BELLINGHAM
(508) 966-0991; FAX
(508) 966-2317
PlanningBoard@bellinghamma.org
May
24, 2007 Meeting Minutes
·
Present at the meeting:
Brian J. Sutherland
(BJS) Chair
Glenn C. Wojcik
(GCW), Vice Chair
Stephen Bartha (SB)
Secretary
David Brown (DB)
Thomas J. Guerin
(TJG),
Patricia Buckley
(PMB)
Other officials: Stacey J. Wetstein, (SJW) Town Planner
Amy Cook, (AC),
Commission on Disabilities
Mary Chaves,
(MC) Coordinator
BJS opened the
meeting at
DB: Motion
to sign minutes of
SB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
DB: Motion
to sign vouchers.
GCW:
Second:
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
Town of
Andy Rodenhiser,
Chairman of the Medway PB and Gino Carlucci, consultant and board member of the
MAPC appeared before the Board. They had
a meeting with the Secretary of Economic Development and he suggested they work
collaboratively with neighboring towns to secure grant monies.
SB
commented that it seemed like a good idea to work together. Mr. Rodenheiser agreed that they had not
quite defined what they hoped to achieve.
Shoppes at
GCW: Motion to waive reading of public notice.
SB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
BJS asked
to hold off until the old business was concluded. The proponent agreed.
Tim Jones Highridge Update
Tim Jones
appeared before the Board to review the progress he had made in providing
documentation requested by the Board at the advice of the DPW for the
subdivision roadways. Attorney Ambler
had advised SJW that he has seen the draft deed and the signed deeds should be
ready next week and would be held by attorneys.
The entire
project should be wrapped up in September.
Shoppes at
Bob Frazier,
VP of Development for WS Development Associates appeared before the Board and
introduced his project team. WS
currently has approximately 70 shopping centers in
Project
Team: Amy McGrath, Marc Lavoie Dave
Albrecht, civil engineer, Rick Bryant, traffic Mr. Doherty traffic team, Dave
Hudson, civil engineer, Ann Machinery, wetland scientist (not present).
Mr. Frazier
presented an overview the company, the history of the project and examples of
Life Style centers. He added that fiscal
benefit analysis will be shared with the Board moving forward.
Rick
Bryant, Traffic Engineer addressed the Board concerning traffic. It will take a
lot of group to resolve issues,
.A
breakdown of various intersections pre and post development was presented along
with the level of service reviewed and other elements of the traffic
study. Potential traffic mitigation was
discussed including the reworking of the Hartford Avenue/495 interchange and
the Town center. The peer review of
their traffic study has not been completed, so there was not enough information
to get into detailed conversations
Dave
Albrecht, civil engineer, talked about the site itself, parking, lighting and
landscaping overviews. The project itself is broken down into two projects a
new roadway on to route 126 and the site itself. The site is a total of 145 acres from
Dave
reviewed some of the drainage plans, but again, the engineering peer review is
not complete so conversations were not in depth. SJW stated that the MEPA
letter has recommended a low impact design element. Mr. Albrecht commented that
they were well versed in this technology, and would look into it where
applicable.
Drainage
for site itself will be captured and discharged under the parking lot. .Roof
water and pavement runoff will be treated and directed under the parking lot.
They plan for the roadway runoff on their proposed roadway to
All
wastewater will be treated on site in a wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant will be underground-all
that is visible is the building itself. The disposal fields are below grade and
level of treatment is significant. Water
discharged into the ground will be acceptable to the DEP and our DPW. The leaching fields will be moved further
away from Town well. All utilities will be under ground
Landscape
plans will be provided but at this time just some basic info on landscaping is
available because they have not designed the buildings yet. Approximately 300
trees and 2500 planted shrubs will be planted not including potted trees and
plants.
Period
lighting will be used throughout the Main Streets and safety lighting
throughout. The light will not leave the
property. They may require a waiver on
the landscaping but are not sure yet.
They will
be seeking three permits, Development Plant Review, Water Resource Special
Permit and Special Permit for Major Commercial Development.
PB addressed
her concerns regarding the bypass road and it’s proximately to the Circle CG
Campground, and its potential safety issue and its overall effect on the
Mr. Frasier
commented that he had met with the owners and that it was wetlands that
dictated the roadway there. Fencing will be provided and the design would be
such to minimize impact. He further
stated that they had met with Town Officials and that the Board of Selectmen
had given them tentative support on that roadway five years ago.
GCW asked
about the intersections that had been studied and the number of accidents. He
also wanted to know how close they were in their estimates of traffic impacts
on
Mr. Frasier
further stated that there is a grant program called the
GCW asked
about the “cross pollination” of shoppers from one area to another and wondered
about impact of being so close to
DB asked
about studies for December traffic and felt his question was answered but
wanted to restate. The reply was that
you can’t build roadways based on 12 days a year or so.
SB asked
about the comment in their application “WS actively pursuing alignment of intersection
to encourage people to use access road” Traffic path explained-heading N the
road would curve into the bypass road and the rest of the intersection would be
a T. A review of the intended access
road off of
PB asked if
there were some way to have access road without affecting the center of the
town.
BJS asked
to update the plans to reflect current conditions and suggested an additional
lane on the ramp from 495. He also asked
that development in abutting communities be looked at to be included in the
traffic study. He agrees with PB and
does not want entrance so close to the center in a residential area. He stated
that traffic calming measures for
Peter
Morelli,
Residents’
comments include:
Richard
Kruger, Sunset Court, said the developer “bristled with each request and that
the argument was money vs. traffic.
Nancy
Bland,
Dawn
Davies,
Rob Daily
129 N Main St feels the bypass is a bad idea
Jeff
Duhaime,
Jim Dunlea,
Peter Daily
131N
DB Motion
to continue the Shoppes at Bellingham Development Plan Review to
SB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
SB: Motion
to continue the Shoppes at Bellingham Major Business Special Permit public
hearing to
DB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
SB: Motion
to continue the Shoppes at Bellingham Special Permit for Water Resource
District public hearing to
DB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
SB: Motion
to accept request to extend decision deadline to
DB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
PB: Motion
to adjourn.
DB: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
.
Minutes
Accepted on: _______________________
______________________________________
(date) (prepared
by: Mary Chaves)
__________________________________________ ______________________________________
Stephen
Bartha Brian J.
Sutherland
__________________________________________ ______________________________________
David
Brown Glenn
Wojcik
__________________________________________
Patricia
M. Buckley