Town of Sharon Planning Board

Meeting Minutes of 9/5/07

Amended and Approved on 9/19/07

 

 

Planning Board Attendees

Eli Hauser – Chair

Paul Lauenstein

Arnold Cohen – Vice Chair

Amanda Sloan 

Susan Price – Clerk

 

 

Peter O’Cain, Assistant Town Engineer, Consultant

 

Attendees

Jon Shockett

George Bailey

Mr. and Mrs. James Freedman

Mr. and Mrs., Charles Heinberg

Lisa Sullivan

Cheryl Morandi

Scott Raul

Nancy Radzevich  - Mass Development

Michael Baskin

Mike Mitchell – Mass Development

Alice Cheyer

Jane Desberg

Ben Puritz

 

 

Meeting Initiation

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Chair, Eli Hauser.

Due to the detailed agenda, the review of the Chair’s report and meeting minutes of 8/15 was continued until next meeting.

 

Eisenhower Drive Extension

A brief discussion ensued as to whether a Public Hearing should be held regarding changing the width of the emergency access for the Eisenhower Drive Extension. Former plaintiffs in the case provided the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Appeals Court document No A.C. 04-P-754 regarding a previous lawsuit for this property. The plaintiff, Mr. Freedman suggested that if a Public Hearing were held, the entire case would need to be reviewed. Ms. Levitts was asked to send a note to Mr. Gelerman to determine if the statement by Mr. Freedman that if a Public Hearing on the width of the road is held, it will reopen the entire case on both sides. Mr. Hauser asked Mr. O’Cain to get a written comment by Chief Mann.

 

Sign Review

A sign was presented for Morandi Therapeutic Massage, located at East Chestnut Street. A Benjamin Moore historical color was chosen. Mr. Lauenstein made a motion to approve the sign for Morandi Therapeutic as presented. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion; The Board voted 5-0-0 in favor.

 

Bond Reduction

Mr. Cohen moved to reduce the bond for Pine Grove Estates from $9,750 to zero per Peter O’Cain’s memo dated September 5, 2007. Ms. Price seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0-0 in favor.

 

43D Presentation

Mr. Hauser introduced the topic of 43 D by stating that the Planning Board, as a group, needed to hear about this. He said he was not sure as to who would be promoting the article and that we need to determine parcels, lots and owners that would be covered if the article passes. The Board needs to make sure that regulations do not disallow 180-day decision deadline to comply with the statute. The Town needs to write a letter to the owners to endorse participation of their parcel in the zone. The single point of contact will be Ben Puritz, Town Administrator.  All of the items needed to support and be compliant with the article are being reviewed by Attorney Gelerman’s office.

 

Ms. Mitchell of Mass Development, a state agency, said it is her responsibility to offer technical assistance to help communities. Nancy Radzveich of Mass Development said she is available to help facilitate the 43D process. George Bailey stated he has followed the 43D process for years. Michael Baskin said his interest is in architectural design. His focus is to keep the Town Hall and library as close to the center of Town as possible. The biggest constraint for businesses coming to P.O. Square is the lack of sewage treatment. Mr.O’Cain said mixed use couldn’t be done because of septic capacity. Lots for shared septic use need to be identified. Ms. Sloan noted that the Town is not connected to MWRA and the entire Town is on septic systems.

 

Mr. Hauser advised that the Economic Development Team has identified 2 studies: 1. Economic sensitivity – what types of businesses, mixes of uses, ultimate build out, types of loans that can be brought to upgrade the sewage capacity which would upgrade the economics, and 2) waste water treatment plant study, to be headed by Suzie Peck and Peter O’Cain. Land for building needs to be determined. The Economic Development study could be for 3 sites in Town but primarily P.O. Square because Route 1 is being now being developed and has already started to generate new revenue for the Town.

 

Ms. Mitchell stated that $2.1 million in grants had been provided in 2007, to 15 communities that had accepted the statute for grants for zoning, etc. She said that so far, everyone is pleased with the 43D process as it provides communities with greater control by taking a pro-active approach to development and guiding developers to the sites where the town wants to encourage commercial, industrial, and/or mixed-use development. The benefits include access to a one time technical assistance grant up to $150,000. The Mass Development provided the group with a handout which breaks the law down into further steps including the criteria, process and protections. Lisa Whelan from Attorney Gelerman’s office is working with April from Mass Development who will provide filing deadlines and will review the draft. Mr. Cohen asked if the grant money can be used to fund the treatment plant and Ms. Radzevich said she will confirm whether this is permissable.

 

Mr. Lauenstein interjected that parking is also an issue in the center of town in addition to sewage. Ms. Sloan said we do not have a good planning infrastructure. Mr. Baskin said that $150,000 is a relatively insignificant amount of money, and the Planning Board should not let that drive our decision. He said that we should focus instead on determining whether or not 43D fast-track permitting would be intrinsically beneficial to the community in the long run.

 

Mr. Puritz said that the BOS will sponsor this article.

 

Inclusionary Housing

Tom Houston discussed the status of his draft of Inclusionary Zoning article. He said he is working with Mr. Lauenstein, Ms. Cheyer and Ms. Desberg whose input is extensive in the draft. He explained that the bylaw would provide that every developer that creates 6 or more homes would need a special permit and provide affordable units. If the proponent opts to put affordable units off site, the requirement is 15%, and, if provided on site, 12.5%. The affordable units are to be comparable to market rate units. If the project requires other permits the Zoning Board of Appeals would be the Special Permit Granting Authority (SPGA). If it is a conventional subdivision, then the Planning Board becomes the SPGA.

 

Discussion ensued and Mr. Houston said the decision the Planning Board needs to make is whether 6 is the right number of units and whether to proceed with 12.5% or 15% affordable units.  Mr. Hauser said he is concerned with the consumability of the document. He suggested a more modified approach of 5 summary slides; the text should not include formulas, and determine if it is 6 or 7 units regardless of on or off site. Mrs. Cheyer stated she liked the 12.5 – 15% differentiations, as did Ms. Desberg. Ms. Price interjected why not use 15% across the board.  Mr. Cohen said for the sake of simplicity, keep or not keep off site option.

 

The Board voted 3-0-1 that the cut-off would be 6 or more units subject to the proposed bylaw and that we would use 15% for both on-site and off-site rather than the language in the draft article. The Board also agreed with the language in the draft article that affordable units would be available to people earning less than 80% of median income for rental units and 70% for purchased units. Rental is higher than purchase because utilities are bundled with rent, but they are separate with purchase. Lastly, they decided to require that affordable rental units could not be sub-leased and affordable owned units could not be rented to third parties.

 

The next step for Mr. Houston is to capture the thoughts within the document, finish the draft, meet with FinCom, and Attorney Gelerman.

 

Other Business

The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for September 19th.

 

Mr. Puritz asked for a member of the Planning Board to be on the Town Engineer Selection Committee. The Board voted 4-0-0 to appoint Susan Price.

 

Ms. Price agreed to author a letter to the ZBA regarding Sharon Commons based on comments expressed by the Board.

 

The Lot Shape draft article by Ms. Price was reviewed and approved by the Board.

 

Mr. Cohen moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:15 PM and Mrs. Price seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0-0 in favor.