TOWN OF
PLANNING BOARD
Minutes
of a Meeting of the Planning Board held on
PRESENT: SAMUEL SOLOMON, CHAIR
ELI HAUSER
PETER
O’CAIN, ASST. TOWN ENGINEER.
Business Transacted:
I.
Meeting
called to order. The minutes of the
FORM A PLANS
Depot
Street, owner Mass. Highway Dept. The Town was
buying a parcel of land in the railroad stations parking lot where an auto body
shop had been located. It is an existing
lot and nothing in the use of dimensions of the lot is changing. This is a filing formality to allow the
official purchase of the lot. Mr. Cohen
moved approval, seconded by Mr. Hauser and unanimously voted.
____________________________
Administrative Assistant
Minutes
of Meeting Page Two
SIGN
REVIEW
None.
II.
HUNTER’S RIDGE – UPDATE
Mr. Faria, on behalf of the
applicant, informed the Board that they would be meeting with the Board of
Health next Monday and the Conservation Commission on Thursday. They had made revisions to the plans that the
Town’s consultant had recommended for both Boards and had just recently sent
the revised plans to the consultant for further review. They had also made the revisions the Planning
Board had requested.
Since they were still waiting for decisions from these
Boards, Mr. Faria requested a further extension on
the Board’s decision to
III.
KING PHILLIP ESTATES
The applicant was before the Board with a new
definitive subdivision for King Phillip Estates. A 40B subdivision had been proposed and
disapproved by the ZBA that showed 12 homes.
The Planning Board had been asked to consider this new subdivision plan
in lieu of the applicant pursuing an appeal of the ZBA decision.
Mr. Dana Clow, engineer for
the project, presented the following information:
·
The applicant was
looking to build three homes.
·
There is a
significant amount of elevation change on the site with a very steep approach.
·
There is less roadway in this plan than the 40B. However, it is the same roadway layout.
·
There is a
retention basin located on the property.
·
The roadway
profile does show a 10% and 12% gradient, which does exceed the gradient of 8%
allowable under the subdivision regulations.
Minutes
of Meeting
Page Three
·
They will be
requesting waivers in order to construct the road, which will remain a private
way.
·
The private way would
provide access to all three homes, and would meander within the right of way to
take advantage of the grade changes.
·
The proposed
pavement width would be 18’ rather than the required 22’.
·
The plan as
presented fully conforms to zoning, but not to the Board’s subdivision rules
and regulations.
·
The cuts and
fills do not conform.
·
Sidewalks will be
eliminated.
·
Will maintain the
recharge system at the bottom adjacent to
Atty. Devin, representing the applicant, told the
Board that they were here in response to the 40B process which was denied by
the ZBA. They are in the appeal process. It was suggested by Town Counsel that they
meet with the Planning Board and work towards having this three lot subdivision
approved in lieu of the 40B. The appeal
is set to be heard on June 20. The
applicant needs to have some clear indication from the Planning Board by the
end of February to determine if this is going to be a viable plan. They need to have some assurance that this
alternative, suggested by Town Counsel, will be acceptable to the Town.
Mr. Cohen said that the approval process needs to be
done within the 90-day framework. His
opinion is that the Board should not be commenting on whether or not it is
going to approve this without having first had the public hearing. Speaking for himself, he said that the Board
had discussed this and that it is quite open to this proposal. Generally speaking the Planning Board
approves subdivisions unless there is some reason it should not. The neighbors might be much more amenable to
this proposal than the alternative.
Minutes
of Meeting
Page Four
Ms. Maniscalco added that the Board has actually
spoken to some members of the ZBA who briefed the Board on what is going on in
this situation. The Planning Board felt that if all of this is within the Rules
and Regulations, it will probably get approved as would any subdivision that
meets the requirements. Mr. O’Cain added
that the applicant needs to submit drainage calculations for pre and post
construction, which they have not done, as well as the erosion and
sedimentation plan.
Atty. Devin answered that they will do the work and provide the appropriate drainage calculations. They are, however, looking to see that the
Board is open to this idea and they understand that there is certain
information that still needs to be provided to the Board.
Mr. O’Cain suggested the Board provide some type of
agreement between the applicant and the Board stating exactly what will be
required, so that the applicant knows what they need to provide for the Board
to be able to act upon this subdivision.
Mr. Hauser felt that the Board could hold certain
requirements, identified in the engineering review letter, in abeyance for this
phase of the process, so that the Town could move forward with resolving the
legal case. The Board then went over
Mr. O’Cain’s list of missing items to determine what
needed to be provided forthwith and what could be added as conditions of
approval.
Atty. Devin said that there would be specific waivers
requested which are necessary in order to construct the plan they are
proposing. When they come before the
Board again, they will have a specific waiver request list.
(Mr. Solomon arrived.)
Mr. Solomon also informed the applicant that they
would need to get a letter from the Fire Chief stating his comments regarding
the roadway in this subdivision.
Minutes
of Meeting
Page Five
Mr. Solomon also said that there is an issue here as
to whether or not the applicant can build the subdivision in compliance with
the rules and regulations. If so, then
it is up to the Board to determine what waivers, if any, it will allow which
need to be in the best interests of the Town.
After review, Ms. Maniscalco indicated that #29 and
#30 of Mr. O’Cain’s list could be deal breakers. Mr. Solomon said that he had had some
conversations with Town Counsel and indicated that the Board is always open to
looking at what comes before it. This is
the first time this plan has been seen by the Board. The Board also has to be concerned with
setting precedents in what it allows for waivers, what regulations cannot be
met in any way and how severe the waivers are.
These are some of the questions the Board needs to answer to itself – and
these are issues that can’t be determined the first time the Board sees the
plans. The Board needs to review the
plans and determine what the ramifications will be. We need to hear what the Fire Chief has to
say about this roadway. There are issues
about the 10-12% gradient. The reason
the Board has rules and regulations is to make sure
that the safety concerns of the Town are met.
The Board is concerned about setting precedent in granting waivers.
Ms. Maniscalco confirmed that there are a couple of items
the Board needs clarification on in order to make a decision and one is part of
item #30 – we need to hear what the Fire Chief has to say about the
roadway. Also need to discuss #29 more
to understand it. She said she became
less alarmed about the outstanding issues in the process of going over the list
at this meeting.
Mr. O’Cain said that he needed a copy of the new plans
to be able to provide a review of the subdivision to the Board.
Mr. Hauser said that, regarding the steepness of the
road, if the Fire Chief says that he can get his equipment up the road and the
water issue works, he would be OK with allowing it to happen.
The public hearing on this subdivision will be held on
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of Meeting
Page Six
IV.
W. GODLIN GROUP.
Mr. Godlin cancelled at this time and will call to reschedule.
V.
PROPOSED ZONING CHANGES DISCUSSION
The date for the public hearing was set for
VI.
HOUSING UPDATE
Mr. Hauser advised that the next step should be to set
up another meeting with the Conservation Commission. Ms. Maniscalco would provide the draft for
discussion.
VII.
OTHER BUSINESS
A Mr. Fred Martin presented himself to the Board as a
participant in the appeal case for King Phillip Estates. He said he had been studying the area over
the last several years. He wanted the
Board to understand that the conservation issue for this area is very
important. In addition to the ancient
stones, it has been found that the area also contains some glacial clusters as
well. He requested that if the
subdivision gets approved, that the houses be located as close to the street as
possible.
VIII. There being no further business before the Board, the
meeting was adjourned at