HomeMy Public PortalAbout20200203 - Zoning Advisory Committee - Meeting MinutesZONING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Monday, February 3, 2020 7:00 PM
Town Hall, 18 Main St, Hopkinton MA Room 215/216
Minutes
Members Present: Mary Larson-Marlowe, Ron Foisy, Ted Barker-Hook, Madhu
Chandrasekar, Sundar Sivaraman, Carol DeVeuve
Members Absent: Ria McNamara, Elyse Mihajloski, John Coutinho
Also Present: John Gelcich, Principal Planner
Ms. Larson-Marlowe called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
1.Short-term rentals (Air BnB) preliminary discussion Ms. Larson-Marlowe gave a brief overview of the plan for reviewing short-term
rentals, including examples of similar regulations in the Commonwealth.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said the Commonwealth requires registration of the units and defines short-term rental as a rental lasting less than 30 days.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said owners renting their house for less than 14 days per year wouldn’t need to collect taxes. The owner would still need to register as a short-term rental unit.
The Commonwealth also allows municipalities to collect taxes at the local level. Ms. Larson-Marlowe asked for thoughts from the Committee about this topic.
Ms. Chandrasekar said said the language should be generic and not focused on AirBnB as they aren’t the only company that oversees short-term rentals. She also suggested having short-term rentals as a separate section in Zoning. She asked
how this would be enforced by the ZEO. Mr. Foisy said the primary way would be
neighbors reporting unusual traffic rather than having the Town “police” for it. Mr. Foisy said there is large demand for housing related to the Marathon. He said
he would be more in favor of maintaining this opportunity.
Ms. DeVeuve said she is concerned that Hopkinton wouldn’t be an attractive destination. Mr. Foisy said he sees the opportunity more for business travelers working along I-495.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said it could also be an opportunity for those visiting family in town.
Mr. Barker-Hook said he thinks it’s mostly a non-issue. He said the business
traveler may be an opportunity. Ms. Larson-Marlowe said the (Maspenock) Lake area may be an attractive option
for some people during the summer.
Mr. Foisy asked if we were creating an issue that wasn’t an issue - suggested having a hearing to discuss this item to determine public opinion.
Ms. Chandrasekar said that anything that can “go wrong” with a short-term rental can also “go wrong” with a long-term rental.
Mr. Sivaraman asked if the neighboring towns have a short-term rental regulation.
Ms. DeVeuve said she would be uncomfortable establishing regulations without public input.
Mr. Barker-Hook said he would worry if there was an AirBnB “slumlord” but said those likely wouldn't be rented.
The Committee generally discussed the public forum from the last meeting where a
realtor asked about the short-term rental regulations. Ms. DeVeuve said the first step should be to look at surrounding communities and
see what they have for regulations.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said there should be a public forum on this topic in the future.
2.Fire sprinklers in residential developments
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said the thought is to include some provision in the Subdivision Regulations to require analysis of residential fire sprinklers.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe introduced Section 8.6 (of the Subdivision Regulations) as a logical place to locate any provision item. Mr. Foisy agreed.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said any language should refer specifically to developments
with longer driveways or roads being good candidates for sprinklers.
Mr. Gelcich said there may be an opportunity to include a safety analysis similar to an environmental analysis or traffic analysis, which lists sprinklers as a specific item
to address.
The Committee generally discussed why sprinklers were not required for single-family homes through the Building Code.
Mr. Gelcich said it may make sense to automatically include a flyer about residential sprinklers from the Fire Department with a Preliminary and Definitive application form.
The Committee generally discussed the benefits of sprinklers and how they could be a selling point for new homeowners.
Ms. Chandrasekar suggested adding a provision for sprinklers in the section for
longer driveways. Mr. Barker-Hook asked why this isn’t included in the building code at the state level.
The Committee generally discussed sprinklers in single-family one-off homes and retrofits and the benefits of sprinklers.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe asked Mr. Gelcich to look into the legality of why it can’t be
required and if it can be required if associated with Special Permit or other related permitting.
3.Work Plan review, additions, prioritization
Ms. Larson-Marlowe reviewed the zoning articles passed along to the Planning Board.
Ms. DeVeuve asked about the status of the food carts/mobile vendors. Ms. Larson-Marlowe said Mr. Coutinho said he was going to address with the Select Board.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe brought up the conversion of residential to multi-family, and suggested this be brought up possibly for the next Town Meeting. Ms. Larson-Marlowe said it was Section 210-125.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said the issue of downtown parking is likely not a zoning issue. The Committee generally discussed the option for parking in the downtown. The Committee generally agreed to remove this item from the work plan.
The Committee generally discussed the trash collection for condominium units, which has been introduced via a citizen petition. Ms. DeVeuve mentioned that a lot of these developments are private roads and therefore may be an issue to have the
DPW pick up trash.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe continued to review the work plan with medium priority items, including subdivision lighting, expediting permitting (including requiring
pre-planning meetings with staff).
Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed low priority items including car washes in the IA district.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe said parking for office/industrial uses is another work item. Mr. Foisy said it may make Hopkinton more attractive by reducing parking requirements for these types of uses.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe brought up form-based code, said it will need to start as a lesson then figure out if it would work in Hopkinton.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed dark sky regulations as part of Site Plan review. Ms.
Larson-Marlowe suggested a public forum on this issue to gauge the sentiment in town before moving forward on this item.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed consolidating similar regulations but said this is
likely not a high priority. Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed protection of large open space parcels. She said this
is currently being investigated by the Growth Study Committee.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed a request from the Planning Board regarding maintenance and preservation of stone walls.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe discussed the item to increase retail store square footage. She said there is some more investigation necessary.
Ms. Larson-Marlowe reviewed the following proposals:
●long-term development opportunities on South Street
●Encourage bio-technologies, such as encouraging MWRTA buses
●Land use table
4.Minutes of January 23, 2020 Typo in the second paragraph.
Ms. DeVeuve moved to approve the minutes with the proposed change, Ms. Chandrasekar seconded the motion, and the Committee voted 5-0-1 to approve (Mr. Barker-Hook abstained).
Ms. DeVeuve moved to adjourn and Mr. Sivaraman seconded the motion. The Committee voted 6-0-0 to adjourn at 8:31 PM.
Approved: March 2, 2020
Documents: Minutes of January 23, 2020 meeting Work Plan dated 02/03/20