TOWN OF SHARON

PLANNING BOARD

Minutes of a Meeting of the Planning Board held on August 25, 2004, at 7:30 p.m., in the Town Offices.

PRESENT: ARNOLD COHEN, CLERK

NADINE OSTROW

ELI HAUSER

PETER O’CAIN, ASST. TOWN ENGINEER

BUSINESS TRANSACTED:

I. Meeting called to order. The Minutes of the August 11, 2004, meeting were reviewed and accepted with corrections.

FORM A PLANS

None.

SIGN REVIEW

None.

II. MOUNTAIN STREET PAVING

Mr. Cohen informed those present that because the Chair and Vice Chair were not able to make tonight’s meeting, he, as clerk, would be chairing the meeting.

He then explained that the reason this item was on the agenda is that the Planning Board received a letter from the Norfolk County Commissioners asking for the Board’s opinion on the paving of Mountain Street, which the Board of Selectmen already voted to approve. The same letter was also sent to the Town’s Conservation Commission.

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Administrative Assistant

Minutes of Meeting Page Two August 25, 2004

When this issue was first presented to the Planning Board, the Board decided to notify the people who live on this street to come to this meeting and give their input on this matter, instead of making a decision on its own. After receiving comments this evening, the Board will write a letter to the County Commissioners with its response.

Mr. Cohen further stated that this is not a legally required public hearing, as is the case for scenic road work. The Board just wants to obtain information from residents of the area. Also, the Board is not really sure if its opinion will have any effect on what happens on this roadway. However, the Board will send its opinion in a letter to the County Commissioners.

Mr. Cohen then asked Mr. O’Cain to explain what the Mountain Street improvements will entail. Mr. O’Cain explained that certain portions of Mountain Street fail every year; there is lots of dust generated; there are lots of potholes. Only a certain portion of the roadway will be paved, not the entire street. The pavement will be 18’ wide, just wide enough to allow two cars to get by each other. A professional wetlands botanist has flagged the wetlands and an application has been filed with the Conservation Commission.

The goal of the project is to try and remove some of the water from the roadway. A trench has already been dug by the DPW to move the water off the roadway. The road will have only a base course of binder, which is more rough, about 2 ½ to 3” thick, with middle crowning to keep water off the road.

Mr. Cohen then opened the meeting up for comment. Some of the issues raised were as follows:

· Mr. Gray of Mountain Street informed the Board that when the Town took the roadway in front of his house to widen Mountain Street many years ago, there was a stipulation that the road had to be “not less than 30’ for paving.” If this is not done, the

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Town is not following the instructions of the County and doesn’t see how the Town could go ahead and not do what is in the legal documents. Mr. O’Cain responded that Town Counsel has reviewed the documents and interpreted it to mean that the County has the right to waive anything they want, and the Town has the right to build the road any size it wants with the approval of the County. Mr. Cohen added that in his opinion, he would not want to see the road paved to 30’.

Mr. Roach, one of the Selectmen, said that Mr. Gray did have a pending lawsuit with the Town, and therefore, he could not fully comment on this issue. He said that the Board of Selectmen are not looking at this as road construction, but as road repair to a portion of the road that every year the Town spends large sums of money on to maintain. Just last year it cost the Town $12,145 in repairs.

Some of the presently proposed repairs include trying to drain the water from the road by paving and adding a three inch binder. The purpose of the repairs is to make the road passable and stop eating up the DPW’s time and budget.

Other comments against the paving:

· Mandel - the Town will be changing the quality of life in the neighborhood by making it easier for cars to speed in the street and increasing the number of cars using the street once it is paved. People who moved there knew it was unpaved and moved there for that reason. If others want a paved street, they should move to one that is paved. Keep in mind that while a few people are complaining about the paving, many more are against it and like the ambiance of living on this type of street.

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· Corey – if Rattlesnake Hill gets developed, it was suggested that the developer would make the improvements to the street, and not the Town. She would like someone to research this, instead on making the Town put out the money for this project. She also suggested to the Board of Selectmen to wait for a season and see if the current repairs make a difference in the road. It may be that after this work, the paving may not be necessary. Concerned about the huge amount of traffic coming and going to Easton.

· Levitt – concerned about speed if paved; feels paving will increase speed on the street and make it a through way. Keep an open forum after it’s paved, if it does get paved, to see how things are going on the street.

There were many other people speaking in opposition to the paving, but most of the concerns were the same as those already itemized here.

Comments in favor of paving:

· Wassel - Many of the people who are against the paving don’t live on that section of the road. This is a serious safety and health issue.

· Giorgio – when they were buying, they were told that there was going to be a large subdivision behind them and that the street was to be paved. That is why they bought there, expecting the road to be paved within the near future. That was 22 years ago. They had no idea it would be a dirt road for all these years. This has been hashed over and over in this Town and the Selectmen finally voted to go forward with the paving. This is a serious safety issue. The road is unsafe. It should be paved. Saying that it should remain a dirt road because it is a dirt road is ridiculous. Probably every street in the Town at some point was a dirt road and they’ve all been paved.

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· Grady – repairing it doesn’t work. Has been repaired numerous times and the dirt still erodes and causes potholes. Knew it would remain a dirt road when he bought his house, but was told it would be a well maintained dirt road. It hasn’t been that way. The DPW cannot keep up with all the needed repairs. Feels the street will be just as beautiful even if it is paved. Is a real safety issue – emergency vehicles can’t get down there as quickly as they should.

· Green – the street is becoming more and more developed and more and more cars are using it. This makes the potholes get larger and larger very quickly. Cars try to avoid the potholes and travel all over the road, so that you never know where a car could be and could be on your side of the road coming at you. There is so much dust generated by a car that you can’t see if there is a car in front of you.

Many other individuals also commented on the safety issues, the dust, the very bad condition of the roadway.

Mr. Cohen, speaking on behalf of himself and not the Board, said that he grew up in Boston where there are no beautiful streets like this one, and he would rather not see it paved. He has driven that street many times and has never seen a situation where it had been impassable. He has driven on streets in Martha’s Vineyard that were in worse shape than this that connect to many large homes, and they are not rushing to have those paved. Mountain Street is very scenic and has a certain charm to it the way it is.

When asked if he thought these repairs would work, Mr. O’Cain answered that he thought it would improve the situation but not completely fix it. The soils under the roadway are very poor – claylike and absorb water – so they’re not great and then under that there is ledge.

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Mr. Roach added that he didn’t see anything being done in the near future with the other end of Mountain Street. This was the only repair scheduled.

Mr. Cohen said that at one time, Mr. O’Cain had proposed an alternative solution as filling the area where the main problems were and not pave the entire section of the roadway. The Planning Board felt this would be a good alternative, and Mr. O’Cain presented this solution to the Board of Selectmen, who did not favor it and wanted to go ahead with the paving. Mr. Cohen asked Mr. O’Cain if he knew why the Selectmen didn’t want to go forward with the limited project. Mr. O’Cain responded that the Board was asking the wrong person – he worked in the DPW and they didn’t want to keep maintaining this roadway. They, as well as the Selectmen, wanted it paved to eliminate the continuous upkeep that was costing their budget not just funds but time also.

Mr. Cohen explained that at this point the Board needed to come to some decision on its stand on this issue and send a letter to the County Commissioners. He asked for comments from the Board members.

Mr. Hauser said that he was not clear that the Planning Board had any approval or disapproval rights on this issue. The decision to do any work on any roadways in the Town has always lain with the Board of Selectmen. He didn’t think the Planning Board had the technical ability to comment on the roads compliance regarding danger, safety issues or even historical content. It is tough to find a balance with all these different objectives without the required technical ability.

Ms. Ostrow agreed with Mr. Hauser and also felt it was more of a Conservation Commission issue since they have jurisdiction over the wetlands issue. She would like to defer any decision until there is a ruling from the Conservation Commission.

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Mr. Cohen said that whether the Planning Board agrees or disagrees with the paving issue, it could be that it has no bearing at all on the outcome. He further repeated that he had grown up in West Roxbury that had a much greater density and more traffic than Sharon. He has always personally wanted this road to stay the way it is. When he first saw that road, he really liked it and now people want to go ahead and pave it. This is a very emotional issue for all involved. People bought houses on this street with different expectations. For his individual vote, he would keep it as it is. If it gets paved, people will be driving much faster and it will become a quasi-major street. He would recommend fixing the problem in front of Mr. Giorgio’s street and leaving the rest of it as is. This is a very scenic street with a rural quality and is more desirable as it is.

Mr. Hauser again repeated that it was his feeling that it was not within the Planning Board’s jurisdiction to act on this matter. Also, the letter from the County was not clear in what it was asking the Board to do. Mr. Cohen agreed with that, as he too was not sure what the County meant in asking the Board to comment on “if there are any outstanding issues.” It would be within the Board’s purview to respond that the Board does not believe this is a good idea or it is. It could also be added that the Board believes that the recommended amount of pavement could be viewed as excessive and that the problem in front on Mr. Giorgio’s house could be fixed without the rest being paved. However, this is his opinion and does not know what the rest of the Board would like to write.

Ms. Ostrow said that she would like to defer making any decisions until a ruling was made by the Conservation Commission. Mr. Hauser said that he does not feel the Board is being asked for this type of opinion. If the road were to be paved, you would have to ask if it would meet the Town’s regulations and the answer would have to be yes.

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Mr. Cohen proposed writing a letter to the County indicating that the Planning Board is not aware of any outstanding issues on the proposed paving project. However, the Board is not completely clear on what the County means by “outstanding issues.” The Board did hold a meeting where a number of people who live on Mountain Street attended. Some were in favor of the paving and some were against it. The Board is not aware that any waivers would be needed for the completion of this project.

III. VOTE ON PROPOSED ZONING CHANGES

Mr. Hauser moved to approve the Article regarding Stormwater Discharge generated by construction activity. Seconded by Ms. Ostrow and unanimously voted.

Mr. Hauser moved to approve the Article regarding elicit discharge to detention basins. Seconded by Ms. Ostrow and unanimously voted.

Finally, Mr. Hauser moved to approve the Article regarding changes to the floodwater hazard district. Seconded by Ms. Ostrow and unanimously voted.

IV. There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.