TOWN OF SHARON
PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of a Meeting of the Planning Board held on May 28, 2003, at 8:00 p.m., in the Town Offices.
PRESENT: JOEL TRAN, CHAIR
SAMUEL SOLOMON, VICE CHAIR
NADINE OSTROW
ELI HAUSER
PETER O’CAIN, ASSISTANT TOWN ENGINEER
Business transacted:
I. Meeting called to order. The Minutes of the May 7, 2003, meeting were reviewed and accepted with corrections.
FORM A PLANS
None.
SIGN REVIEW
None.
II. REZONING DISCUSSION
Representatives of just about all the Town Boards were present. Mr. Tran explained that the Planning Board (the “Board”) had invited these Town representatives to this meeting because the Board has been looking at different sites within the Town of Sharon to change the zoning in what are now residential areas to business or professional districts. The proposed changes would have little or no impact on the residences in the new zones. The Board had looked into changing two areas in the Town
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Administrative Assistant
Minutes of Meeting Page Two May 28, 2003
last year, but met with major opposition. The Board is now weary of proposing any changes without further input and support from the other Town Board’s. The Board is seeking input to find out whether there are other areas in the Town that might be considered for zoning change.
Mr. Tran went on to further explain that because Sharon was 95% residential, the Board felt the Town was in dire need of generating new taxes. Changing the zoning designation of what are now residentially zoned areas might help to bring new business into the Town in order to generate new tax revenues.
This was not an official public hearing – it was an informal meeting with the Town Boards to obtain their opinions and for the Board to present it’s suggestions as to possible zoning changes within the Town.
Mr. Solomon explained that the Board has identified several areas in the past six months for potential change. The purpose of this meeting was to present and discuss those locations and to discuss the possibility of creating a more clearly defined professional district, or expanding the business and/or light industrial districts. The way the current business district stands is that it allows for residential housing. If a commercial area is added, it may be desirable to cut back on the type of residences allowed. Mr. Solomon stated that if anyone had other areas of the Town that could be considered for rezoning, the Board would like to hear about these areas as it may be a location the Board is not familiar with.
One of the abutters asked why Sharon doesn’t change the tax rate it charges its commercial tenants to be larger as do adjacent communities? Mr. Tran responded that he had spoken with Mr. Mazur, the Town assessor. The assessor’s office had conducted a study, the end result of which Mr. Tran was not privy to, but was told that raising the taxes for commercial tenants would have very little impact given the percentage of businesses in the Town. It could actually discourage business from locating in Sharon.
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One of the reasons the Board is looking at these changes is that one of the property owners in Town approached the Board saying they wanted an alternative use for a parcel at Cobb’s Corner – changing a surrounding residential lot to a business use. Another property owner with property at South Main Street near the Shaw’s plaza also was seeking a zoning change for his property. It could include possible retain use but the person was not as yet committed to what his would propose for the property. The parcels were currently zoned residential and he could potentially go for a 40B development.
Therefore, the impetus for the Board to consider rezoning certain areas within the Town was that property owners have approached the Board with potential changes. The Board has looked at different areas within the Town and has identified certain parcels that would be good for businesses and would not have a negative impact on the residential properties, or a minimal impact.
The criteria taken into account, which a business would look for were:
· Convenient access to a highway
· Being surrounded by other businesses
· Not being isolated
There are two areas that the Board is currently considering: One was the parcels on both sides of the street at the end of North Main Street at Cobb’s Corner; the other was on South Main Street across from the Shaw’s shopping plaza. Both these areas met the above criteria.
Cobb’s Corner – the potential for business is good as there is lots of traffic generated by other businesses. The land area for potential rezoning consists of approximately 3-1/2 acres. The Board is not proposing to take the residential properties located here. Rezoning would give someone the opportunity for a business to come in and buy up the residential properties. These parcels would be contiguous with the Heinberg professional building.
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South Main Street – The property went back from South Main following along Old Post Road. Old Post was both paved and dirt. Again it was a high traffic area with other businesses in the area. There could also be a secondary access off South Walpole Street.
Responses:
· Ms. Tuck suggested the Board look at the Kendall land along High Plain and Moose Hill. It had access to Routes One and 95 and is completely unbuilt. Mr. O’Cain answered that he had looked at this parcel and it is completely Audubon owned.
· Mr. Newman felt that traffic was a major issue/impediment to the Cobb’s Corner lot. When that professional building was approved, the ZBA set special conditions as to egress. The traffic there is already a major problem and adding more businesses would just exacerbate the traffic. He also felt that this could have a negative impact on the homeowners there, as a developer could buy a house that comes on the market and hold it until he could buy the other parcels, or they would have to sell for a lower price as people moving in will have to be advised of the fact that there could be a business next door.
· Mr. Roche agreed that traffic was a serious issue in this area and that adding more businesses would increase the traffic problems. Also, he was pretty sure nothing could be done with Cobb’s Tavern because it is a national historic site. Mr. Tran disagreed and felt that it would be a benefit to the homeowner’s as their land value would increase if it goes commercial.
· A question was asked as to what fiscal benefit rezoning small parcels would bring to the Town. Mr. Tran answered that it would end the negative loop of continuously adding more school children to the schools and replace it with a business, which is a positive revenue generator.
· Mr. Berg brought up the land behind the Sharon Industrial Park. He would be in favor of promoting the land in that Park along Route One and 95. You could bring the traffic in through the industrial park rather than in through Shaws. A new road
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could be built that would have little or no impact on the residences.
· Mr. Newman suggested the Board may want to consider allowing smaller parcels for age-qualified residences. This is a serious need in the Town. This should be a major consideration by the Board and there is not enough being done to encourage this type of building. Mr. Solomon answered that the Town passed a CSD a couple of year’s ago which does allow incentives for age qualified housing. However, it has not been used as yet, and it may be because one of the requirements is that the lot needs to be a minimum of 10 acres. He does agree with Mr. Newman that this type of housing is sorely needed in Sharon.
· Ms. Tuck suggested the Board may want to look into hiring someone with professional expertise in this field to see what mixture of businesses would work in these areas.
· In answer to a question as to what Mr. Gobbi is planning to do with his property if it is rezoned, Mr. Tran answered that Mr. Gobbi did not have any definite plans as yet. Mr. Bailey suggested that the Town needed to advance a concept as to what it would like to see on these properties and then present it to the developer. Ms. Tuck agreed, stating that we should get what the Town wants and not necessarily leave it up to the property owner.
In closing, Mr. Tran reported that more and more parcels are being developed as 40B’s, as is the newly filed 40B on Edge Hill Road which will be developed with 192 units. He said that the point of this meeting and looking at these rezonings was that land does not stay undeveloped forever and trying to act proactively in what is best for the Town. The Town needs to move forward quickly if this is going to be put on the agenda for the Fall Town Meeting.
Mr. Hauser added that the Town needed to instigate a marketing campaign. You needed to look at the entire problem, optimize existing assets/properties, and determine revenue per acre.
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Mr. Tran thanked everyone for attending and for their input and ideas.
III. OTHER BUSINESS
· Mr. O’Cain reported that the Christina Subdivision was finishing up. There were only a few outstanding items remaining.
· Gridley subdivision – Mr. O’Cain said that the developer had already cut the road and would be moving forward on building.
· Mr. Solomon said that the Board needed to assign a Board member to the Standing Building Committee Nominating Committee. Mr. Tran volunteered to be the Board’s representative to that committee.
IV. There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.
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