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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-03PlanningBoardMinutes Senior Center December 3, 1996 Members Present: Joseph V. Mahoney, Chairman, Alberto Angles, Associate Member, Richard Rowen arrived at 7:03 p.m., John Simons arrived at 7:26 p.m. Alison Lescarbeau arrived at 8:15 p.m., Richard Nardella was absent. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. Minutes Continued until next meeting December 17, 1996. Discussion Salem Forest IV - discussion Dominic Scalise, representing Salem Forest IV asked the Board if they would consider changing the 6 lot subdivision to a 5 lot subdivision. Ms. Colwell stated that the Board's only concern was the number.of lots, everything else was fine. There was a discussion of whether the Board can reopen the public hearing or whether a new public hearing is required. It was decided to open a new public hearing. Mr. Rowen asked when they were going to start if this did get approved, and if two weeks to advertise the new public hearing would hurt them in any way. The Board agreed to waive the filing fees. Ms. Colwell stated that they had until December 7, 1996 to meet the deadline for the January 7 PRDs & Septic systems- letter from Bd. Of Health Ms. Colwell read a letter from Sandra Starr. Ms. Starr is requesting that the Planning Board consider requiring PRDs, in which septic systems are proposed for the management of sewage disposal, to have a minimum lot size requirement of ~ acre. Ms. Colwell suggested that Residential 1 (R-l) should have 1 acre lot size but that would have to be a Zoning change. The Crossroads - gate Ms. Colwell sent a memo asking for recommendations from the Traffic Advisory Committee, on the impact of leaving the crossroads gate open but, the Traffic Advisory Committee only meets once a month. We will have to wait to get an answer from the Traffic Advisory Committee with their recommendations before we go any further. Mr. Rowen suggested that he thought, if the gate is going to be kept open at all times, the gate should be used as an exit only Coventry I - bond update Ms. Colwell does not have an update at this time. Master Plan Committee - update Ms. Colwell stated that the neighborhood meetings have started. Mr. Rowen stated that his neighbor would like to set up a meeting but does not know what times they're set for. Ms. Colwell suggested contacting Maureen Hart who is coordinating the meetings. Hearings (7:30 p.m.): 200 Chickering Road (Rennies) - Site Plan Review Mr. Rowen read the legal notice to open the public hearings. Peter Shaheen was present representing Scott Companies for Old Town Village a 16,900 square foot retail subdivision. The property is located off of Rt. 125 (Rennies Florist) on 18 acres of land. Some of the types of businesses that have approached the applicant have been a hairdresser, Mailboxes Etc., and a travel agency. Mark Gross is the site engineer, he stated that there is no residential property involved. The property is zoned B-1 surrounded by R-5, R-4 and R-3 residential zonings. Rennies Florist will still occupy one unit, it will be the in the front of the building. There will be approximately nine units ranging from 2,000 to 1,000 SF in size. There will be a green pedestrian area in the front provided with landscaping. The existing vegetation in the rear of the building will be maintained to be supplemented with a 5' fence and landscaping to buffer the residential area. The original plan was to have two entrances and exits with one close to Farrwood. A revised plan will eliminate the driveway access adjacent to Farrwood Drive. The Technical Review Committee requested that compact car spaces be dispersed around the site, not clustered in one area and to disperse handicap parking spaces. Fire access will be provided around the building. There are no large delivery trucks anticipated. The elevation of the building will be broken up horizontally and vertically. There were concerns about storm water management and the catch basins and whether or not the drainage can be off site. The sewage will be pumped up to Rt. 125. The lighting will be 12' poles with down cast boxes, and low level pedestrian lights. Safety lights at the rear will be downcast over the doors. They produced a 2 cross section of the site. The roof line will create a false facade with roof top units hidden inside to buffer noise. An RDA was filed with ConCom however the applicant requested a continuance in order to produce soil testing to the ConCom. An ENF was filed with the state. A traffic study has been prepared. Town will hire an outside consultant to review. Mr. Simons asked why not orient the building towards Farrwood Drive. Rayner Cooke the architect, stated that the reason why they faced the orientation the way they did is because the sun faced the three sided greenhouse, also it was the best fit for the shape of the lot. Mr. Simons stated that he would like it to be oriented towards Farrwood, for example a gate or fence at the west end for pedestrian's to walk through to get to the shops. Mr. Gross stated that they are going to screen the site from the neighbors to make it as least intrusive as possible and consider pedestrian access if so desired. Mr. Rowen was concerned about where the drainage will go. Mr. Gross stated that the natural flow is towards Farrwood, but the plan channels the water to the opposite side of the lot. Ms. Colwell asked how they have designed the drainage. Mr. Gross stated that there is an underground system currently proposed, but is more expensive and is of high maintenance. Mr. Mahoney question what kind of materials they are planning to use. Mr. Cooke stated that they are going to use clapboard siding and brick with colonial style store fronts and wood doors. They will have carved wood signs with outside lights. There will be roofscape with dormers and windows to make a village theme. Mr. Rowen asked about the slope of the gables and commented that steep roofs are preffered. Mr. Simons is also concerned with the slope of the roof. Ms. Colwell suggests that they take a look at the slope of the roof at Osco Drug and check plans vs. actual. Mr. Dermot J. Kelly of Kelly & Associates, Inc. reviewed the traffic study. The counts that were done at the entrance of Farrwood and on Rt.ll4 estimated that 23,000 cars per day during the week pass the site. These studies were conducted during the hours of 7:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. and on Saturday during the hours of 11:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m. there were 17,000 cars. At the peak hours 1600 cars passed in the a.m. 1900 cars passed in the p.m. Saturday's peak hours showed 1300 cars passing. Some traffic growth needs to be assumed. There is only a 16' lane for entering traffic. There should be no planting on the site entrance and, there should also be stop signs at each exit. Mr. Mahoney asked about how much more traffic is going to be generated with the project. Joe Bolen, 27 Farrwood Avenue is concerned about the traffic volume in the a.m. and p.m. Peggy Walsh, 27 Farrwood Avenue is concerned about the traffic when she is trying to take a left turn in the a.m. out of Farrwood, she is also is concerned about the dumpsite pickup and snow removal. Hillary Cannor, 98 Edgelawn Drive #7, is concerned about the orientation of the building and the ability to rent the units at the end and is concerned about customers missing the entrance and turning around on Farrwood Drive. Mr. Cooke stated that not all retail tenants require visibility from the road. Mr. Gross explained that no one would be able to see the building if it were oriented towards Farrwood Drive. Mark Johnson, representing the Condominium Association, is concerned about the traffic and believes it should be revised with new entrances. Mr. Johnson also had concerns about the level of service increases in the future with the level of traffic. He also expressed some concern about the orientation of the building, and thought that the building should face Rt. 125 with a smaller project. Vera Curcio, 23 Edgelawn Drive, brought to the Boards attention that there was a denial for a building on the site of Rennies in the past, based on the problems with the traffic and stated that she will look into that more fully. Ms. Curcio also stated that she has checked with the State Department of Public Works and says they have received no information on this project. Ms. Curcio is against this project and feels that it will lower her property value and bring more problems to the adjacent properties. Ms. Curcio also stated that she was not informed about the meeting until a few days before. Jeff Cannor, 98 Edgelawn Drive, expressed some concern about the sign that would be placed in the front of the project. Mr. Gross stated that they would like to have an identifying sign at the entrance and will have a facade sign. They will be submitting a plan of the sign. Jim McCarthy, an abutter was concerned about the hours of operation. Mr. Bolero, was concerned about how long will the construction time be in affect. Mr. Gross stated that the approximate time on the construction would be about 4 months. Ms. Curcio submitted a letter to the Planning Board outlining her concerns. The letter will be placed in the Planning Board files. The public hearing was continued to the December 17, 1996 meeting. 476 Chickering Road (Sal's Pizza) - Site Plan Review Ms. Lescarbeau read the legal notice to open the public hearings. Jeffrey Brem the engineer, was present to represent Sal's Pizza at the intersection of Chickering Road & Main Street. They would like to tear down the existing Sal's Pizza and the barber shop near the middle school, to construct a new Sal's Pizza. The building's combined now have a total of 19 parking spaces and 3,000 sq. ft. They would like to retain one building to maintain operation. Sal received a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The newly constructed building would be 2,300 sq. ft. and have 28 parking spaces. There will be catch basins on site currently the storm water simply drains into the street. The traffic circulation will be better. They will have a mansard roof, with dormers. The building will have brick face and columns in the front. The entrance will be on Park Street. The sign will be on Rt. 125. The dumpsite will be screened with the same material as the building. Ms. Lescarbeau stated that the business would now change from mostly the take-out business to having customers sitting in and eating in the building. Mr. Lupoli stated that currently they have about 15-20 seats and will go to the maximum of 56 seats and wanted to separate dining in from take-out. Rosemary Burdett an abutter is concerned about the high level of traffic and about customers that will park on the street in front of their house to get to Sal's. Ms. Colwell suggested that the one way entrance and exit should be reversed to allow an entrance from Park Street and an exit on Main Street to allow cars to turn onto Rt. 125 at the lights. The Board discussed the possibility of connecting the two lots and eliminating one of the access points on Park Street. Mr. Simons was concerned about what kind of material the building consisted off. Mr. Brem stated that is was made of brick and the roof would have architect shingles. The public hearing was continued to the December 17, 1996 meeting. 165 Flagship Drive (UPF) -Site Plan Review Ms. Lescarbeau read the legal notice to open the public hearing. Frank Montero of MHF Design was present to represent United Plastic Fabricating Inc. The building is 31,690 sq. ft. with about 70 employees. UPF builds polypropylene tanks for fire and industrial apparatus. They would like to build a 19,295 SF addition and associated site improvements to the existing 31,690 SF building. They will appear before ConCom to determine the wetland line and the accompanying buffer zones. There will be no changes to the existing entrance & exit nor to any other parking spaces or the trash locations. The drainage will tie into existing system. They have met with Technical Review Committee on November 13, 1996 concerning minor issues. In the rear of the building there will be no windows because that is the manufacturing area. The addition will match the current building materials. Ms. Colwell stated that they will have to go before ConCom to get the wetlands reviewed. Ms. Lescarbeau was concerned about the water drainage after the storm. Mr. Montero stated that everything was fine, and there was no flooding. Mr. P~ngles questioned the storm water drainage. Mr. Montero stated that the original drainage is designed for the subdivision took into consideration full build out of the site. Ms. Lescarbeau stated that the HVAC system would add additional noise. Mr. Weich stated that it would be a small HVAC unit and the manufacturing area is not air conditioned. Mr. Simons questioned the need for all the parking spaces. Mr. Weich stated that the number of parking spaces was appropriate. The public hearing was continued to the December 17, 1996 meeting. Continued: Lot F Flagship Drive - site plan review Bill Scott, Director of Community Development passed out a package on noise control. Mr. Scott has also been working with the Mattolas on the noise information. Ms. Colwell stated that Mr. Scott and herself have been working together about the noise and sound control. Mr. Shaheen spoke to the Kreigers & the Mattolas after the meeting. They have done what they think is the best that they can do. Mr. Scott's memo has tried to address the screening of the noise control. The owner of Intellisense will be on the property for most of the operating hours and can address any issues that might occur. Mr. Shaheen stated that they have no problem with Mr. Scott's letter except that they do not want to have restrictions on their hours of operation. For the reasons being, it would be harder to sell if they wanted to resell the property. Mr. Shaheen stated that no one else in the industrial park has restricted hours and doesn't understand why they should have to. Mr. Simons stated that they do not want a business running all night but, do not want to make any inconvenience for them. Ms. Colwell stated that the limits on hours of operation were directed towards noise issues and late night / early morning deliveries. Ms. Mattola is more concerned about the resale of her property. 7 Mr. Kreiger stated that he is concerned about the truck traffic with the trash pick up and the deliveries. Mr. Shaheen stated that they will schedule times for the deliveries and the trash pick ups so it will not disturb anyone. Ms. Colwell stated that the applicant can come in and request a change to the hours or decisions can be written to limit hours of deliveries and dumpsite pick up. Ms. Mattola is concerned about future water in her cellar. Ms. Mattola stated that she did not have water in her cellar. Ms. Kreiger also stated that she did not have water in her cellar. Mr. Mahoney suggested that the everyone look over the package that Mr. Scott handed out since they didn't have a chance to look at them before the meeting. Ms. Colwell got verbal input from a consultant on the dry well test pits and drainage issues. There are still many outstanding issues that need to be addressed. Ms. Colwell suggest to have a site visit. A site visit is scheduled for December 7, 1996 8:00 a.m. The public hearing was continued to the December 17, 1996 meeting. 701 Salem Street - site plan review A zoning variance was granted for the property. The next step is to get the drainage approved. Mr. Xenakis stated that the neighbors have already chosen what trees they want to edge their yards° Ms. Colwell stated that she recommends getting that information to Steve Stapinski so he can change that on the plans. The lighting and sign materials must also be shown on the plan. The Planning Board suggested that Mr. Xenakis take a look at how Osco Drug and Crossroads marked the edges of their parking lots, and maybe he could do the same with a picket fence and shrubs. Ms. Lescarbeau left the meeting at 9:50 p.m. Ms. Colwell stated that if~the applicant addresses all the conditions in the letter, ~hat John Chessia wrote, she does not foresee any problems. Ms. Colwell would like to get comments by next Wednesday so she could get comments to the board. Ms. Colwell would like to close this hearing at the next meeting. The public hearing was continued to the December 17, 1996 meeting. Decisions: Lots 3 & 4 Rocky Brook II -frontage exception lots Mr. Mahoney read the draft decision that Ms. Colwell had given the Board Members, Mr. Mahoney had no comment on it. Mr. Simon was concerned whether the road would have to be extended, and if it were to be extended he stated that there was a knoll that would have to be removed. This should be added to the findings. On a motion by Mr. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. Angles, the Board voted unanimously to approve lot 3. On a motion by Mr. Simon, seconded by, Mr. Angles, the Board voted unanimously to approve lot 4. Endorse Plans 200 Chickering Road - FORM A The plan changes the lot lines so that they conform to the commercial zone. The Planning Board authorized Ms. Colwell to sign the plans. Lots 1 & 2 Salem Turnpike (Rt.ll4) - FORM A The Planning Board suggested that Ms. Colwell drive by the site to make sure everything looks in compliance. If everything is in compliance she is authorized to sign the plans. Boxford Street -FORM A The Board agreed that the plan was incomplete and suggested that the applicant fix the plans.