TOWN OF SHARON
PLANNING BOARD

Minutes of a Meeting of the Planning Board held on April 7, 2004, at 7:30 p.m., in the Town Offices.

		PRESENT:	JOEL TRAN, CHAIR
				SAMUEL SOLOMON, VICE CHAIR
				REGINA MANISCALCO, CLERK
				NADINE OSTROW
				ELI HAUSER
				PETER O’CAIN, ASST. TOWN ENGINEER

Business transacted:

I.	Meeting called to order.

FORM A PLANS

None.

SIGN REVIEW

None.

II.	OLD POST ROAD REZONING

Messrs. John Lee and Matt Watsky came before the Board to discuss bringing a zoning article before Town Meeting to rezone a parcel on Old Post Road from light industrial to residential.  The parcel is owned by the Striar Family who are proposing a 40B development for that land.  

Mr. Lee explained that it made sense to rezone this parcel of land because there are currently four homes adjacent to the property which are on land that is zoned residential, and the remainder of the area was recently rezoned to light industrial.  The property includes five acres of buildable land with the remainder consisting of wetlands.  He indicated that the property owner, the Striar’s, are not opposed to rezoning to residential where they could build homes instead of the 40B development.  Currently, there could possibly be three to four homes built on the land, but the Striar’s would need four to five homes for it to be monetarily worthwhile to them.  Mr. Lee stated that the 40B development would be completely out of scale with the adjoining neighborhood.

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						            Administrative Assistant
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Mr. Solomon asked what the total acreage of the parcel was.  Mr. Lee answered that it consisted of 18 acres, but 13 of them were wetlands.  Mr. Solomon said that the best plan for this property may be to go the CSD route, which would give the Town something other than single family homes, and yet get the number of lots the owner wanted.

Mr. Lee said that he and his associate were here tonight to ask the Board to consider this request.  They had drafted an article for Town Meeting, which had been presented to the Selectmen as well.  They realized it was short notice for the May Town Meeting, but would like to see it placed on the Warrant for the Fall Meeting.  They felt it would be a good thing for the neighborhood as well as for the Town.

Mr. Tran explained that there were a number of issues concerning this parcel, the first of which may consider this to be spot zoning, as it is a single parcel.  The other issue is that rezoning this property would be going against the philosophy of the Planning Board, as it is trying to get more business in the Town and less single family residences.  Since they are proposing a 40B, rezoning this parcel to residential could send the wrong message to other land owners along Route One to propose a 40B and then come in and request rezoning to try and block the 40B.    Mr. Tran said that he had called the Striars after hearing about this request to see what they thought about the rezoning.  He spoke with Stephen Striar, who said that he did not object to the rezoning but still would not go ahead and build single family homes.  They have invested a lot of money into planning the 40B and that is really what they want to do.  They really had no intention in doing anything other than the 40B on this land.  Mr. Tran asked why would the Planning Board encourage more single family homes when it was trying to encourage the building of more affordable housing.

Mr. Watsky added that the entrance to the property was barely wide enough to allow two cars to pass each other, so it would not be a good access to industrial development.  There is no access from Route One because you have the wetlands there.  

Mr. Solomon added that in the past, a citizen petition to rezone this parcel was brought before the Town. The Board voted not to support it because of the potential industrial use.  That does not mean that the Board would not look at this requested change.  His concern also was that there is a request to change the zoning of a parcel because of the threat of a 40B being built on it.  He is concerned how this would be interpreted.  The possibility of building a CSD on this property is more appealing than single family homes, especially if it would include age qualified and/or affordable housing.  It would not be a business or commercial use of the property, but it would still have a positive effect to the 
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Town.  If the Striar’s plan to build a 40B on this property anyway, what would be the purpose of going this route?

Mr. Watsky said that he didn’t see that the Town had anything to lose from rezoning and the neighbors would have something to gain.  

Ms. Maniscalco said that she disagreed with Mr. Watsky.  The Town is under the gun to create affordable housing, including age qualified, apartments.  The Town desperately needs this type of housing.  There are people in this Town who would desperately like to stay in the Town who are on fixed incomes, people who have grown up in the Town would love to come back and buy their first home here, but can’t afford to.  She thinks the Town needs to be focused on friendly 40B’s that will benefit those who wish to remain in the Town.  Not all 40B’s are negative.  She indicated that she too had a problem with the spot zoning issue and with the notion that a 40B in this particular area would be a negative thing.

Mr. Tran said that this change could not even be considered for this Town Meeting as it was too late.  He suggested the proponents approach the Board after this Town Meeting has passed.  There will be more time then to address this issue and engage in a more expanded conversation.  

III.	PUBLIC HEARING – SCENIC ROADS AND SIDEWALKS – LAKEVIEW STREET AND 161 WOLOMOLOPOAG STREET

Ms. Maniscalco read the legal notice to open the public hearing.  The Board would first hear the proposal to remove the tree in front of 95 Maskwonicut Street.  The Board indicated that this may not be a legal public hearing for that issue as it was not included in the legal notice published in the newspaper.  However, discussion could continue, but it may need to be re-addressed at a later meeting.

Mr. Weber, the Tree Warden, explained that the residents at this address had requested that a large tree be taken down that was at the corner of their driveway.  The tree was a healthy oak about 15” in diameter.  Mr. Weber and the DPW had checked it out, pruned it, and drove in and out of the driveway.  He really didn’t see it a problem with the tree.  The entire area had a lot of large trees and taking down this one tree would not alleviate the site distances on this street.  He indicated that he was not in favor of taking down this tree.   Mr. Solomon moved to recommend that this tree not be taken down, seconded by Ms. Maniscalco and unanimously voted.




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The next issue was 161 Wolomolopoag Street on the corner of Furnace Street across from the Gridley Pond Subdivision.  The request for this came from NStar.  They needed to drop wires across the street to provide service.  The tree is right between two telephone poles and would be in the way.  It has been pruned as much as is possible.  The resident on the corner does not have a problem with this tree being removed.  It would be NStar’s responsibility to take the tree down and would cost the Town nothing.  Mr. Solomon moved to approve the removal of this tree as requested, seconded by Ms. Maniscalco and unanimously voted.

The third issue of this public hearing was the installation of sidewalks and removal of trees on Lakeview Street between Livingston and East Foxboro.  Mr. O’Cain gave a presentation on this issue.  He indicated that the Transportation Advisory Board met periodically with the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board and the School Committee to set priorities for sidewalks in the Town.  This area was a high priority on their list, as well as a request from area residents.  

The sidewalks would be five feet wide with bituminous curbing except that upright granite would be used where it would run beside the road.  Five homeowners would have to give easements to the Town where the sidewalk would need to run on a portion of their property.  The Town has received verbal agreements from these property owners.  However, Mr. O’Cain explained that he is not sure the funding for this project would be available this year, in which case they would be put in next year.  

Mr. O’Cain had detailed maps which showed where the sidewalks would go and what trees would be removed.  They try to go in front of the stone walls rather than behind, as in many cases the stone walls set the boundary lines, and are historical features and the Town is sensitive to having to move them.

Mr. Weber added that they have put sidewalks in many areas of the Town and once they are in, the residents realize they have very little impact on their individual lots.  The Town has replanted trees and shrubs for those that need to be removed.  They also try and save as many trees as possible, and will not take down any large pine trees.  They go around them instead.

Mr. O’Cain then explained lot by lot where the sidewalk would go and the Board asked for any comments from those in attendance.  Some of the comments/concerns were:  meander more around the trees instead of removing them; large boulder on the corner, which if it could not be removed, the sidewalk would also go around that; major concern about changing the nature of one of the most beautiful, natural streets in the Town – has a country, scenic feeling; concern 

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with the number of trees to be removed and want to see the scenic quality of the street retained.  Mr. Weber suggested that these residents go and take a look at 

Morse Street starting at Mountain, where a sidewalk had been installed several years ago.  The sidewalk had very little effect on the scenic nature of the street, and was done very nicely.

After soliciting comments from the public, Mr. Tran asked what the next step in the process would be.  Mr. O’Cain answered that the Board can now approve or deny the request, or send the drawings back to the DPW for further work.  Mr. Tran indicated that he personally was not ready to vote on this and suggested that the Board postpone making a decision.  He requested that the residents of the area submit their comments to the Board either by letter or email, that the DPW consider obtaining more easements to possibly save more trees and other ideas be suggested.

Mr. Solomon moved to not close this public hearing, but to continue it to Wednesday, May 5, 2004, at 8:00 p.m., here at the Town Offices.   Seconded by Ms. Ostrow and unanimously voted.

IV.	PUBLIC HEARING – TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWERS

Ms. Maniscalco read the legal notice to open the public hearing.  Mr. Solomon recused himself from these proceedings, as he was involved in the lawsuit against one of the companies.

Mr. Tran explained the background of this by-law change.  The Board has proposed an article to be brought before Town Meeting based on a request from a citizen’s group at the last Town Meeting to put a moratorium on cell towers.  The Board has done a lot of research on what other town’s in the State have in place.  What has been proposed here is in response to that research which has already been modified and sent to Town Counsel for review and recommendation.  

A summary of the by-law is as follows:
---to preserve the character of the Town so that towers are set back enough to have minimal impact on abutters and the Town.
---will be in conformance with the federal law, because if not, the federal law will take precedence.
---exempted uses listed.
---listing of general requirements and what districts they will be allowed in; this will open up a new overlay district.
---propose to open up cell towers in certain residential zones; are not allowed to put up towers by right – will have to go through the special permit process and meet all requirements.
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---can put them on some existing structures.
---requirements for camouflaging.
---language telling how the structures should be built; maximum height – 120’.
---prioritizes favorable and non favorable sites.
---requires the applicant to show need for a cell in a particular area.
---tries to entice the applicants to place the cells on municipal, state or federal lands so that the Town could possibly benefit and receive revenues.
---sets out environmental standards.
---provide for the hiring of an independent consultant by the Town paid for by the applicant to be able to oversee what is being proposed.

Mr. Tran then opened the meeting up to public comment.  Some of the concerns/comments raised:
---what made the Board chose the Provincetown example – Mr. O’Cain answered that that by law has been challenged in Court and has come out OK.
---wouldn’t it make sense for the Board to hire a radio frequency engineer?  Mr. Tran – a circumference had been drawn to show where coverage is needed; this by-law gives more protection than is given by the current by-law.
---the Board should be provided light industrial and business areas for the placement of cells, not residential areas; and should not include the Sharon County Club which is in a very populated, residential area.
---concern that the Board has greatly expanded the targets where cells can be placed; concensus of many people is that there are two areas in the Town where the cell towers should be placed – Rattlesnake Hill and Moose Hill.  The Board should hire an engineer or consultant to determine why these sites would not be agreeable to the carriers.  Mr. Tran answered that there are holes in these areas so large “you could drive a truck through them.”
---another resident indicated that this by-law cannot be retroactive;  if you limit the potential areas to just a couple of sites, you will not make the needed coverage available to the carriers and they will revert to the federal laws;  the Board is trying to map areas that will provide adequate coverage in the Town; if you don’t you will end up with hundreds of lawsuits and in the end you will still end up with the cell towers.  This can’t be ignored – it is better to choose the sites than to let the carriers choose them.
---drop the golf course area from the by–law; there are lots of houses and two schools close by; put then on Town property to produce revenues; include the Borderland area.

Additional discussion followed, which expounded on many of the issues raised above.





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The Board then explained that all materials, including any revisions, will be posted on the Board’s website.  Mr. Tran encouraged additional comments by mail or email.

Ms. Maniscalco then moved to close the public hearing, seconded by Ms. Ostrow and unanimously voted.

V.	EO418 – OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Ms. Brown again met with the Board to review the draft she had previously circulated.  After reviewing the document, she indicated that the final chapter will be how it all fits together.

VI.	There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m.