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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-11 Master Plan Implementation Committee Minutes MINUTES: MASTER PLAN IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE: April 11,2022 In Attendance(via Google Meet and telephone): Members Jonathan Strauss (Chair), Stan Limpert, Chris Nobile, Sean McDonough, Hollie Williams, George Koehler, Meredith Barnes-Cook and Eitan Goldberg Absent:James Dowd Staff:Andrew Shapiro (Director of Community and Economic Development),Jean Enright (Planning Director), and Dan Beckley(Staff Planner) Immediately prior to calling the meeting to order at S:OOpm,Jonathan Strauss read aloud the following statement: Pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, this meeting of the Master Plan Implementation Committee will be conducted via remote means. 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 www.northandoverma.gov. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to watch the meeting may do so on their televisions by tuning to Comcast Channel 8 or Verizon Channel 26 or online at www.northandovercam.org. 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 meetings, please email your question/comment prior to or during the meeting to jstrauss@northandoverma.gov. The question/comment will be read during the proceedings and responded to accordingly. Note that North Andover CAM experienced technical difficulties during the recording of this meeting. As such,the first half of the meeting was not recorded and thus not available for transcription. A portion of the following is cited from offhand notes and recollection. Public Comment Jon Strauss asked Andrew Shapiro if he had received any comments from the public. Mr. Shapiro said that no comments had been submitted yet. Mr. Strauss had not received any either. Approval of minutes from the March 14,2022 meeting A number of members expressed wanting to abstain a vote on the minutes, due to not having attended the previous meeting or reviewing the recording of it. The Members decided to table the minutes until the next meeting. Discussion regarding Master Plan Implementation Status Report& Master Plan Implementation Website Discussion centered around the fact that the report and website were up to date with available information. A motion was made to go live with the website, including a public announcement from Town staff via email. The motion was seconded and was passed unanimously in the affirmative. Review,discussion and potential vote on quarterly progress report A draft quarterly progress report for Q1 of 2022 was presented to the committee for review and discussion. A motion was made to accept the report. The motion was seconded and was passed unanimously in the affirmative. Updates regarding Planning Board &Select Board recommendations relative to Royal Crest Redevelopment related warrants A brief discussion was held to provide the MPIC with updates as to the Planning Board's&Select Board's recommendations relative to Royal Crest Redevelopment related warrants. Discussion and potential vote on presentation of prior MPIC evaluation of Royal Crest Proiect at Town Meeting A brief discussion was held regarding the potential to present the MPIC's evaluation of the Royal Crest project at Town Meeting. Rather than make an actual presentation, Andrew Shapiro suggested that the MPIC draft a letter to the Town presenting their findings. He also noted that an updated matrix of strategies scored against the Royal Crest project would be presented at the next meeting for the Committee's consideration. Presentation of MPIC Annual/Quarterly Status Report at Town Meeting A brief discussion was held regarding the potential to present the MPIC's quarterly and/or annual report at Town Meeting. Andrew Shapiro noted that this would not be the best place for it and that we should not proceed with the idea. Discussion Regarding Revisions to the MPIC's Evaluation Matrix for the Royal Crest Redevelopment Proiect Prior to this discussion, Meredith Barnes-Cook and George Koehler left the meeting so as to avoid conflicts of interest given that they abut the Royal Crest project. Andrew Shapiro then led a discussion citing each of the applicable Master Plan strategies that were previously identified in the MPIC's initial evaluation conducted in March 2021 and whether or not the determinations needed revision. [The North Andover CAM recording began midway through the discussion of Strategy#12.] Strategy#12: Hollie Williams: Housing demand has shifted in town,given ongoing construction projects. Eitan Goldberg: Avalon & Minco projects have not been built yet. Hollie: But they are in construction. Jean Enright: Strategy calls out senior and affordable demand. Princeton has 4 vacant units, Berry Farms 98%occupied. Demand is there. Will Avalon & Minco meet that demand?Will find out. Royal Crest's market analysis says demand is there. Andrew Shapiro: Anyone want to make a motion to change from positive rating or revise the notes? Stan Limpert: Still addresses senior and affordable housing. Strategy#15 Andrew: Much has been done since the initial review.Town has conducted sewer analysis, watershed plan revisions, water supply analysis,traffic studies, etc.The development agreement calls for traffic monitoring for potential mitigation of adverse impacts. Hollie:Were school and public safety impacts studied? Eitan &Stan:Yes. No adverse impact Andrew: I'll highlight this strategy-we (Andrew and/or Jean) should revise to reflect updates and MPIC should vote on accepting changes at next meeting(before TM) [Chris departs meeting] Strategy#18 Andrew: Hasn't changed. All agree Strategy#20 Andrew: question was was it consistent with the character of the community Jon Strauss: No idea what the commercial definition is at this juncture. Nothing has been determined. Andrew: Other than the hotel component. Jon:Too open-ended to warrant a change in status Stan & Hollie:Agree Strategy#21 Andrew: Unchanged Strategy#25 Andrew: Unchanged Strategy#29 Andrew: Unchanged Strategy#31 Andrew: You currently say N/A.There is a planned walking trail connection to the Franklin School. Jon: Relative to the Town's sidewalk connectivity plan, how does this match up with it? Jean: Only portion is the stretch of Hillside Road from Chestnut Street to the strip mall. Dan: Rt. 114 ws a high priority, but not included because MassDOT is including it. Agree to leave as-is. Strategy#36 No discussion Strategy#38 Andrew: Unchanged Strategy#40 Andrew: Project now preserves additional mature trees along frontage than was originally presented. Buildings set back more as well.This is essentially unchanged Strategy#41 Andrew: We don't have a firm position here. Jon:The big takeaway is that the potential traffic impacts fall on RC and not on MassDOT as the plan is not approved. Can't tell if it's positive, negative or neutral at this point. Andrew: Let's revisit, but should take a position, possibly neutral or N/A. Jon: It's definitely applicable, but should be neutral as we don't have enough info yet. Eitan:There are some benefits, but there will be more traffic. Hard to call at the moment. Jon:There are positives and negatives,just don't know how much at this point. Andrew: I'll keep it neutral. I'll highlight and work with Jean to add additional notes to be approved at the next meeting. Strategy#57 Andrew:There are more provisions in the development agreement. I can update. Jon:Take out the "nothing definitive as of yet" line, since we have more development. Andrew: Can add more specifics. Keep as is. Strategy#65 Andrew: Project manager said paths will be ADA compliant. Let's revisit. Will confirm with the developer. Strategy#69 Andrew:There are no existing fields at Royal Crest, so it's not negative nor positive. Jon: Public green would be available for public use, so do we change the language? It's not intended to be a recreational complex. Andrew: It's specific to recreational fields, so stays neutral. Jean: Substitute "residents"for the public. Andrew: remove the word "only". Strategy#80 Stan: Nothing's changed. Hollie: Spoke with the Festival Committee, nothing has changed. Strategy#81 Andrew: Nothing has changed, but the number of senior housing units has been reduced. Andrew: In summary, we have 11 positives, no negatives,few N/A and some neutrals. Hollie: In line 16 (Strategy#41), 1 want to note they are not putting in a pedestrian overpass. It's a safety concern. Andrew: In the pedestrian safety mitigation terms,there's a provision that if a pedestrian bridge is required, can use funding to draw down the cost. Sean McDonough: I agree with Hollie. Discussion Regarding Presenting Evaluation to Town Meeting Andrew: It's 6:06 pm.Jon and/or Stan should draft a letter to Town Meeting. Shouldn't come from staff. Jon: I'll provide a summary of our evaluation,then. I have something from last year's Town Meeting I can share with Stan. Stan: To the effect of: we've looked at it again, here's our current evaluation. Andrew: Not providing a recommendation on action like other boards Jon: An objective analysis Stan: An analysis of the project relative to the Master Plan. Jon: Next meeting, I will have draft correspondence to present to MPIC. Andrew: Should we keep meeting remotely or in-person?We can't have more than one person remote, and it can't be the Chair. Jon: Whatever works best for the group. Stan: At least one more virtual meeting before Town Meeting. Jon: Our next meeting will be remote. Andrew: Need to pick a date -5/2 or 5/9. Jean: We can't do 5/2. Andrew: 5/9 it is.There's a Select Board meeting that night as well, so we need to be cognizant of the time. Adiournment Jon: Request for a motion to adjourn. Stan: So motioned. Hollie: Seconded. Motion was unanimous in the affirmative.