TOWN OF SHARON
PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of a meeting of the Planning Board held on July 13, 2005, at 7:30 p.m., in the Town Offices.
PRESENT: ELI HAUSER, VICE CHAIR
ARNOLD COHEN
PAUL LAUENSTEIN
PETER O’CAIN, ASST. TOWN ENGINEER
Business transacted:
I. Meeting called to order.
FORM A PLANS
Coach Lane (off Bay Road) – the applicant was seeking to subdivide one lot into two. However, this was an old subdivision whose covenant stated that no further subdivision of this property could take place unless the road was brought into full conformance with the current rules and regulations. That would mean a full buildout of the road to 22 feet (it is now 18’), drainage, etc.
Mr. Cohen indicated that his preliminary thought on this was to not approve it. However, until something is officially before the Board, no formal decision could be made. He said that the Board had approved a subdivision for a certain number of homes, allowing waivers to accommodate the few numbers of homes built. If that number is now going to increase, the required roadway improvements should be made. Mr. Hauser indicated he basically agreed, but if they were to make some improvements that were beneficial to the Town, say put affordable housing on the new lot, than that might be a different matter. Mr. Cohen reiterated that no decision could be made until there was an official filing. At this point the Board can only offer guidance, but that is not binding without any type of filing.
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Administrative Assistant
Minutes of Meeting Page Two July 13, 2005
II. ZONING DISCUSSION
Accessory Apartments – Mr. Cohen said that he had spoken with Mr. Kublin of the Council on Aging as to what they were looking for regarding this change. As a result of this discussion, it seemed to Mr. Cohen that the COA did not have a well formulated plan as to what they were looking for. However, one of the reasons for this suggested change was that it seems to be very difficult to get approval for an accessory apartment through the Special Permit process. That is one of the things they would like to see changed.
Another issue that Mr. Cohen said the COA found undesirable under the current regulations was that an accessory apartment has to have a common entrance with the premises. A separate entrance was more desirable to some people. Mr. Cohen explained that the change he drafted was based on Canton’s by-law, and he did not include anything about requiring a common entrance. He will still look into what would be needed to add language to require accessory apartments to be affordable.
Mr. Hauser summarized what decisions the Board needs to make regarding the accessory apartment issue: should they be strictly accessory or should they be required to be affordable; is a kitchen to be allowed; should they have a common or separate entrance; adding a deed restriction so that they would forever remain affordable.
Mr. Hauser added that he thought requiring the apartments to be affordable would be a bonus to the Town and would go towards the required 10% goal the Town needs to reach. Mr. Cohen agreed with Mr. Hauser and felt that the Board should pursue this aspect of the change.
Minutes of Meeting Page Three July 13, 2005
Mr. Lauenstein told the Board he had received a brochure from the DHCD which included information on these types of changes. He also thought the Board should think all these proposed changes through and make sure they are beneficial to the Town to assure successful passing at Town Meeting. The Board needs to be careful in crafting the language for these and any proposed zoning changes. He also suggested receiving input from other Boards, especially the Board of Appeals.
MUOD changes - The major change would be to make allow MUOD’s by right and not require a Special Permit. This change would allow the Town to gain access to certain grants which under the current regulations it could not. Since Ms. Maniscalco was primarily responsible for this language, and since she could not make tonight’s meeting, further discussion was postponed until she was in attendance.
CSD change – For affordable units only, the highest density bonus would be 2x. Age qualified and open space areas would not be included in the bonus calculations. The units have to be attached and affordable forever.
III. OTHER BUSINESS
---291 North Main Street – this is an old subdivision (early 80’s) and one of the homes is being sold. The attorneys found that the Form J releasing the lots in the subdivision had never been filed with the Norfolk County Registry. The house cannot be sold until the covenant is released. The current owners were asking the Board to sign a new Form J so he could sell his house. The Board did so.
IV. There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.