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Home My WebLink About2010-12-13 Community Planning and Development Commission MinutesTown of Reading 16 Lowell Street ;3 E C E I V E 0 Reading, MA 01867-2683 CLERK Phone: 781-942-6612 RE f\ U C', M;\ J . Fax: 781-942-9071 Email: jdelios@ci.rvding.ma.us P 12: 11 Community Planning and Deve n ommission CPDC MINUTES Meeting Dated: December 13, 2010 Location: Selectmen's Meeting Room Time: 7:30 PM Members Present: John Weston (JW), Chairman; David Tuttle (DT); Nicholas Safina (NS); and Paul Bolger (PB). Members Absent: Joseph Patterson (JP), Secretary Associate Members Present: George Katsoufis (GK) Also Present: Jean Delios (JD), Town Planner; Abigail McCabe, Staff Planner; and Michael Schloth (MS), Recording Secretary. Bill Bergeron, PE, Hayes Engineering, 603 Salem Street, Wakefield, MA Ralph Colorusso, 31 Enos Circle Sob Connor, Reading Open Land Trust, Inc. Attorney Brad Latham of Latham Law Offices, LLC, 643 Main Street Jean Latham, 155 Johnson Woods Drive Kim McDonald, Bennett Street, Wakefield, MA Mr. Ted Moore, Glover Property Management,. Inc. 8 Doaks Lane, Marblehead, MA, 01745 Trevor Moore, 16 Redstone Lane, Marblehead, MA Mary Ellen O'Neill, 125 Summer. Avenue Jim Velleco, Grazado Velleco Architects, 10 Doaks Lane, Marblehead, MA There being a quorum the Chair called the meeting to order at 7:39 PM. Request for a Modification to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Special Permit 468 West Street, Johnson Woods Realty Corporation The developer, Ted Moore, was present and represented by Attorney Brad Latham. Also present was Mr. Moore's engineer, Bill Bergeron, and architect, Jim Velleco. DT read the legal notice. The Town Planner reported that the applicant has formally requested changes to the PUD Special Permit of the Johnson Woods development which, in general, would result in the splitting of a number of 3- and 4-unit buildings into 2_-unit buildings. Comments on the proposal from the Fire Chief, Town Engineer, and the Conservation Commission have been forwarded to the Board. -Mr. Latham noted that the Johnson Woods project is approximately half-way completed and that a similar request had been granted the applicant for an earlier phase of the construction project. He further noted that the total number of units would not increase but there would be more garages. Page 1 of 4 CPDC Minutes of 12/13/2010 Mr. Bergeron reported that the changes would result in an additional 14,000 square feet of impervious cover. Further, he had met with the Town Engineer to discuss their revised drainage analysis and plans for the project and the Town Engineer had agreed with their conclusions. He noted that the Town Engineer had pointed out the design of two of the new garages would first have to be approved by the Building Inspector because each would be built on a slab and not a full foundation. Mr. Bergeron also noted that the Town Engineer had expressed concern that some runoff may flow over the area of the emergency access at the end of Keltch Road and freeze, but the.applicant pointed out that that section of road was not open to everyday traffic. Regarding the Fire Chief's concerns, Mr.Bergeron reported that the Fire Chief was satisfied with their plans which include the installation of remaining hydrants and increasing the turn radius of particular curves by one-foot. Regarding the Conservation Commission, Mr. Bergeron stated that its jurisdiction is restricted to two structures: one which would not be changed from the original approved plans; and a second which would be reduced from a 3-unit to a 2-unit building and therefore have a lesser impact. Regarding the Conservation Commission's concern the site changes would meet stormwater requirements, Mr. Bergeron noted that the Town Engineer has confirmed that stormwater requirements would be met. Mr. Bob Connor of the Reading Open Land Trust asked if the applicant's changes would affect the land- " trust adjacent to the site's northern border. Mr. Moore said it would not and added that the trail <connecting Longwood Road and the land-trust would remain in place. Ms. Mary Ellen O'Neill asked if a tree-count had been made. Mr. Velleco had reviewed the original plans found the number of trees today to be the same or greater. Ms. O'Neill asked if the current change would require the cutting of more or fewer trees. Mr. Moore replied, fewer. Ms. O'Neill expressed concern over the 14,000 square-foot increase of impervious cover the proposed plans will create. Mr. Moore noted that a 14,000 square foot increase on a 30 acre site approximately equates to a one-percent increase of impervious cover. Next, the Board discussed the question of whether the applicant's proposal was a minor or major modification. The consensus of the Board was that none of the proposed changes would have an appreciable impact on what was originally approved under the site's PUD special permit. DT moved the Board determine that the amendment to the PUD Special Permit is a minor modification. PB seconded and the motion carried 4:0-0. DT moved to close the public hearing. PB seconded and the motion carried 4:0:0. The applicant had the following comments on the draft decision's conditions. • #9 Pre-Construction Meeting. Mr. Moore noted that a previous Board had delegated to the Town Planner at the time the authority to approve minor adjustments to the layout of the plots. He had no evidence that this was anything more than a verbal agreement and the Board was reluctant to add it as a condition without further review. Page 2 of 4 CPDC Minutes of 12/13/2010 - #7 Addition of a Catch Basin. Mr. Bergeron asked if this could be deleted. The Town Planner noted that the last email she received from the Town Engineer suggested he agreed it is not necessary to add the catch basin. The consensus of the Board was to strike this condition. ANR plan approval for Building #24. The Staff Planner suggested adding this as a finding rather than a condition. The Board and applicant agreed. DT moved the Board approve the minor modification to the PUD Special Permit for Johnson Woods as shown in the draft decision amended tonight. NS seconded and the motion carried 4:0:0. Planning Updates The Town Planner and Board discussed expanding the number and kinds of minor changes the Town Planner could approve administratively. No action was taken. Town Counsel is working on language for the parking sections of the bylaws. 107 Main Street: The owner must remove the pavement he placed in the buffer zone before June 2011. The Town Planner said she encouraged the owner to schedule time before the CPDC for the Board's final signoff. NS asked if that could be something that could be handled administratively. The Town Planner reported that Oaktree Development (30 Haven Street) may have to come back before the Board for a waiver of some kind regarding the underground parking spaces. NS reminded the Board hat Oaktree had said the project would be based on a certain number of parking spaces and that the 'Board had granted its approval to Oaktree's plan, in part, on the number of parking spaces. Work Session: Zoning Priorities South Main Street GK presented his first draft of the Vision Plan to the Board. Key to the plan is devising incentives to owners and other interested parties to have them look with favor on the plan. Suggested incentives include: relief from parking requirements; expedited permitting; design guidelines; and specific zoning changes e.g. allow construction beyond 150 feet from the centerline of Main Street. Next steps include: crafting language for shared-parking agreements; crafting language for incentives; form-based codes (not allowed in Massachusetts today); an illustration of what South Main Street could look like with the above items in place including photos of similar districts in other towns. DT suggested the Board may find that the mixed-use zoning which overlays the downtown may be a better fit for South Main e.g. mixed-use would allow you to build beyond 150 feet of Main Street's centerline. He also noted he would like to see all of South Main's overhead wires placed underground. JW noted that the parking inefficiencies within the South Main district limit South Main's uses and value. He suggested that shared-parking alone would improve both. He also noted that something would have to be done to improve the "pedestrian-friendliness" of the district. Suggestions included adding more landscaping especially trees and reducing the speed limit. ?B noted that there are already informal shared-parking agreements in the district e.g. Bank of America and Starbucks. He warned against upsetting these informal agreements by forcing through a formal procedure. Page 3 of 4 CPDC Minutes of 12/13/2010 Minutes DT moved the Board approve the minutes of 1011812010 as amended. PB seconded and the motion carried 3:0:1 with NS abstaining. DT moved to adjourn. NS seconded and the motion carried 4:0:0. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 PM. These minutes were prepared by Michael Schloth and submitted to the CPDC on 1/10/2011 these minutes were approved as amended by the CPDC on 1/10/2011. Signed as approved, 77- John Weston. Chairman Date Page 4 of 4