Town of Sharon Planning Board

Meeting Minutes of 12/14/11

Amended and Approved on 1/4/12

Sharon Community Center

Filmed by SCTV

 

Planning Board Attendees

Susan Price, Chair

Anne Bingham

Eli Hauser, Vice Chair

Pat Pannone, Clerk

David Milowe

Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer

 

Attendees

Susan Gooltz,  24 Longmeadow Lane

Jonathan Hall, 17 PO Square

Bob Chavez, 188 Ames Street

Michael Guardabascio, 194 East Street

Gina and Joe Mazzotta, 257 S. Walpole St.

Rich Merrigan, Engineer, Millis

Ernst Polyak,  5 Salamander Way

Eric Dias, Engineer, 185 Edge Hill Road

 

Chair Report

Ms. Price called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM. She reported that the Board of Selectmen would like to meet with the Planning Board at their 2/7/11 meeting to discuss the possible revisions to the Telecommunications Facilities Bylaw (Section 4600 of the Zoning Bylaws) as well as the overlay district.

 

Mr. O’Cain said that he will provide the Board with a cell tower overlay map.

 

Subdivision Regulations

Ms. Price also reported that she has been in contact with Tom Houston of PSC, regarding his proposal to revise the Board’s “Rules and Regulations Governing the Subdivision of Land, Sharon, Massachusetts.” She said the fee is $2,500 for his work and $1,000 will be due initially.

 

Mr. Milowe moved to allow a $1,000 payment from this fiscal year’s budget to pay to Tom Houston for his initial work and to allow Susan Price to sign the contract.  Mr. Pannone seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0-0 in favor.

 

Signs

Jonathan Hall, owner of Sharon Market at 17 Post Office Square, came before the Board to present a diagram for his carved sign which will be painted black with gilded gold lettering. Three goose neck light fixtures will be mounted above the sign.

 

Ms. Bingham suggested re-doing the traffic pattern in the Sharon Market parking lot. Mr. Hall said he would be willing to work with the Town regarding this. A brief discussion ensued.

 

Ms. Bingham moved to approve the sign for Sharon Market and three goose neck lights as shown on the photograph submitted to the Planning Board on 11/14/11 for the property located at 17 Post Office Square. Mr. Pannone seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0-0 in favor of approving the sign.

 

ANR Plan for 188 Ames Street

Mr. O’Cain began the discussion by stating that once the ANR plan is approved, the applicant files a foundation permit with the Building Inspector, Joe Kent. If there are zoning issues they are forwarded to the Zoning Board of Appeals to determine if variances can be requested. He said that usually the ZBA does not give variances on new lots based on dimensional requirements. Mr. O’Cain, at the request of Ms. Bingham, reviewed the plan against the ANR checklist. A brief discussion ensued. Mr. O’Cain said that if this ANR Plan is recorded at the Registry of Deeds, they can sell lots. It is up to the buyer to determine if the lot is buildable. Mr. O’Cain said he only tells the buyer that the property meets the dimensional requirements, not that it is buildable. He said that an easement will be created for driveways as lots are sold, if needed. He said he has comments regarding the easements but this will be handled as permits are filed.

 

Ms. Price said that East Street is a scenic roadway and Ames Street is not. She requested that a note be added to the plan about the scenic road regulations for East Street.

 

Mr. Hauser began an “end of life “discussion about 188 Ames Street to reflect on the process that the Board used in reviewing the proposed subdivision plan with 4 lots against this plan with 6. He reviewed past events and said that what came out is worse than the original request.  He believes that the proposed plan provided a public good (in preservation of open space around the mansion from Ames and East), and this one is now using all the land for houses. From a traffic pattern or safety perspective, the proposed configuration offered fewer driveways, away from the intersection, and now we have a slew of driveways coming into the intersection.  The Town values open space, including lands that is privately owned and given a private restriction, for which we give a tax benefit to the owner, so clearly having open space for a historic property should have been desirable.   Mr. Hauser wanted to know if in retrospect, Monday morning as it were, if the other members of the Planning Board felt we now had a better configuration than the proposed configuration.

 

Ms. Price said that she still stands by her vote on the subdivision, in that she did not want to set a precedent to allow waivers on a compliance plan.  She said she does not think the new configuration is better but it is not for her to guess on the number of lots a property owner may come up with on an ANR plan. The ANR is up to the property owner and it is not her fault that the owner changed priorities from wanting three new lots and to protect the corner and the area surrounding the historic house to wanting four new lots and not protecting the corner or the area surrounding the historic house.  She noted that there were other much better layouts with which the property owner could achieve his original goals with an ANR.

 

Ms. Bingham said she is in complete agreement with Ms. Price. The owner can have an ANR, everything changed and she feels the Board made the right choice.

 

Mr. Pannone said when we had the chance to vote; only three members were in attendance. He agrees with Mr. Hauser that he liked the previous option.

 

Mr. Milowe suggested that the Board move on.

 

Mr. O’Cain said that Ms. Price created six options for the property owner and they did not use it.

 

Ms. Bingham asked if a circle should be placed on the plan to indicate that it has been reviewed, in order to ensure there is enough space for the lots. Mr. O’Cain agrees that it should be added.

 

Ms. Bingham moved that the plan dated 11/10/11 submitted by Site Design Professionals for 188 Ames Street on behalf of Dr. Chavez, be approved as approval not required under the subdivision control law and the note entered that the lots fronting on East Street are subject to the Scenic Bylaw. It is also recommended Town Engineer, Peter O’Cain approve and sign the plan, once updated, acting as agent for the Board. Mr. Milowe seconded the motion and the Board vote 4-0-1 (Hauser abstained) in favor of approval of the ANR Plan.

 

185 Edge Hill Road ANR

This ANR was filed on 12/13 with the Town Clerk. They want to create 2 lots on the property.  Mr. O’Cain said that two or three revisions have already been made. Mr. O’Cain referenced his 11/2/11 Plan Review of the property.

 

A discussion about this property ensued. After reviewing the map, the engineer, Eric Dias, was instructed to produce a clearer locus map, provide a GIS map of the wetlands, provide a PDF of the new plan, leave the easement in the drawing and obtain a letter from Attorney Gelerman regarding the use of Mont Fern as legal frontage.

 

Ms. Bingham moved to deny without prejudice the ANR Plan for 185 Edge Hill Road to create two ANR lots for the plan dated 10/6/11 and revised 11/3/11.  Mr. Milowe seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0-0 in favor of denial.

 

The engineer will come back to the 1/4/12 meeting.

 

 

 

257 South Walpole Street ANR Plan

The purpose of this ANR is because the land owner wants to build another house on the property. The location has already been approved by the Board of Health. A discussion ensued. The Board requested that a note about the scenic roadway bylaw be added to the plan.

 

Mr. Milowe moved to approve the ANR Plan for 257 South Walpole Street dated 3/30/11 as approval not required under the subdivision control law and that a note about the scenic roadway bylaw is added. Peter O’Cain is authorized to sign the document as agent of the Board. Ms. Bingham seconded the motion and the Board voted 5-0-0 in favor of approval.

 

Bella Estates

Mr. O’Cain said that no permits have been issued recently. It is passed the deadline to remove the soil pile. The detention basin was cleaned this week and the level spreader is scheduled for next week.  No abutter mitigation letters have been signed.

 

Ms. Bingham thinks the Planning Board looks unresponsive to the abutters because their requests have not been satisfied.

 

Mr. O’Cain said that plantings cannot be done now so do we make them wait to get permits or get contracts for plantings in the spring. He also stated that there is a bond on the property but offsite mitigation measures are not included within the bond.

 

A question arose as to who the actual owner of the property is. Mr. Milowe questioned why Mr. Intoccia is signing the agreements if he is not the owner.  Mr. O’Cain said he is unsure who the owner is and will invite them to attend the next Planning Board meeting on 1/4/12 to answer the Board’s questions.

 

Mr. Milowe asked Mr. O’Cain if he is tracking the abutter agreements against home sales and Mr. O’Cain said he is and will provide the Board with an update.

 

Minutes 11/22/11

Ms. Bingham moved to approve the 11/22/11 minutes with minor changes. Mr. Milowe seconded the motion and the Board voted 4-0-1(Hauser) in favor of approval.

 

Next Meeting Dates

1/18, 2/1, 2/15, 2/29, 3/14, 3/28, 4/11, 4/25, 5/9

 

Other

1. Ms. Price said she spoke with the MAPC regarding adult entertainment zoning article information and that the MAPC will follow up. 

 

2. The Board briefly discussed the possibility of Foxboro having a casino. Ms. Bingham suggested that the Board needs to decide if they want to weigh in on it as a Board.  Ms. Price noted that the MAPC is going to issue a press release shortly regarding the casino.

 

Adjournment

Ms. Bingham moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:55 PM and Mr. Milowe seconded the motion. The Board voted 5-0-0 in favor of adjournment.