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Home My Public Portal AboutPlanning Board -- 2007-07-12 Minutes~~~~~~~~\\o~ R E w S T•~~~i~~~ii \~~ ~( ANY E D 6 At` ~ /~i F B~t >Q .jc ~, A% ~ }T~ f NSF v a~ ~ =3 ,~ =~ ~ - -~ ~ oi~iii ~ r~ ~ i ~ r i r r i ~ ~ r~ u 4 i u ~~~ ~~~~\~~` \~ DATE APPROVED: February 27, 2008 Brewster Planning Board 2198 Main Street Brewster, Massachusetts 02631-1898 (508) 896-3701 FAX (508) 896-8089 TOWN OF BREWSTER MINUTES OF PLANNING BOARD Work Session Thursday July 12, 2007 7:00 P.M. Brewster Town Office Building Chairman Henchy convened the Planning Board work session at 7:OOPM in the Brewster Town Office Building with members Elizabeth Taylor, Howard Cabezas and John McMullen. Town representatives present: Victor Staley, Jillian Douglass, Ed Lewis, Dyanne Cooney, And ZBA Members: Harvey Freeman, Phillip Jackson, Suzanne McInerney, Art Stewart, Paul Kearney Consultants: Jon Witten, Ben Spruillo Henchy: Opened the meeting and had a brief discussion regarding the agenda and how to proceed. 3 additional items were added to the agenda as follows: #10. Sunset Terms for special permits #11. "Use" Variances #12. Inclusionary zoning It was agreed to start the meeting with Home Occupations, then Wind Turbines and then follow the 10 plus items agenda as prepared. 1. Home Occupations Henchy -reviewed the existing bylaw: the bylaws purpose was to prevent home occupations that would upset the neighborhood -however still allow a business to be conducted in the house (principle structure) itself. There should be no storage and no associated motor vehicles outside. Freeman: What happens with deliveries made to the home? And what about trucks used in business parked in the back of the house? Staley: Mr. Staley felt the bylaw needed to address the home occupations that might work out of a detached garage or a shed. Witten: Home Occupations are allowed by right it is not a subjective process. He suggested that the Planning Board could give the ZBA some opportunities for Special Permits based on their discretion. That way it wouldn't undermine the authority of the building commissioner. Freeman: In the past the ZBA has applied conditions on home occupations based on hearing the whole story of the applicant. Planning Board work session Page 1 of 5 07-12-07 Witten: Home Occupations could be amended by Special Permit if it was worded in an amendment to the bylaw. You might want to include a requirement that the Special Permit should be reviewed on a timely basis (i.e. every year, 3 years etc). McMullen: A problem Brewster has with home occupations is when they become successful. There is just no place for them to go once they outgrow their home. Lewis: The bylaw needs to be quantifiable so that the building commissioner has something to measure (i.e. size of space, number of cars, hours of operation etc.). Henchy: Felt that the home occupation should be a special permit process. Staley: Thought it was a great idea to have the applicant make a formal request and make it a legal hearing. That way all parties are notified. Freeman: Confirmed that the ZBA was there for the applicant and would listen to their case and then the ZBA would apply conditions for the protection of the neighborhood and for relief of the business. Taylor: How do you determine what is an existing business and what does this mean that all businesses would have to go before the ZBA? Staley: It would be difficult to determine all the pre-existing business - so it would have to be for the businesses where they receive complaints. Lewis: Re-emphasized that the bylaw needs to be quantitative. Witten: Stated that other towns currently have home occupation bylaws and he could provide samples for the board to review. NEXT STEP: Witten to provide samples from other town on their existing home occupation bylaws 2. Wind Turbines: Douglass: Stated that the draft Wind Turbine presented to the Board was modeled from the Cape Cod Commission. It appears to be designed for very large developments with a special emphasis on small scale turbines. It was Ms. Douglass' understanding that small scale turbines are ok by right; medium scale turbines require a special permit and large scale turbines would only be allowed in certain zones. For a small scale turbine one would need at least 40,000 SF. The 40,000 SF does not have to be all cleared land. It could include a house but the turbine height would be a determining factor as to its placement. The turbine would have to fall on its own property and not an abutter. The property lines determine the fall zone. Lewis: Could you sell the energy? Douglass: Yes, however from a small scale turbine you will not have that much extra energy to sell. On large scale developments, the private energy producers are selling back to the grid. The benefits of having a turbine are: 1. supporting green energy 2. Town would get to lease the land to energy company. Henchy: Fora 65 foot turbine the blade must be higher than 65 feet which would result in the turbine getting very large. Is there a limit on the height? Douglass: Not exactly, the turbine needs be above the tree line and have some clearance area. Lewis: How high are standard turbines? Planning Board work session Page 2 of 5 07-12-07 Spurillo: The height of the smallest turbine is 230 feet fora 1.5 MET. He has found that the standard size is 400 feet. Taylor: Is it really possible to put up a small turbine on a lot? Douglass: The lot area would determine the height and output. Freeman: The ZBA had a turbine case a few months ago -for approx. 130 foot high turbine. Spurillo: Height restrictions are important because the turbines can have an effect on wireless signals. Cooney: She did some calculations and if you took a standard 400 foot turbine then you would need approximately 4 acres for each unit. Mr. Spurillo had mentioned that for a large scale development you would install approx. 40 turbines. NEXT STEPS: Witten: Mr. Witten would provide a revised draft based on the input received today. 3. Groundwater Overlay Protection District Water/Quality Review Bylaw: Witten: Informed the Board that the Attorney General's office has stricken down Town wide Bylaws that should be done through zoning. He recommended that it be moved to Board of Health because this board is designed to protect the public health. Mr. Witten felt that this would be a good compromise because it would address Brewster's' unique Industrial District with the aqua filters. Douglass: Mining may have to be phased out -The Board of Health met last night and had preliminary discussions on the mining issue -they continued the item. If mining had to be phased out then there may have to be an amortization period for pre-existing conditions. A timeframe would need to be established giving the mining company time to shut down. If this happened, it would need to come from the Board of Health. Witten: Based on his experience, he has found that the Board of Health does not lose in court. ZBA and the Planning Board would or could lose. Douglass: WQRC can issue a certificate but they don't have the right to issue a special permit. Only the ZBA, the Planning Board or the Selectman can issue Special Permits. Lewis: He is a strong believer in the WQRC and felt it was a much needed committee. Douglass: Suggested that a revision to the bylaw would make the WQRC as the primary reviewer then refer to another Board for the Special Permit. Witten: Suggested the Board of Health adopt the regulation and then touch or retook at the rezoning. NEXT STEPS: Await BOH adopting regulation and then revisit the bylaw 4. "Use" Variances: Freeman: The ZBA has granted only 2 use variance in the past 8 years. This bylaw is hardly ever used but Mr. Freeman felt is should be retained for those rare cases. Stewart: The "use" variance gives the ZBA the guidelines they need in order to make a determination. Witten: Felt that "use" variances are well beyond their need and should be taken out because it puts pressure on ZBA and could undermine their authority. NEXT STEP: Planning Board to review and make determination Planning Board work session Page 3 of 5 07-12-07 5. Affordable Housing: Lewis: thought that the Planning Board did not have the opportunity to hear all the details on how and why the draft bylaw was written. Mr. Lewis recommended that the Affordable Housing committee make a presentation to the Planning Board and ZBA. Freeman: The housing committee was planning to present to the ZBA and Mr. Freeman would be happy to make it a joint session. Henchy: He was concerned that after 15 years the affordable unit could be sold -then the property would become a condo. Witten: If affordable unit was sold then the unit would not count as affordable. Lewis: If it was designated as condo then that would affect the tax rate of the remaining house. Witten: You could put a deed restriction on the property -make it in perpetuity -Because deed restrictions currently expire after 30 years. NEXT STEP: Schedule a joint work session where the affordable housing committee will present to the ZBA and the Planning Board. -Target Date 8/21 6. Sunset Terms for Special Permit: Lewis: There should be a limit on special permits Freeman: the ZBA's permits are good for 2 years -this is clearly noted on all permits issued Staley: made mention of Ocean Edge and a permit that was issued 25 years ago that is being worked on to- date. Apparently, Ocean Edge began work as outlined in the permit 25 years ago and have continued working on the project since. NEXT STEPS: Planning Board to review and determine if bylaw should be drafted to clarify this process. 7. "Open Space" -responsibilities related to lands owned by neighborhood associations. Henchy: For future development, the developer needs to parcel out the open space and give a percentage ownership to each property owner in the associations. Douglass: How does this address existing properties? Henchy: That is a big issue NEXT STEP: Witten: will look at existing documents and propose language for future developments Planning Board work session Page 4 of 5 07-12-07 8. Sediment and Storm Water Control regulations: This is an issue the Bob Bersin at DPW is encountering. - It was agreed to table for the future discussions. NEXT STEP: Discuss at future meeting 9. Changeable Copy/Special Event Signs: Taylor: The planning board discussed this at a previous meeting and made recommendations for the building commissioner. Specific wording was also determined. NEXT STEP: Wording of the Bylaw needs to be revised to eliminate any areas of confusion. 10. Wetlands Soil Conservancy Districts -special permits for construction activity Henchy: wasn't this brought to Town meeting and denied. Perhaps they could eliminate 1 section of the bylaw. NEXT STEP: ?? 11. Curb Cuts and flexible road construction standards Will discuss later Motion -McMullen to adjourn Second - Cabezas Respectfully submitted, 0 ~ Gv ~~~. arj ~ fierce, Clerk J y e ci, Admin. CI rk tip: Lid Z l dd11 80. -~~,~, _..:,~ Planning Board work session Page 5 of 5 07-12-07