Town of Sharon Planning Board

Meeting Minutes of 3/11/09

Amended and Approved on 3/25/09

 

Planning Board Attendees

Arnold Cohen, Chair 

Susan Price

Paul Lauenstein, Vice Chair - absent

Amanda Sloan  

Eli Hauser, Clerk 

 

 

Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer, Consultant - absent

 

Attendees

None

 

 

Meeting Initiation/Chair’s Report

Chair Cohen began the meeting began at 7:45 PM by reading the Chair’s Report.

 

1.  Mr. Cohen told the Board that authorization was received from the Attorney General confirming acceptance of Article 4 (Sharon Commons Smart Growth Overlay District – 40R) from the Fall Town Meeting.

 

2.  The Board discussed the expenditure of $40.00 for Mr. Lauenstein to attend a conference on regulatory drivers of Low Impact Development sponsored by the Environmental Business Council of New England on April 16th.  Mr. Hauser moved to authorize expenditure of $40.00 for Mr. Lauenstein to attend the LID conference. The Board voted 4-0-0 in favor (Mr.  Lauenstein was absent).

 

Form A

None

 

Sign Reviews

None

 

Sign Bylaws

Ms. Price reported that she and Mr. O’Cain met with Town Clerk, Marlene Chused, to discuss the Sign Bylaws and the fact that the version posted online with the Zoning Bylaws differs from that posted in the General Bylaws.  Ms. Levitts was instructed to delete the Sign Bylaws from the online version of the Zoning Bylaws and to note that they are available as part of the General Bylaws. It will be up to the Clerk to decide if the next reprint of the Zoning Bylaws will include the Sign Bylaws, but if the reprint does include it, there should be a clear note to indicate that this is reprinted from the General Bylaws for convenience only and that the Sign Bylaws are not part of the Zoning Bylaws. The Town Clerk maintains the official version of the Sign Bylaws. Ms. Price analyzed the Clerk’s version of the Sign Bylaws within the General Bylaws and noted several housekeeping errors as well as missing items which she will discuss with Clerk Chused as well as Attorney Amara of Dick Gelerman’s office.

 

Economic Development Committee

Mr. Cohen reported that both he and Mr. Lauenstein attended the Economic Development Committee meeting. He raised the issue of what the role of the Planning Board would be in this process.

 

Mr. Hauser reported that, as for the next steps, reports were sent out to all Town boards containing the group’s findings. During the next year, the Economic Development Committee will be gathering opinions and presenting its additional findings to the Selectmen. He said that ultimately someone has to say ‘yes’ in order to proceed.

 

Mr. Hauser discussed the alternatives for the wastewater treatment plant.  The key dependency on the largest system, 150,000 gpd, is Hunter’s Ridge; and we should know in a month or so if a system located on that property might be possible. A 150,000 gpd system would support both the needs for PO Square as well as potentially between 150 and 300 homes, depending on the number of bedrooms.

The Planning Board does not need to get involved with this issue as it relates to the septic field. Mr. Cohen asked if an amendment to the CSD Bylaw would be needed if Hunter’s Ridge agrees to donate land for the septic system in exchange for being allowed to build units that are not aged restricted. Mr. Hauser said no Planning Board action is needed until a decision on the Hunter’s Ridge ownership becomes clear. Mr. Hauser also said that he called Attorney Gelerman’s office, and discussed with Attorney Gelerman the various options that might be possible in order to both allow Intoccia, if they were to purchase the land, to build to their objectives while possibly providing 4 acres to the Town for a leaching field. The sole dependency is a decision to share land on Hunter’s Ridge. As of today it’s not on the agenda timeline. There are other sites for the Economic Development Committee to study.

 

Additionally, Mr. Hauser recommends using the Kendall Funds to solicit bids for amendments to the Zoning Bylaws for Post Office Square– such as permitted uses, parking requirements, setbacks, etc. and to possibly create two different zones in Post Office Square. This process would involve the Planning Board. He said he wants to use the Kendall Square Funds to pay for rezoning and potentially a 40R study.  

 

Mr. Hauser said perhaps a park could potentially be built on the one acre lot at the Wilbur School.

 

Mr. Cohen said that using the Hunter’s Ridge land for a wastewater treatment facility for P.O. Square in exchange for reducing the number of age qualified units as required by the current CSD by-law would involve a change in the bylaws and a public hearing would be required for the project.  He said the wastewater project will be expensive and asked who will be paying for it. Mr. Hauser recommends grants and betterments. Mr. Cohen said there may be opposition from the neighbors to the betterments. Mr. Hauser said a discussion needs to take place.

 

Ms. Sloan questioned what type of building would be created for the treatment plant and Mr. Hauser said a 10 x 10 or 20 x 20 building was what was described as the size needed for a wastewater treatment plant.   

 

Ms. Sloan said the problem for the Economic Development Committee is with visualization of changes. People are afraid of what something might look like. As the center of Town is visually getting worse, people are afraid of something worse happening to the Town Center; more congested, and uglier. She suggested that it would be useful to get a series of drawings of what the proposals would look like. Mr. Hauser agreed with her suggestion.

 

In summary, Mr. Hauser suggested that the Planning Board take the lead on funding the zoning topics. Ms. Sloan said as the center of Town is close to the Lake she wants to make sure there is a meaningful and possibly visual connection. She said we may need the Historical Commission to get involved. Mr. Hauser suggested creating a Town map and sign posts.

 

Ms. Sloan also suggested the Town think about shuttle buses between the neighborhoods and Town Center similar to the LexExpress that exists in Lexington.

 

Meeting Minutes

Ms. Sloan moved to approve the minutes of 2/4/09 as amended. Ms. Price seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0-0 (Mr. Lauenstein was absent).

 

Mr. Hauser moved to approve the minutes of 2/25/09 as amended. Ms. Sloan seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0-0 (Mr. Lauenstein was absent).

 

 

Meeting dates

3/25/09, 4/15/09, 4/29/09

 

Meeting Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM. Mr. Hauser moved to close the meeting and Ms. Sloan seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0-0 in favor (Mr. Lauenstein was absent).