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Home My Public Portal AboutVPC 04/19/22 Meeting Packet Town of Brewster Vision Planning Committee 2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631 brewplan@brewster-ma.gov (508) 896-3701 MEETING AGENDA Remote Participation Only Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 3:30 PM This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public gatherings. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible. The meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brewster- ma.gov), or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov). Meetings may be joined by: 1. Phone: Call (929) 436-2866 or (301) 715-8592. Zoom Meeting ID: 819 3038 8203 and Passcode 317154 To request to speak: Press *9 and wait to be recognized. 2. Zoom Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81930388203?pwd=VHEvUURMM1ZFdUJNREJIbEN3SFdOZz09 and enter Passcode 317154 To request to speak: Tap Zoom “Raise Hand” button or type “Chat” comment with your name and address, then wait to be recognized. Vision Planning Committee Hal Minis Chair Sharon Tennstedt Vice Chair Amanda Bebrin Andi Genser Patricia Hess Suzanne Kenney Fran Schofield Paul Wallace Administrative Assistant Ellen Murphy Select Board Liaison Kari Hoffmann Finance Committee Liaison Honey Pivirotto 1. Call to Order 2. Declaration of a Quorum 3. Meeting Participation Statement 4. Review and Approval of April 4, 2022 Minutes 5. Action planning teams and schedule a) Community Infrastructure b) Coastal Management c) Climate Mitigation 6. Status of summary papers 7. Communication – review current and future actions 8. Update of LCP roadmap 9. Status report on Tighe and Bond tasks 10. Items for the next meeting agenda 11. Review Action Items from April 4th meeting 12. Next Meeting: Monday, May 2nd (Virtual) 13. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair 14. Adjournment Date Posted: Date Revised: Received by Town Clerk: 4/14/2022 Page 1 of 3 TOWN OF BREWSTER VISION PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Monday, April 4, 2022, at 3:30PM Virtual Meeting Hal Minis, Chair, convened the Brewster Vision Planning Committee via remote participation with members: Sharon Tennstedt, Amanda Bebrin, Suzanne Kenney, Andi Gesner, Paul Wallace, and Patricia Hess were present. Fran Schofield was absent. A quorum was determined. Also present: Kari Hoffmann and Ellen Murphy The Chair read the Recording or Taping Notification: This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public gatherings. No in-person meeting attendance will be permitted. If the Town is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible. The Town has established specific email addresses for each board and committee so the public can submit comments either before or during the meeting. To submit public comment or questions to the Vision Planning Committee, please email: brewplan@brewster-ma.gov. Review and Approval of March 21st meeting minutes: Suzanne made a motion to approve the March 21st meeting minutes, Amanda seconded the motion, a roll call was taken, and the March 21st meeting minutes were 5 approved and 1 abstained. Updates of public engagement activities: a)Discussion of survey results: The Chair moved the discussion of the Action Planning Teams under the Survey Results in order for the teams to discuss their interpretation after reviewing the survey results. Action Planning teams and schedule a)Local Economy Paul Wallace and Patricia Hess provided their thoughts on the survey results. Paul highlighted areas such as the Town Center, indicating comments were all over the map on where a town center should exist, but Foster Square was the top location, and most were in favor of small businesses. It was clear they did not want big businesses in Brewster. Mixed-use housing was favored over high- density housing. Light industry was not favored but sidewalks, bike paths and keeping with the rural character and natural resources were highlighted as important to the community. Changing zoning in existing commercial business areas was supported by participants but not along the 6A area, traffic was a main concern. Home businesses were supported but not if they impacted the neighborhood. Paul summed up his observations by noting that overall, the comments lean towards the expansion of zoning as long as it provides for oversight. There was pushback on development along 6A. Paul expressed his concern regarding changes and suggested they proceed with caution. Patricia provided her thoughts on the interviews for Local Economy. She indicated the overarching themes were zoning issues and streamlining permitting. She stated that the Select Board Strategic plan addressed permitting, but it will also have to be addressed in the LCP. Patricia informed the Committee that the last question on the survey for Local Economy stating the expansion of commercial zoning on the Orleans/Brewster border was the least answered question. Sharon commented that when reading the comments, she experienced a tension between the people from the Cape who recognized a tourist driven economy but not really embracing it. They wanted to attract year-round businesses and not business types that attract tourists. Andi highlighted the theme of no more action on 6A, which is a real challenge. Hal indicated in terms of the questions asked in the survey, the zoning question received a lot of “don’t know” which indicated more public education for zoning is required. Page 2 of 3 b)Housing Suzanne, Andi, and Paul provided their thoughts on the survey results. Suzanne indicated the comments were varied. No one wanted housing along 6A and keeping with the character of the area was strongly expressed. Other comments were the effects of housing on some of the other Building Blocks such as Water Resources and Open Space and there were concerns around transportation. Building smaller housing options and single-family homes were suggested for seniors. Restrictions on Air BNBs and building out of sight dormitory structures for seasonal workers was also suggested. Suzanne stated overall participants agreed on affordable housing but were not sure how it would look and who would be eligible, but not located on 6A. Andi provided comments highlighting the ADU bylaw and rules for non-year-round residents. She also stated participants seemed confused on the term affordable housing and who would be eligible, and employers should be responsible for housing their seasonal workers. She suggested to include a regional approach to housing. Paul added that identifying housing comments in the Local Economy Building Block suggests jobs and housing should go hand in hand. The Committee agreed that housing is a crisis, and it needs to be addressed. Sharon highlighted suggestions such as incentives for ADUs and incenting residents to rent their homes year-round. Andi suggested housing above businesses. Hal commented on the misinterpretation of the term affordable housing. c)Water Resources Suzanne and Andi provided their thoughts on the survey results. Suzanne highlighted areas of importance such as protecting the drinking water through land purchases, conservation, restrictions, controlling development, zoning regulations, and using less fertilizers. She shared concerns of banning fertilizers and education around certain fertilizer use as well as septic systems and who will the cost impact. Andi commented on alternative septic systems and sewer costs. She also commented on a wastewater plan in Brewster. Sharon brought up a suggestion that was identified in the survey that the town make rain barrels available and if there was any grant money through the town. Hal agreed more education needs to be available to the public. Paul, as the chair of the Planning Board, informed the Committee the Town recently passed a storm water management bylaw through the Planning Board, which is a significant change to how storm water is managed on commercial and residential lots. It is a high priority for the Town. Hal commented that it is a good example of what the Town has done but most don’t know about it. d)Open Space Hal provided his thoughts on Open Space from the data. Protecting drinking water quality was highlighted. He indicated there were a lot of comments about raising taxes and he confirmed that land acquisition has no impact on taxes and handled through the Committee for Preservation Act fund. He indicated all the marshes in Brewster are protected. The value of open space as part of the town character was also mentioned as well as having open space that is not accessible to the public. Hal confirmed that all these comments are supportive of the direction the Town has taken. She indicated that there were many comments resulting in the need for additional education because participants are unaware of the amount of open space land owned by the Town. Amanda commented that the tax rate in Brewster went down but the assessment went up which is due to the real estate market price increase. Hal discussed next steps indicating at the next meeting they will discuss Community Infrastructure, Coastal Management, and Climate Mitigation. Andi summarized the four Building Blocks discussed by highlighting the trends; public information and education, not on 6A, protecting the rural and character of the Town and creative approaches to both incentives and non-incentives on the kinds of things we want to do and don’t want to see. Hal indicated the focus will be to complete the analysis which will help to asked better questions and flush out the proposed actions for the LCP. Ellen will confirm the meeting on May 2 will be face to face. Hal informed the Committee at that meeting the focus will be reviewing the interactive mapping and finalizing the guidelines and process for the next phase. Page 3 of 3 Status of Summary Papers: The summary papers were sent out today to select Town staff for review with a completion date of April 20th and on track to finalize by the end of the month. Hal informed the Committee that once they are finalized, they can be reviewed by the Building Block teams. Communication – review current and future actions: Hal referred to the letter in the meeting packet from the previous survey for the Vision Plan as a model. He asked the Committee if there were any comments. He requested if there was a volunteer that could redraft the letter for the current survey. Patricia and Suzanne will draft a publication for review. Hal will also present an update of the survey to the Select Board. He is waiting on a date in May. Patricia suggested to post the announcement of the survey results on bulletin boards at the Town Hall, Library, COA and golf course. The Committee agreed. Ellen will provide copies for distribution. Update on LCP roadmap and status report on Tighe and Bond tasks: Hal indicated the timeline for the LCP is still on track for the Fall Town meeting. He informed the Committee they are in the process of finalizing the Land Use summary paper. Tighe and Bond will participate in the meetings to discuss the action plan. Review Action Items from March 21st meeting: Patricia informed the Committee that the Housing Production Plan is still outstanding. Hal will get it out immediately. Amanda indicated that the Housing survey has been extended until April 8th. Next Meeting: Tuesday April 19th. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair: Ellen reminded the Committee the meeting on May 2nd will be face to face. Meetings will be hybrid so the public can participate in the meeting. Paul informed the Committee he will not be running for Planning Board in May and therefore cannot be a representative of the Planning Board for the Committee. He would like to continue as a public member if there is a vacancy. Hal confirmed that the Committee is down a public member. Kari will follow up with Paul. Andi made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Sharon second the motion, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 4:35 pm. Actions VPC Meeting April 4 2022 Actions Responsibility Time Plan to review White Papers after they have been reviewed by town staff All end of April Reminder May 2 VPC meeting will be in person only All May 2 Draft article for newspaper on results of survey Sharon T and Patricia After April 19 Print survey result Flyers on thick paper for pick up for bulletin boards in town Ellen and All ASAP Send out Housing Production Plan to all Hal ASAP Next meeting All April 19 (Tuesday)