BELLINGHAM
PLANNING BOARD
5
COMMON STREET
BELLINGHAM,
MASSACHUSETTS 02019
(508) 966-0991; FAX
(508) 966-2317
PlanningBoard@bellinghamma.org
March 9, 2006 Meeting Minutes
·
Present at the meeting:
Roland R. Laprade
(RRL), Chair
Brian J. Sutherland
(BJS) Vice Chair
Glenn C. Wojcik
(GCW), Secretary
Edward W. Guzowski,
(EWG),
Thomas J. Guerin
(TJG),
Kate Buyuk (KB)
Alternate
Other officials: Stacey J. Wetstein, (SJW) Town Planner
Amy Cook, (AC),
Commission on Disabilities
Mary Chaves,
(MC) Coordinator
RRL opened the
meeting at 7:00 PM.
BJS: Motion to sign
the minutes, February 23, 2006.
TJG: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
BJS: Motion to sign
the vouchers.
TJG: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
South Maple Street Business Center
decision signing
BJS had
given his okay on the plans submitted. . SJW advised the Board that there were
two versions of the decision for their review.
The one written by SJW used square footage and building use to determine
the allowable amount of parking. The
other written by Mr. Maggiore had phrasing relating parking spaces with the
regulations in effect at the time of the decision signing. SJW felt that this was too vague and the
Board agreed. Mr. Maggiore will also
provide documentation to SJW that all conditions of the decision have been met.
TJG: Motion to sign decision written by SJW for
South Maple Street Business Center.
BJS: Second.
Vote: 5-0,
Approved.
Walgreens discussion
Attorney
Joseph Antonellis appeared on behalf of the applicant. The original plans submitted reflected the
clearing of the area in back of the site for reserve parking. They would like to change the plan to remove
6 feet of pavement from the lot in back of the building and put a retaining wall
there to reduce the slope and the amount of fill required. A reduction in
sidewalk width from 7 to 6 feet wide was requested as well.
They would
also like to move the storm water drainage systems to areas closer to the
roadway for easier maintenance.
Lastly,
they would like to lower the site elevation by 2 feet to reduce the amount of
fill required.
James
Alamonte and Mike Scott from Waterman Design reviewed the site considerations
regarding these requests. The drainage calculations will not change and the
system size remains the same. There is
still 39 feet wide pavement around the building and that will accommodate
emergency vehicles. The
six-foot wide sidewalks will not impede handicap accessibility. Additionally the storm water will be kept on
site and there will be no spill over from Mechanic Street on to the site.
TJG asked about fencing by the drop off in back of the
building. Mr. Scott replied that they
would abide by the building code for the fence and that he believed a six-foot
fence would be required by the building code.
RRL commented that the price of loam must be really high.
GCW was concerned that the request in the plan changes were
truly due to an inadequate amount of loam on the site, as opposed to the
applicant removing loam from the site. The applicant assured the board that no
additional loam was being removed from the site.
The Board discussed possible impacts of the site changes and
concluded that the applicant did not need an additional review based on their
proposed changes.
BJS: Motion to accept
the changes proposed for Walgreens for the following:
Width
of sidewalk on south and east side
Location
of storm water drainage system
2
foot decrease on site elevation
Elimination
of the reserve parking.
GCW: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
Street acceptance
SJW informed the
Board that Don DiMartino has no problem with recommending acceptance upon
approval by the DPW to the Board of Selectmen as he feels the major aspects of
the road are completed.
TJG: Motion to recommend street acceptance of
pending acceptance from the DPW
BJS: Second
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
Daprato, 1-lot subdivision, Irene Court
Attorney Rob Knapik
appreared on behalf of the applicant. Gregory Valadoin Andrews survey and
engineering.
He has provided a new
set of plans and a letter stating that the applicant has approval to build a
driveway on the gas easement. Mike Graf
of the Board of Health also sent correspondence to SJW confriming that the site
for well and septic met his approval.
RRL commented that
the Zoning Board of Appeals should never have granted the waivers to the
applicant to make this lot a building lot and that this put the Planning Board
in an awkward position. TJG and BJS
both agreed that this project should never have made it to the Planning Board
in the first place, but that waivers had been granted and the applicant had
provided the Planning Board with all it asked so the Planning Board was left
with little option, GCW agreed.
TJG: Motion to draft a favorable decision for
Daprato, Irene Court subdivision.
GCW: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
Planner’s Report
SJW informed the Board that she had spoken with Marilyn Mathieu regarding a temporary increase in salary for MC while SJW was out on leave. Since MC would be managing the office and taking on additional responsibilities it would be up to the Board to decide on compensation. SJW and MC would work out the details of SJW’s transition back to the office as well.
TJG asked for both MC
and SJW hourly rate and calculate a middle figure.
TJG: Motion to increase the coordinator hourly
rate to $23.00 per hour during SJW leave, not to exceed the payroll budget.
EWG: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
SJW also told the
Board that she had drafted a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)
regarding Lakeview Estates, 40B. She forwarded
the letter to the ZBA counsel for review, but he had no additional
comments. She will send the draft out
tomorrow for Planning Board review and comments and get it to the ZBA before the next hearing date.
RRL stated that since
the applicant owned the abutting parcel and planned to build 113 homes there
according to current zoning standards and incorporate connecting roads between
the two, that the developer spead his project over these two parcels which
would still give him about 30 more homes than allowed by zoning and it would still be economically
feasable. The homes would also be more
marketable with less density and the impact to the surrounding areas would be greatly
diminished.
BJS: Motion to
adjourn.
TJG: Second.
Vote: 5-0, Approved.
Minutes
Accepted on: _______________________
______________________________________
(date) (prepared
by: Mary Chaves)
__________________________________________ ______________________________________
Roland
R. Laprade Brian
J. Sutherland
__________________________________________ ______________________________________
Edward
W. Guzowski Glenn
Wojcik
__________________________________________
Thomas
J. Guerin