shortfalls, the police get the calls. The bylaws say that Page 5 of 7 the police can enforce the bylaws, and we feel that we can handle it, but what is frustrating is the inconsistency of the rules. Example: At Danis's construction site the hours of operation are 7AM to 8PM Monday through Friday; but, at the Universalist Church, the hours of operation are from 7:30AM to 6:30PM Monday through Friday. Then there's the issue of enforcing the noise codes that specify decibel levels we don't have the equipment for that. RH asked the Board how they could phrase the decision to help the police handle noise? Police Chief Cornier replied what he needs are standard hours of operation. If you put the hours of operation in place, then anything outside that is noise. Mr. Brad Latham, representing Johnson Woods, and Mr. Ted Moore, developer of Johnson Woods, joined the discussion. They feel they are being unfairly treated. They feel they are following the law as written and yet are being fined for doing so. Mr. Latham said that they have had delivery trucks ticketed at 7:15AM and yet deliveries are allowed as early as 7:OOAM. Mr. Latham said something this open to interpretation should not be left up to the police. Mr. Latham said his client is being impacted by this every day and yet even the Town Engineer says that the Town itself does not follow the code. He said a few abutters don't like the development and they are using this code as leverage. Regarding deliveries, the Town Engineer offered his interpretation: it's a delivery if the vehicle bringing something to the site is not used directly in the construction work. In other words, if a vehicle brings stuff to the worksite to be stockpiled, that's a delivery. Chief Cornier said that still left a lot of grey area. He added: another thing to consider is that the neighbors both know the rules and know how the rules have been interpreted. If you open the door to large trucks they won't like it. Mr. Bob Gargano asked what he can do, who can he call, when he is forced to work beyond the hours of operation? Example: when they have a major concrete pour. That's something you can't stop until it is done and may take 8 to 10 hours to finish. Another thing to consider: we're now in Daylight Savings Time. If we can't start early we'll need to go late and then light towers will be needed to finish the job JB said there is no value in going back and forth. The Board knows we have a conundrum. The consensus of the Board was that they would try to have a draft ready by Monday, November 7, 2005. On that date, the Board will meet in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at the Reading Town Hall at 7:OOPM to discuss the matter further. The Town Engineer said he would try to submit a memo on the issue for Monday's meeting. CPDC Meeting schedule/venues through June 2006 CR said that starting in January 2006 and through June 2006, the CPDC will hold its meetings in the Police Community Room. Page 6 of 7 Public Comment/Minutes JS asked if everyone on the Board has had a chance to review the letter to the Town Manager he drafted in response to Sally Hoyt? If there were no issues with it they should send it to the Town Manager. Everyone had read it and agreed it was a great letter and should be sent. CR said the Town Counsel said Sally Hoyt's petition was not a valid petition. Minutes RH moved to approve the minutes of August 22, 2005 as amended tonight. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. RR moved to approve the minutes of September 12, 2005 as amended tonight. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. JS moved to adjourn. JB seconded. Voted Approved: 4:0:0. The meeting ended at 11:00 PM. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on December 12, 2005; the minutes were approved as amended by the CPDC on December 12, 2005. Signed as approved, Howard, S Date Page 7 of 7