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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-10-13 Planning Board MinutesMinutes of the Meeting of October 13, 1982. Chairman Mitchel called the meeting to order in Room 19, 52 Sanborn Street, (the Community Center) at 7:08 P.M. with Board members K. Messina, M. Rich and A. Burne present. Mr. Shaw arrived later in the evening due to previous commitments. Also present was Barbara Hewitt from the League of Women Voters and Ed Murphy of the Finance Committee. Housing The Board reviewed areas of common concern and interest between Selectmen and this Board. Discussion included the Planning Board's inability to conduct a study to result in a Master Plan for the Town due to the lack of a professional Planner. The Board members also felt that the fragmentation.of planning was increased due to the fact that Town Meeting sets up Study Committees to evaluate certain projects and the Planning Board has no input or review process with these committees. Ms. Rich distributed a draft report on Accessory Apartments for the Board to consider. Action on this was deferred until a sub- sequent meeting. Meeting with Executive Secretary At 7:45 P.M., the Board welcomed John Agnew and his new assistant, Mr. Jeff Beckwith. The Chairman introduced the Board members and then gave a brief overview of the housing studies that this Board co' is currently,s. a ing. Chairman Mitchel stated that this Board had given top priority in its PY83 Work Program toy >�ny� housing problems in the Town. The 1980 census figures showed a shift in population within the Town to an older age group. The Town was making efforts in elderly housing and now there seemed to be a need to develop a plan to allow younger families, especi- ally those with school age children, to move into the Town. This fact had been underlined with the EO215. This Board had already had some housing proposals in the study process which would answer the charge that the Town was being "unfairly restric- tive" in its housing policies. These include: accessory apart- ments, cluster developments, PRD, PUD and condominiums. The Board hoped to review these and have some proposals for the Annual Town Meeting next Spring. Mr. Agnew responded stating that about 6 -7 years ago he started looking at housing and general services of the Town. In 1974 -751? he recognized a need in this Town for housing for low.income families. He applied for and received funding for 20 units of Section 8 housing. Presently the Housing Authority administers these Section 8 units. The Selectmen began to recognize the need for this type of housing and -Me'- sought funding from HUD and HEW grants. While serving on thekGrowth and Development T- I:�... Planning Committee, Mr. Agnew saw that the residents of this Town (and most of the other Towns)"" :mss- to "retain the character of the community ". In trying to maintain the status quo, the Town has set up barriers and stopped growth both residentially and commercially. -y0 (yep 10/13/82 Page 2 &y. getarding growth within a community land values increase and this leads to an older population, li grin- hat--community. Younger couples cannot afford to buy and the older, fixed- income residents are forced out. This leads to a Town with a higher income level and a group of strangers -and--no—t--to ►-r� 1, z, :wL -. t-h&- lifelong residents and their offspringg'. IS:Y AP-roper planning sk_the answer,,,. -he fe -lt. The Town will have to make some tough* choices. By allowing younger families an opportunity to buy within the Town, land values may suffer . if the Town decides not to do that then other actions are sure to follow. commercial enterprises will have to an t a =` to this - younger families have different needs than an older community; %ecreation needs are also not the same. The needs of the Town are not for large industry as most people presently work in the city or surrounding town along the 128 belt.,and fee- 3-that commercial growth is not critical -to- :-L-h-e-- greeds -of- , +hI -s —Town at present. The Selectmen have been studying housing and affirmative action programs within the Town. They are planning on presenting statistical material to Town Meeting and the Town Boards whereby those government bodies can make decisions and see what is happening within the Town. The Selectmen's office does not plan to formulate policy decisions, but will merely be providing the statistical information. Mr. Agnew expressed his desire to share the information with the Planning Board and would like to see this helping both Boards not to duplicate each others efforts. A brief question and answer period followed which highlighted: These studies will be done to show that the Town is non - discriminatory and employs fair labor practices; Town does nbt unfairly discriminate against the lower income population by "unduly restrictive" housing policies; - Town has approximately 940 houses with 8 or more habitable rooms built before 1942 (approximately 150 of Town's housing stock) which can be converted into 2 family houses and can answer a need for apartments for low income families. This will have a double benefit: 1) will provide affordable housing-for low to moderate income families; and 2) will allow these larger homes to be maintained and rehabilitated by use of "Scattered Site Housing Funds" for such use. - A Master Plan for this Town would be too costly and outdated before completed. Rather this Town should try to formulate policies that will help to shape the Town for what it will be in 20 years. - After studying the population figures, especially in 30 year cycles, certain predictsons can be made and policies formulated' to correct or answer identified areas of concern. - Because of the highly confidential records, it is hard to assess the needs of the low income families in the Town. /10/13/82 Page 3 - The Youth Office helped to identify some of this need and in 1978 there were approximately 1000 students in the school system being subsidized in one form or another. There is a great need and not just isolated instances. - The question to -be answered is: What type of community does this Town want? A younger community needs jobs, housing, schools, recreation and other such services. With the opening up of land, land values go down; ,h tight land policies, land values go up. Identified problems: renovation and rehabilitation seems to be the only thing Town Meeting will buy;, Cluster develop - ments are a good concept, but the problem is the hassle builders have to go through in this Town; Cluster can answer the conservation concerns by allowing less roadways r� and larger green areas for recreational and conservation use. Mr. Agnew_4ar -kd the Board'. _ agreed to a free exchange of informa- tion'and asked that the League of Women Voters also keep his office informed of their studies. The Chairman thanked Mr. Agnew and Mr. Beckwith for coming and adjourned the discussion at 9:25 P.M. Sign By -laws Town Counsel reviewed the synopsis sent to him by the Secretary of this Board and has responded with another letter. Although nothing substantive was changed there was an additional option for the Town to pursue and will be stated in this letter. Spence Farm -Board of Appeals The Public Hearing on this case was continued until tomorrow evening, October 14, 1982. Ms. Rich will attend. Chairman Mitchel reported that in his conversation with Town Counsel, Mr. Cohen stated that he has been in touch with the Law Review Committee that reviews all new legislation and feels that the intent of -the Acts-,on 1982, Chapter 40 is not the intent as expressed by legal counsel for the petitioner in this case. He will have a letter for the Board of Appeals and will forward one to the Planning Board. Article 32- Cogan rezoning The Board reviewed the history of this property. The Board members discussed the legal case pending against the owner and reviewed the folder from the Building Inspector's office regarding this proposal. The Board discussed what rezoning of the entire parcel would allow and not just the use variance as had been petitioned from the Board of Appeals. Further discussion on this matter was deferred until after the public hearing.