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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-24 Master Plan Implementation Committee MINUTES: MASTER PLAN IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE: SEPTEMBER 24,2020 In Attendance(via Google Meet and telephone): Members Chris Nobile, Stan Limpert,Jay Dowd, Meredith Barnes-Cook, Hollie Williams, Kelly Cormier,Jonathan Strauss,and George Koehler; Staff: Andrew Shapiro (Director of Community and Economic Development),Jean Enright(Planning Director), and Dan Beckley(Staff Planner) Absent: Member Lou Napoli The meeting began at 5:01pm and just prior to being called to order,Andrew Shapiro began to read aloud the following statement: Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 121 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law,G.L. c. 30A, §18, and the Governor's March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place,this meeting of the Master Plan Implementation Committee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. Specific information and the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and/or parties with a right and/or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the Town's website, at .n o r.-th a n erm a g.g.y. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to watch the meeting may do so on their televisions by tuning to Comcast Channel 99 or Verizon Channel 28 or online at .n rth n rc irn it . No in- person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time,via technological means. In the event that we are unable to do so, despite best efforts,we will post on the Town of North Andover website an audio or video recording,transcript, or other comprehensive record of proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. If the public would like to participate in public hearings please email your question/comment comment prior to or during the meetingto sh it n rthan rm .The q p g question/comment will be read during the proceedings and responded to accordingly. Andrew Shapiro then introduced the Town's new Staff Planner, Dan Beckley, and noted that Mr. Beckley would be working closely with the Committee on advancing Master Plan priorities. Approval of imlinutes fr ,, t...............................................................................................0............................./............ .................................................................in .9 MOTION: Stan Limpert made a motion to accept the minutes of the 8/20/2020,Jay Dowd seconded the motion. Vote:8-0. Election of Officers MOTION: Stan Limpert made a motion to nominate Kelli Cormier as Chair of the Master Plan Implementation Committee,Jay Dowd seconded the motion. Vote:8-0. MOTION: Kelly Cormier made a motion to nominate Stan Limpert as Vice-Chair of the Master Plan Implementation Committee,Jay Dowd seconded the motion. Vote: 8-0. The Committee agreed generally,to rotate recording secretaries at each meeting. Andrew Shapiro volunteered to take minutes for this meeting. Review and Discussion of Master Plain it i r h t inNotes Mr. Shapiro reviewed updates that he and Ms. Enright had made to the spreadsheet since the Committee's last meeting. He explained that a "notes" column had been added,to provide details or context for any strategies that had seen some level of progress. He noted also that color coding had been added. Orange to denote strategies that have seen some level of progress occur or are perhaps are in the beginning stages of being addressed, and green to denote strategies that are complete or have seen significant progress made toward completion. Notes shaded in gray are ones having to do with strategies that require DPW oversight; some of them have made progress, others have not. Mr. Shapiro then went through some of the strategies on the spreadsheet that he and Ms. Enright highlighted as having been completed or substantially complete: • "Develop a vision for maximizing the potential of the Stevens Estate"—The Board of Selectmen appointed the Long Term Advisory Committee,which has issued a recommendation to issue an RFP for operation of the Estate. All land to be preserved. • "Create a Master Plan Implementation Committee" • "Review the Osgood Smart Growth Overlay District and update the Zoning Bylaw to ensure the district encourages the types of uses that are attractive in today's market and consistent with the direction of this Master Plan." - In 2019 Town Meeting voted to rescind Osgood Smart Growth Overlay District. Since then, a project to bring a 3.8M sf Amazon distribution and warehouse facility to property was approved by local land use boards. • "Hire a consultant to evaluate and recommend possible streetscape improvements along Main Street and Water Street." -The Town hired Beta Group, Inc.to undertake a Downtown Improvement Master Plan • "Evaluate the effectiveness of changing zoning along Main Street to vary front setbacks to provide additional space for wider sidewalks, enhanced landscaping, and pedestrian gathering spaces." -This is being evaluated as part of the Town's Downtown Improvement Master Planning process Ms. Cormier questioned the way in which it is decided whether a strategy has been completed and whether it was within the authority of the Committee to do so. Mr. Limpert agreed that the issue should be discussed at some point, as well as the larger issue of the Committee's overall authority and mission. He noted that he feels that the Committee, like the Finance Committee, is advisory in nature. Mr. Koehler offered that perhaps staff or stakeholders identified as being responsible for strategies could indicate to the Committee whether a strategy had been completed,and the Committee could then evaluate whether or not they agreed with that assessment. Mr. Shapiro reiterated that the Committee has a formal mission statement and that the Committee would be responsible for reporting out progress on Master Plan implementation to the Board of Selectmen on a quarterly basis. Mr. Strauss questioned whether the Committee had the authority and/or charge to be "a check" on boards and commissions that evaluate or approve projects, and whether the projects being approved are in fact in line with the Master Plan. Mr.Shapiro responded by saying that he does not believe the Committee has that authority or charge, but rather, should focus on higher level policy,such as prioritizing strategies that will effect wholesale changes (i.e. zoning, economic development, sustainability, and the like). Mr. Nobile pointed out that the Master Plan's goals are in line with goals laid out by Town Departments. The Committee then began to discuss efforts to prioritize the Master Plan's strategies. Ms. Barnes-Cook led the conversation by noting that she, Mr. Limpert, and Mr. Dowd had discussed how the Committee should think about prioritization. She noted that they each brought different perspectives as to why and how certain strategies should be prioritized over others. Cost and benefit for each strategy will need to be quantified, in order to better understand the value proposition of pursuing certain strategies over others. Ms. Barnes-Cook then explained that the Committee may think about whether the Master Plan "breathes" and specifically referenced Amazon and Royal Crest as two larger projects that could potentially need to be addressed specifically in the Plan in some way. Mr. Shapiro responded by expressing his view that the Master Plan is more or less set, and that although the Committee can suggest ways to tackle strategies or overarching goals in new ways, it should not change the Plan. Any changes to future goals and strategies could be the result of a new master planning process. Mr. Limpert then presented a spreadsheet that he developed,which is based off of the spreadsheet that Mr. Shapiro and Ms. Enright had discussed. Mr. Limpert added new columns to the spreadsheet,which among other things, provided numerical values to timeframe, level of effort, and financial resources. He explained the rational for the assigning of values to these columns and explained that the figures denoted in these columns, if added together for respective strategies,would denote a "value"that could be derived for each strategy. Higher values represent strategies that are more expensive, harder to accomplish, and/or will take more time;the reverse is true for strategies with lower values assigned to them with this scoring. This could assist the Committee in prioritizing the strategies. Mr. Limpert suggested that the spreadsheet be disseminated to Committee Members so that they can evaluate whether this is an effective way to prioritize Master Plan strategies. Mr. Nobile pointed out that another factor with respect to assigning value to strategies is whether they cut across additional strategies, which creates"multipliers." Mr. Strauss suggested that the Committee may want to consider breaking off into separate groups to tackle different categories and each work on prioritization of a single category. Committee Members broadly agreed that this would be a good strategy; Mr. Limpert and Ms. Cormier agreed to reach out to Members to organize them into sub- groups. Ms. Cormier suggested that the Committee should further discuss its"guardrails" (i.e. its overall charge and what implications that has on the types of actions it should take moving forward). Mr. Shapiro agreed to outline what he sees as the Committee's overall activities and charge and would then pass that analysis on to Ms. Cormier for consideration and potential discussion at a future meeting. Mr. Dowd began to explain the idea behind a "story telling" aspect to highlighting certain Master Plan strategies and prioritizing them. Due to technical difficulties, he was forced to temporarily leave the meeting. Ms. Barnes-Cook resumed the conversation on his behalf by sharing something Mr. Dowd had written up as a story, regarding his perspective on affordable housing. Mr. Dowd returned and resumed the conversation, noting that his story example outlines the benefits of overcoming the 10%affordable housing threshold,which would enable the Town to have more control over future housing project proposals, in terms of appearance, size, and scale. This would ultimately be beneficial to the Town, in his view. Ms. Cormier expressed her appreciation for the story concept and how it could be a significant part of the Committee's overall communication plan with respect to the Master Plan. Ms. Cormier summarized some of her thoughts on where the Committee should be focused, noting first that it is a long-term,forward-thinking group. She noted that in the near term,the Committee should focus on strategy prioritization, communicating progress to the public(storytelling being part of that), the "operating model" and what is the Committee's charge and bounds, and the idea of whether the Master Plan is malleable in any way—whether it changes. Mr. Limpert inquired about the Committee's responsibility in terms producing a quarterly report about its progress. Mr. Shapiro said that he would draft the Committee's first report for its review at the next meeting in October. Adjournment: MOTION: Jay Dowd made a motion to adjourn,Jonathan Strauss seconded the motion. Vote: 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 6:55PM