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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-08-09 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesCPDC MINUTES Town of Reading ~~-G 16 Lowell Street C i~d C L K Reading, MA 01867-2683 WE r~ 1 U A Phone: 781-942-6612 2 Fax: 781-942-9071 2011 JUN 2 1 P 12- 52 Email: jdelios@ci.reading.ma.us Community Planning and Development Commission Meeting Dated: August 9, 2010 Location: Selectmen's Meeting Room Time: 7:30 PM Members Present: John Weston (JW), Chairman; Joseph Patterson (JP), Secretary; David Tuttle (DT), and Nicholas Safina (NS) Also Present: Jean Delios (JD), Town Planner; and Michael Schloth (MS), Recording Secretary Mr. Bill.Bergeron, Hayes Engineering, Wakefield, MA Mr. Matt Casey, patch.com (on-line newspaper) Mr. Mac Cerullo, 29 Perkins Avenue Mr. Tony D'Arezzo, 130 John Street Mr. Randy Freidus, Spirit Halloween Stores Mr. Ed Kniep, general manager of Sammy Jo's Bakery, 2 Haven Street Attorney Brad Latham of Latham Law Offices, LLC, 643 Main Street Mr. Ted Moore, Glover Property Management, Inc. 8 Doaks Lane, Marblehead, MA, 01745 Ms. Melinda Nimblett, owner of Sammy Jo's Bakery, 2 Haven Street Mr. Zach Ryan, Agnoli Signs, 722 Worthington Street, Springfield, MA There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:36 PM. Public Comment None. Request for Waiver from Site Plan Review 2 Haven Street, Unit 102, Sammy Jo's Bakery Owner and applicant Ms. Melinda Ninblett was present as was General Manager Ed Kniep. The Town Planner reported there would be no change of use. The prior use was also retail (a tanning , salon). The space is slightly larger than one thousand square feet (approximately 1040 sq. ft) and that is what triggered the review. A design review team meeting had not been scheduled for this project but the applicant had met with the town planner, staff planner, and both the building inspector and the health administrator. Mr. Kniep told the Board the only structural changes would be to a few interior walls. The space will have six tables and seating for a total of 23 customers. He added that they planned to make the necessary applications to be allowed to open early (5:00am). They expect to close by 6:00pm. He said there may be as many as three deliveries a week scheduled between the hours of 6:00am and 9:00am. The consensus of the Board was to grant the waiver but with conditions on deliveries. Page 1 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 8/9/2010 DT moved the Board determine that the submitted plan to construct a bakery at 2 Haven Street is eligible for a waiver from site plan review. JP seconded and the motion carried 4:0:0. DT moved the Board approve the site plan review waiver with the following conditions. 1. No deliveries will be made before 6.00 a.m. 2. No multi-unit trucks will make deliveries from Haven Street. 3. No deliveries will be made from Chute Street. NS seconded and the motion passed 4:0:0. Signage Certificate of Appropriateness 25 Walkers Brook Drive, Stop & Shop Mr. Zachary Ryan appeared for Stop & Shop. Mr. Ryan had submitted a new signage plan. The eggplant-colored stripe previously proposed for the facade of the building was removed in the latest submittal. Instead, the letters of Stop & Shop's signage on the strip will be on eggplant-colored acrylic and stud mounted. The existing facade includes two up- and-down disks that will not be illuminated. The only illuminated signs will be the large "Stop & Shop" wall sign, the new Stop & Shop logo, and the words "low prices" and "great food". The pylon sign will have,an opaque background with halo-lit letters. It was emphasized to Mr. Ryan that the sign company must make the background of the pylon sign opaque i.e. no light can pass through it. JP asked if the wall sconces would be lit. Mr. Ryan said he did not know as the sconces were not part of the signage. Mr. Tony D'Arezzo asked when the lights would be turned off. The Board noted the by-laws state when businesses should turn off lights. A question was raised if the Board should make it a condition of the issuance of the certificate that Stop & Shop's lights must be turned off at a particular time. The Board decided not to condition this because the time the lights must be off is already in the by-laws. Steno Note: The time Stop & Shop's lighting must be turned off was made a condition of the site plan decision dated 8May2006. The pertinent text is in condition #7 Site Lighting and states: `All site lighting visible from abutting residential properties, except for emergency or security lighting, shall be turned off the earlier of the end of business on the premises, or from 12:00 AM midnight until no earlier than S 00AM. " DT moved the Board approve the Certificate of Appropriateness for the signage submitted for Stop & Shop at 25 Walkers Brook Drive as shown on the plans dated 81212010 with a revision date of 7116110. NS seconded and the motion was carried 4:0:0. Update and Discussion of Johnson Woods Development Johnson Woods Development The developer, Mr. Ted Moore, was present with his attorney,, Mr. Brad Latham, and his engineer, Mr. ~ Bill Bergeron' l Page 2 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 8/9/2010 Mr. Moore was before the Board to report that he is ready to begin the construction of the remaining half of the project's units. Of a total of 166 units, 83 have been built to date. Most of the remaining units will be on either side of the stretch of Johnson Woods Drive from Keltch Street to West Street. The applicant noted that previous CPDC Boards have appreciated and approved the changes he has made to the original plans and he asked this Board to approve similar changes in the upcoming construction of the remaining units. Such changes included splitting four and three unit buildings into duplexes to make the project look less massive; making minor adjustments to the locations of the buildings both to better fit the topography of the site and to save trees; and adding three-car garages. In addition, the applicant would be looking for a zoning change to be allowed to move some units closer to the property line of 57 Longwood Road than current zoning allows. Mr. Moore had purchased 57 Longwood Road after approval of the original plans for the purpose of providing more open space for the abutting. Johnson Woods units. Mr. Latham said they would be back before the Board at a future dated and asked the Board's permission to work directly with the Town Planner to flesh out the details of future modifications to the original project's plans as well as the zoning amendment. The Board agreed it would be a good idea for the applicant to work directly with the Town Planner. No action was taken by the Board. Signage Certificate of Appropriateness 40 Walkers Brook Crossing, Spirit Halloween Store Mr. Randy Freidus appeared for Spirit Halloween Store. The Town Planner explained that Spirit Halloween is a seasonal business and would be temporarily occupying the space that formally contained Linens & Things. Spirit Halloween would occupy the space for four months from August to November. Mr. Freidus was before the Board requesting approval of both a wall banner and a sign for the Linens & Things space on the Walkers Brook Crossing pylon sign. The Board noted the size of the banner was larger than Linens & Things wall sign. Mr. Freidus said he mistakenly thought the Linens & Things wall sign was six feet tall when actually it was only five feet tall. He told the Board he could put up a four foot tall banner instead. The full dimensions of the new banner would be 4 feet by 40 feet. The Board approved of this change. Mr. Freidus said his sign for the pylon sign would be custom made to fit properly. The Board had no issue with the dimensions of the pylon sign but it did request that its colors be reversed so the background would be black - and opaque - and the letters would be orange. Mr. Freidus agreed to this change. Mr. Freidus said there would be some window signs (i.e. "clings"). The Town Planner said she would see to it that Mr. Freidus received a copy of a Window Sign handout the planning staff had prepared to explain the window sign by-laws. NS moved the Board approve the Certificate of Appropriateness for the submitted signage plans as changed tonight with the condition that the signs will be removed no later than November IOfh (as stated in the sign application). The changes are: • The large banner will be 4 feet by 40 feet Page 3 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 8/9/2010 • The colors of the pylon sign will be reversed. the background will be black and the letters orange. Also, only the letters will be illuminated. The background will be opaque. DT seconded and the motion was carried 4:0:0. All changes were noted by the Chair on a set of the submitted plans. The Chair then stamped and signed this set and handed it to the recording secretary to be presented to the building inspector with the applicant's sign permit. Zoning Work Session: Preparation for Fall Town Meeting South Main Street Design Guidelines The Board decided to address this item at a future meeting. Zoning By-Laws Section 6.2: Signs The Town Planner reported on her discussion with the Board of Selectmen and her 8/9/2010 memo to the Town Manager on the same. The Selectmen had reviewed the sign-violation inventory complied by the planning staff and asked that enforcement of following violations be deferred. • Freestanding signs in the Business-B and residential zones (e.g. medical practices). • Single-tenant buildings in the Business-A zone that have both a wall and a freestanding sign. • Freestanding signs that do not meet the side setback. The Selectmen also had asked for information on the procedure for issuing sign permits and for suggestions on how the procedure might be improved. The Town Planner noted that incorrectly installed signs appear to fall into one of three categories: 1. Errors on the part of the applicant or sign company hired by the applicant. 2. Errors on the part of Town Staff. 3. Errors due to misinterpretation or confusion of the meaning of the sign bylaws. The Town Planner emphasized that the concept-of "opaque background" has often confused applicants and sign makers as it is a common violation of signs with interior illumination. The Town Planner further noted that steps have been taken to prevent future errors: • The planning staff takes a more active role in processing sign applications for all zoning districts not only Business-B. • The building inspector takes extra care with sign applications and knows he can call on the planning staff for help. • The recent changes approved at Spring 2010 Town Meeting to the sign by-law were enacted in part to better clarify the by-laws. • Permit tracking software is expected to be implemented in the near future. The Town Planner also informed the Board of a consultant's report on way-finding signs. These would be signs located in key spots about town to provide directions. For example, some signs could provide direction to public buildings or shopping centers. The consensus of the Board was such signs were a great idea but it cautioned against erecting too many. The Board discussed how the three deferred violations should be handled. Page 4 of 5 CPDC Minutes of 8/9/2010 0 DT reported the Economic Development Committee (EDC) has suggested incorporating language found in the sign by-laws of Belmont and Bedford, MA that handles signage non- conformities through special permits. • DT suggested that the plans of any signage with interior illumination must include photos showing the signage in operation both during the day and at night. The Board agreed that the opaque-background violation must somehow be caught before the sign is installed as it is very difficult to enforce compliance after the fact. • The Chair suggested that single-tenant commercial buildings in the Business-A zone be allowed both a freestanding and a wall sign but restrict the total allowed square footage of the wall sign to half as would be currently allow (i.e. calculate the sign area as one square foot per linear foot of the lot's frontage rather than two square feet per linear foot). The Chair also suggested the way- finding signs may prove to be a good standard to use as a size for freestanding signs in residential zones. (Steno note: Wayfinding signs measure 10 feet (approx) tal0. • Regarding the freestanding signs in violation of the side-setback requirements, the Board noted that in some cases requiring the sign to be moved may cause more practical problems: blocking parking spaces and obstructing access to a site. The Board discussed whether or not there would be enough time to draft zoning language to address these issues in time to present the language to Town Meeting this fall. The Chair directed the members to try to come up with ways to address with the three issues (i.e. the three deferred violations) and to submit them to the Town Planner before the 8/30/2010 meeting. The Board would try to draft language addressing the three issues at the 8/30 and 9/13 meetings. Other Business Approval of the minutes of 7/26/ 2010 DT moved the Board approve the minutes of 7/26/2010 as amended. NS seconded and the motion carried 4:0:0. NS moved to adjourn. DT seconded and the motion was carried 4:0:0. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on November 1, 2010; these minutes were approved as amended by the CPDC on November 1, 2010. Signed as Jo,,g i Patterson, Secretary / W Page 5 of 5