Town of Sharon Planning Board

Joint meeting with the Economic Development Committee

Meeting Minutes of 2/24/10

Amended and Approved by the Planning Board on March 10, 2010

Meeting was held at the Sharon Recreation Department

Planning Board Attendees

Paul Lauenstein, Chair	Susan Price, Vice Chair
Eli Hauser	Amanda Sloan - absent
David Milowe, Clerk -  arrived at 8PM	Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer

Economic Development Committee Attendees

Rob Maidman -  52 Wilshire Drive	Roni Thaler
Thelma Newberger-Hirsch -  68 Ames St.	Susan Price
Eli Hauser

Attendees

Laura Dickerman -  40 Cortland Drive	Myron Dickerman -  40 Cortland Drive
Ben Puritz	Eamon McGilligan -  Land Strategies
Alice Cheyer	Kerin Smith -  Land Strategies
Joshua Laskin -  24 E. Foxboro Street	Adriana O’Sullivan -  6 Musket Lane
Tom Apone -  6 Quincy Street

Chair Report

The meeting was called to order at 7:40 PM by Chair Paul Lauenstein and the Chair’s Report was read. Mr. Lauenstein advised the Board that no one has taken out papers to run as a Planning Board candidate and asked that the members put out the word that there is an open position. The deadline for taking out papers is 3/26 and 3/30 is the deadline for gathering the required 50 signatures.

Meeting Minutes

Ms. Price moved to approve the meeting minutes of 1/27/10 as amended. Mr. Hauser seconded the motion. The Board voted 3-0-0 in favor.

Form J

Town Engineer, Peter O’Cain provided the Board with a Form J for lots 1-6 of Arrowhead Farm. He stated that the Form J releases the lots for subdivision. This Form J was done in 1992 but the Form J was never signed so the covenant has not been released. This presents a problem for a homeowner wishing to sell his house. Mr. O’Cain requested that the Planning Board sign to release all lots.

Ms. Price moved to sign the Form J for Arrowhead Farm lots 1-6. Mr. Hauser seconded the motion and the Board voted 3-0-0 in favor.

Form A

Town Engineer, Peter O’Cain provided the Board with a Form A for 12 Huntington Avenue. The owner who is selling the lots is dividing the lot. It meets the shape factor requirement and has a locus map and meets all requirements under section 3.1.1.2.

Ms. Price moved to approve the Form A as not required under the subdivision control law for the plan of land on 12 Huntington Avenue, owned by Michael Jacobs and prepared by Outback Engineering Incorporated of Middleborough, MA. Mr. Hauser seconded the motion and the Board voted 3-0-0 in favor.

Draft Zoning Changes for P.O. Square

Mr. Lauenstein began the presentation by stating that Eamon McGilligan of Land Strategies was hired by the Economic Development Committee to study potential zoning changes to revitalize the town center. The Planning Board tapped the Kendall Fund to provide some of the grant monies used.

Mr. Hauser commented that the Town applied for a redevelopment study grant for PO Square under the 43B granting article provided by the Massachusetts office of the DHCD. One half of the study focused on business development; the esthetics of the Square and types of businesses, zoning and traffic study. The other part is the waste water treatment study. The primary reason to rezone PO Square is to allow for a modern clean attractive environment to encourage business development; to take advantage of the proximity of the town center to transportation; to update and consolidate the current zoning which has pieces and parts that were incrementally introduced over the last 30 years; and to make the zoning appropriate for a small compact town center. The 43D grant monies that were left over were provided to Tom Houston to perform a traffic study. Mr. Houston was asked to look at current traffic in PO Square and to recommend changes to manage the throughput. Ms. Price added that the monies for this study were funded by the grant as well as an allocation from the Kendall Funds.

Ms. Price continued by stating that the goals in updating the zoning for Business District A are to encourage development and redevelopment, reduce the setbacks of the buildings, create a pedestrian-friendly shopping experience, relax off-street parking requirements, allow for better use of small properties, encourage mix of uses, add apartments over stores as envisioned by the mixed overlay district.

Mr. McGilligan of Land Strategies reviewed the twenty page handout of the proposed changes to the zoning amendments that he created, beginning with section 2213 and continuing to section 6323. He stated that he looked at existing zoning and identified the shortcomings. He wanted to establish compatibility with the long term vision for PO Square. He commented that he offered flexibility in dimensional requirements, relaxed on-site parking requirements to encourage development and introduced affordable housing requirements. Working with the Business District A bylaws, he put more definitions into the bylaws to make them easier to interpret. There were a few clerical changes made as well. After a complete review of the document by Mr. McGilligan with the audience, questions were solicited.

Joshua Laskin of 224 E. Foxboro Street asked if the rationale for increasing density in District A is related to the proximity to the train station, would it make sense to also allow an increase in density between Business District A and the train station.

Mr. McGilligan replied that the increase in density of housing is not the only reason. He wants to make the area feel like a downtown space. He said they are trying to create a traditional downtown, more vibrant, not just residential density.

Tom Apone of 6 Quincy Street asked would there be allowances if someone wanted to build a larger building. Mr. O’Cain said it could not happen because it is in a water protection district near the town’s biggest drinking water well.

Mr. Lauenstein thanked Mr. McGilligan for his presentation.

PO Square Traffic Study

Tom Houston, of PSC provided the Board and audience with a presentation on the PO Square revitalization traffic impact report that he prepared. The report, he stated, is a study of the eight intersections around PO Square. Using specialized software, he analyzed how much traffic would increase as a result of residential development, expansion of the Sharon Public Library and new office space. The eight intersections do not exhibit high accident rates. He also evaluated existing traffic volumes. He simulated existing peak hour volumes for each of the eight intersections and prepared trip generation summaries for many scenarios. He also evaluated four different ways to mitigate impacts of revitalization on traffic flow at peak hours. Mr. Houston started the presentation with an outline of the study area and its intersections, and explained the definition of a "service level."  Mr. Houston provided measured statistics on the current traffic service levels at each location through the morning and afternoon peak periods.  He then outlined 4 scenarios, with different combinations of changes to light timing, traffic management (e.g. no left turn), and stop signs and new lights. For each scenario, Mr. Houston discussed the actual changes suggested, and then showed the impact to the traffic service level at each intersection.

Mr. O’Cain stated he can add Mr. Houston’s presentation to the Town website. Mr. Hauser suggested that the presentation be expanded to include not just the technical analysis presented tonight, but also a more "conversational" presentation of the various scenarios, focusing more on the practical implication and benefit of each scenario rather than the specific technical result. Mr. Hauser also suggested that a map identifying the suggested change and so on be generated for each scenario.

Mr. Lauenstein thanked Mr. Houston for his hard work and detailed presentation.

Next meeting dates

3/10, 3/24, 4/7

Adjournment

Ms. Price moved to adjourn the Planning Board meeting at 10:00 PM. Mr. Hauser seconded the motion and the Board voted 4-0-0 in favor.