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MEETING: Planning Board
DATE:
March 30, 2010 - 06:30 PM |
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Minutes
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Minutes of March 30, 2010
Present were: Chair, Michael Przybylowicz; Vice Chair, Donald Anderson; Clerk, Michael Carabetta, Peter Punderson and George Kingston.
Green Committee
Mr. Przybylowicz welcomed the members: Nick Breault, William Fonseca, Dan Hellyer, Colleen Fisher-Hoffman and Jim Driscoll.
Nick Breault, Board of Selectmen Executive Secretary explained that the Green Committee is comprised of Elected Officials and Citizens at large. He said that it was formed in August 2008 and they meet on average at least once a month and different events have been held during it’s first two years in existence. Mr. Breault said lately they have been hearing a lot about sustainable energy projects and the different options that are out there and other issues regarding composting. He said that student representative Marcella Maki is close to coming up with a pilot program that will be an educational opportunity and practical way to get some composing going through the efforts of the Environmental Club at the High School perhaps sometime in the fall.
Chair, William Fonseca said that he has been in contact with Marcella and asked
her to prepare another presentation for the School Committee to actually show the implementation of the composting program. He said they feel that will be an educational piece and enhance the recycling that’s currently taking place in town.
Mr. Breault said another initiative that has been brought forth by Colleen Fisher- Hoffman on the committee is a green learning center which is a kiosk type of center that will bring several of the issues to the public in an educational way. He said there will be a dedication in the Library on Earth Day, April 22nd at noon and the reason why they are there that evening is to talk about the Green Communities Act. Mr. Breault said that Green Communities is a designation that many communities are trying to get for their municipalities and for their towns and there are several steps that need to be taken which Mr. Hellyer, Building Commissioner will address in more detail. He said that the Green Committee will present to the Board of Selectmen at the Annual Town Meeting three important initiatives that the town will adopt as part of obtaining that designation. Mr. Breault said the first being an adoption of the stretch energy code which is a detailed code that calls for more efficient building and renovation with residences and also has a commercial aspect. Mr. Breault said an as of Right Sighting article that allows for certain green manufacturing opportunities in a given designation, a given zoning area within the town. He added that an a expedited permitting process article has been written and said that the Planning Board’s Director has been invaluable in her help and working with the Building Commissioner to come up with language for warrant articles. Mr. Breault said that it has been a really comprehensive process and the committee appreciates the opportunity to talk with the Board and the public about it.
Mr. Przybylowicz said that he read an article recently in the paper that a nearby town is doing something similar and asked if East Longmeadow had anything on the table like that. Mr. Hellyer said that Monson is in the thought process and East Longmeadow doesn’t have the land currently to be able to do that. He said that it would be nice to be able to do so because it’s a benefit for the community and also a benefit for the power company. Mr. Przybylowicz asked in a project such as that would the town be responsible to feed the power for the municipal buildings or does everything go to the power companies. Mr. Hellyer said that the town is entertaining photovoltaic usage on some the of the town’s building which happens when electricity is generated. It spins the meter backwards. He said a house cannot generate more power than they consume but a municipality does generate more than it actually uses, it’s net metered off the full town’s power bills which is a benefit.
Mr. Punderson said that he took a photovoltaic course a STCC. One of the things they talked about was a company that goes around and rents roof top space and they put up the systems which is a big thing because of the shortage of land. He was wondering if the town could enter into a contract privately. Mr. Hellyer said currently Milton Bradley and Lenox are both entertaining the possibility of that.
Mr. Przybylowicz asked if the amount of payback itself is restricted to a certain percentage of the usage in town as a whole. Mr. Hellyer said that the government has programs out there on how they are going to fund them and how much they are going to give you on tax incentives and there are new focuses.
Mr. Anderson asked if other towns around East Longmeadow also going for green designation. Mr. Hellyer said yes and he was at a meeting that morning with the Boston Society of Architects and that was brought up and he believes right now that thereare seventeen municipalities that are currently under the Green’s Community Act. He said the act’s criteria is fuel efficient vehicles (excluding Fire & Police) such as cars that Don Maki from ELCAT drives around and when it gets outdated the town is going to have buy energy efficient vehicles that meet the requirements. He said another one is to reduce the energy consumption by 20% for municipalities and steps are being taken currently to get to that point and they are working on a retrofit at the High School and bids for that have to be in by April 8th. Mr. Hellyer said that they are looking at substantial savings in electricity by retrofitting the lighting and they will see how that rolls and then when the money becomes available from National Grid they will be looking at the other facilities the town has and retrofitting those for energy savings. He said that can be used toward the 20% reduction as long as within a 2 year period prior to the adoption of it. Currently there is $13,000,000 out there in money for communities that become a Green Community designation. Mr. Hellyer said the first cycle is going to take a hard hit with the bigger cities and East Longmeadow is not going to be able to make the first cycle only because Town Meeting is after the application’s due date. He said the next round is coming out in September and when the town adopts it through the vote of the people then they will submit the application and at that time they will get the designation as Green Community. Mr. Hellyer said that there isn’t going to be that much remaining because the first round is going out about $8,000,000 so the remaining $5,000.000 is where the smaller towns get into it and that is where East Longmeadow can get their share of it. He said that the $13,000,000 will be every year and the monies come from a program that goes out to the utilities and the big concern was the stretch energy code. He said that it’s not really that hard to achieve and is not that much of an added expense and Springfield has already adapted it. He said the money is out there and it’s an opportunity for the town to benefit from the Green Community Designation.
Ms. Macdonald said after meeting with Dan Hellyer and Jim Barry the town has really already met basically the requirements and she just needed to tweak the by-laws a little bit. She said a public hearing has to be held because they are zoning by-law changes and they need the consensus of the Planning Board and the Green Committee to make sure that the way she presented it was satisfactory to everybody. Ms. Macdonald said one of things that they already allow are manufacturing, research and development in the Industrial Garden District and she and Dan both agreed that they will not necessarily have to change the district. She said they will have to add to the table for land use classifications under industrial uses just to allow manufacturing, research and development for alternative energy and renewable energy all that in the Industrial Garden Park only. Mr. Kingston asked what the logic was by not allowing it in the Industrial Zone. Ms. Macdonald said for one thing the Industrial District is not large enough to do what they need to do and most of the Industrial Districts are only along the old railroad. She said that they are all used up and they would have to switch what was and allowed in the Industrial Garden District the areas are larger, the buildings that are there are larger, the land that’s available is larger and there are controllable areas. Ms. Macdonald said that the Industrial Garden Park allows it but they just need to verify the renewable energy aspect of it. Mr. Kingston said so they are restricting it, Ms. Macdonald said yes they only have to have one area that’s allowed in order to meet the requirements. She said if they want to involve the Industrial District then they can change it. Mr. Breault said that he thinks part of the discussion was that there is an aspect of it when Ms. Macdonald was discussing the size. He said when you are talking about allowing for the use in that particular area there’s a minimum size amount that would qualify the area and it doesn’t mean that there has to be a vacant or available piece right now it just means should the opportunity arise that the space has to be large enough to support the aspect of it and he isn’t sure if that was the reason why. Mr. Hellyer said that he would have to check on that because he believes by allowing it the Industrial Garden Park they do meet that criteria. He said everyone is aware that there are a lot of buildings that are partially or totally vacant and we need to invite these people in.
James Driscoll said it’s a hugely growing industry and there are spots and empty places and fields where they could promote that kind of technology. Mr. Hellyer added that they are not opposed at all to the industrial area, in fact he would encourage it.
Mr. Punderson said he thinks they should sit back and think about it because it’s a very valid point but obviously there was a reason why it was excluded. Ms. Macdonald said basically it was the size and the area and Mr. Hellyer added also the sensitivity up against the residential districts. Mr. Punderson said that he feels that Mr. Kingston has a good point because it’s the least restrictive area to begin with and now it’s being restricted and it’s a whole group of buildings that is another opportunity for people to move in there.
Ms. Macdonald asked the Board what they would like to do, the Board agreed to consider it and find out the requirements. She said what they need to do is to change the definitions, if they are going to include alternative energy, they do not currently have and need a manufacturer definition, manufacturing facilities, renewable energy research and development and research facilities. Ms. Macdonald said that East Longmeadow doesn’t have a chance in the world for wind power. Mr. Kingston said his one complaint is defining geothermal as hot springs because a geothermal unit works in East Longmeadow and East Longmeadow doesn’t have any hot springs. He said they should eliminate hot springs and just say geothermal and he doesn’t understand why wind energy and tidal energy are excluded. Ms. Macdonald said that they were basically listening to the consultant from Boston who said not to include something that really is a pie in the sky. She asked should she delete it and include wind and tidal, Mr. Kingston said that he would suggest that. Mr. Przybylowicz asked how the Green Committee felt about that. Mr. Hellyer said that was fine and he doesn’t think the purpose of excluding them is to take them out of research and development that’s not the issue. He said the reason for probably taking it out because we just don’t have the ability to generate the power in our area. After further discussion it was agreed to include wind power and tidal power and renewable energy will say not to include biomass.
Mr. Hellyer said that there is only one problem with wind power when it’s generated through blades or turbines it’s very loud and the only why to reduce the noise is to restrict it and when it’s restricted it doesn’t become as efficient. Mr. Anderson suggested anticipating future technologies to say wind power is allowed provided they can develop a technology that is below a certain amount of noise. Ms. Macdonald if they are going to include wind power they are going to have change the by-law decibel, the requirements, the criteria and everything that goes along with it. You can’t say that it’s part of the definition and part of the use that’s recognized and then say we have to make some changes. Mr. Kingston said that the town already has noise by-laws, Ms. Macdonald said that it only has to do with machines. Mr. Kingston said that it’s a machine, Ms. Macdonald said that the noise by-law is certain hours and has nothing to do with decibels. She said that the meeting was to allow the town to vote and be approved by the state and designated as Green Community and they are only looking at the criteria that are required for that designation and nothing else at this particular time. Mr. Kingston said so she is saying at some point in the future they are going to have to go out there and put up their own wind tower sighting by-law and that at that point we could expand the use to include wind, Ms. Macdonald said right. Mr. Anderson said that he feels that it should be excluded at this point because he thinks in the future they could allow it as a use under Special Permit there will be a public hearing held. Mr. Hellyer said that they want to make sure when they do it out in the Industrial Garden Park area, if somebody is doing wind turbines they want to be able to allow them to put them outside in order to test them. Ms. Macdonald said that they do have the grant money from PVPC and they are going forward with changing the by-laws as a whole and right now what is important is meeting the criteria in order to apply for the money in the fall. Mr. Anderson said that he feels if that’s what it takes to get the green designation they should table the wind and make it an agenda item for future discussion. Ms. Macdonald said the last change in the by-law to meet the criteria for designation for a Green Community is expedited permitting. The Town of East Longmeadow already has expedited permitting as they hold a public hearing within 65 days of the receipt of the application and final action is taken within 90 days so it’s 155 days and the minimum for the criteria suggested by the state is 180 days. She said the only thing they do not have is constructive approval for Site Plan Review if the Planning Board does not make the decision within the designated time or by an extension agreeable by both parties. Ms. Macdonald said section 7.451 is with regard to the “as of right sighting” of renewable and alternative energy and if the Planning Board fails to act within the 155 days then they can seek constructive approval.
Mr. Anderson said maybe they can add a provision that there will be an automatic extension for 25 more days to make it 180 and if at that point it’s not approved then the certificate kicks in. Mr. Przybylowicz asked Ms. Macdonald to discuss it with town counsel. Ms. Macdonald said that she will talk to town counsel and schedule a public hearing probably for May 11th at 7:00 p.m. With no further discussions the Board thanked everyone for attending.
Stormwater Management By-laws
Ms. Macdonald said that no one was coming in to speak about the Stormwater Management but she did receive an e-mail from Sean Kelley with regard to George’s changes. Michael Carabetta read the following from Sean Kelley to George Kingston:
George, I have reviewed your comments and discussed them with David Gromaski and Robyn, and respond as follows:
Regarding your first bullet, we would propose adding the word "may" before the word include on the second sentence of the definition of Hazardous Material or Waste. We believe that it would still be beneficial to include the listed items on the draft, as experience shows that the lengthier the definition, the less confusion and phone calls you might receive later. The EPA and DEP already have their "lists" of hazardous materials, and the intent of the bylaw is to expand on their rules. Regarding the changing of the word "ordnances" to "ordnance", we feel that the plural of the word is proper in its use, just as the words accumulations and floatables are plural. Regarding your third bullet, the Department of Public Works would like to be notified in the event of ANY spill in the event of such occurrence. Since your comments refer to the specifics of notification only, and not necessarily legal action or enforcement, we feel it would be better for a public agency to make the determination of applicability under the bylaw and
not a homeowner or business owner. I think we would rather receive phone calls that any spill occurred, rather than finding out after the fact because the spillee felt that they did not need to notify us. And again, we are trying to be more
stringent than current federal and state regulations are. Hopefully this will satisfy your comments, but if not, please feel free to let me know.
Mr. Przybylowicz asked Mr. Kingston if he had any comments. Mr. Kingston said if DEP wants to be more stringent than the Federal Government more power to them and hopes they don’t end up in court. He said that he is not going to oppose DPW.
Ms. Macdonald asked the Board how they felt about the stormwater management regulations. She said that DPW will present them at town meeting, however they are looking for the Board’s support.
Mr. Punderson said in his experience in handling hazardous materials there are strict definitions in the book. He asked Mr. Kingston if it is not specific enough for him. Mr. Kingston said that his only comment was that DPW is being more strict than that book. Ms. Macdonald said that Dave Gromaski and Sean Kelley feel that they would rather be the ones that make the determination as to what a spillable amount is and whether it needs to be reported. She said from what they said they want to err on the side of caution and asked the Board if they wanted to recommend the by-laws.
Ralph Page, 137 Pease Road said after reading through the by-laws it’s his opinion that the only thing that can go in the storm drain is distilled water which is ridiculous. He said one drop of oil is considered a pollutant that is supposed to be reported, it’s not going to happen. Mr. Page said that he thinks that the by-laws are not consistent enforcement and urges the Board as they are written not to back them. He believes that the DEP and EPA has a lot better standards then what the town’s DPW Department is asking for.
Ms. Macdonald suggested meeting with the DPW on May 11th because she can’t answer the questions. Mr. Przybylowicz asked Ms. Macdonald to see if the they are available for May 11th, Ms. Macdonald said she will ask them to come at 7:30 p.m.
Request for Waiver of Site Plan Review - Alessandro Graziani, 65 Ridge Road
Mr. Przybylowicz said that the Board asked Mr. Graziani to come before the Board to explain a little about his business and what he plans to do at his residence. He said what bought some concern to Board was the 5 employees.
Ms. Grazani said that they never have any employees at their house and they provide laundry services to the elderly which is being done at a laundromat in Chicopee. She said the reason why they applied for the waiver was because they need an office to keep their records.
Mr. Anderson asked if the record storage is less that 20% of the size of their house.
Ms. Grazani said yes.
Mr. Przybylowicz asked what the 5 employees do. Ms. Grazani said that they do the laundry in Chicopee, her husband delivers it and they have no commercial vehicles.
Mr. Przybylowicz asked if they have any signage. Ms. Grazani said no.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to approve
the Request for a Waiver of Site Plan to operate a office for a laundry service at
65 Ridge Road conditioned on there being no retail operation at the location, no employees other than the owners and no signage. Mr. Graziani and his wife Jean are the only employees. No commercial vehicles on site, no storage of materials or equipment, no clients go to the site and all work is done off site. The office is not to occupy any more than 20% of the total floor area of the dwelling, including the basement are and if there are any changes in the operation, the applicant must appear before the Planning Board again to discuss those changes.
Signage – Meadow Place Condominiums, 200 North Main Street
The Board reviewed the replacement signage for 200 North Main Street and the entrance from Westwood Avenue presented for Meadow Place Condominiums.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the sign replacements measuring a total of 90 square feet as shown on the submitted color rendering. The applicant must obtain sign permits from the Building Inspector prior to the construction of the signs. A variance was granted for the dimensional setback requirements on January 6, 2010
Temporary Signage – East Longmeadow Baseball Association
The Board reviewed the temporary signage presented for East Longmeadow Baseball Association for Opening Day for East Longmeadow Baseball at Center Square field.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the temporary signage for Opening Day for East Longmeadow Baseball at Center Square field for a period from April 19th through April 24th, 2010, conditioned upon the issuance of a permit by the Building Inspector. The Department of Public Works will allow the use of the field as well as the placement of the temporary signage.
Farmers Market at United Methodist Church
Mr. Carabetta read a letter from the Building Inspector, Dan Hellyer with regard to the Farmers Market at United Methodist Church, 215 Somers Road as follows:
I have reviewed the Request for Waiver of Site Plan dated 12/14/09 requesting Winter Farmers Market once a month for 3 hours. Independent vendors. Church charges nothing for use of parking lot. Considering the independent vendors will be selling their products fro their profit, I would recommend not granting this use.
Mr. Przybylowicz asked the Board if they had any questions or comments. Mr. Kingston said the market itself is under the umbrella of Concerned Citizens of Springfield which is one of the Springfield Neighborhood Counsels which is a non-profit organization. He said it’s not just letting the church allow individual entrepreneurs to sell on their property it’s the church allowing a non-profit organization to utilize the property for that purpose. Mr. Kingston said that his concern is that he doesn’t see how it’s different from a craft sale where a church allows independent crafters to come in and sell their products for profit or many of the other sales that go on church property for non-profit organizations. He is just wondering if the Board really wants to go there and get into all of the little sales that go on at church properties. Personally he doesn’t think they need to concern themselves with it. Mr. Punderson asked what town counsel had to say about Mr. Hellyer’s decision. Ms. Macdonald said that was one thing the Board had to seriously think about, you’ve asked the Building Inspector for his decision. She said that town counsel says that the Building Inspector has the last decision, he has made a decision that if anyone using church property is making a profit, which the people selling wares are, then he has made the decision it’s not an allowed use. She said if the Board doesn’t agree with it then they need to, as a Board, go to the ZBA and ask them to make the decision to overturn his decision. Mr. Kingston said that Mr. Hellyer does not say that it is not an allowed use. Mr. Przybylowicz said that they could get clarification on that. Ms. Macdonald said according to Mr. Hellyer there is a big difference between profit and non-profit, Boy Scouts make money but it’s a non-profit organization in collecting funds. She said if she takes something that she has made and brings it to a church fair and put it on the table and gets money for it / sells it that’s her money. She said that’s a profit and that is they way Mr. Hellyer is looking at it . She just wants the Board to be careful when they ask for a decision and determination if they don’t agree with it then absolutely they need to go the ZBA and have them determine it. Mr. Przybylowicz said that he understood Mr. Kingston’s point and agrees to it somewhat, that it’s probably something we shouldn’t get into, but he thinks the Board has to dig a little deeper. Mr. Kingston suggested if they are going to ask the Building Inspector and the Town Attorney to discuss it that they ask the entity which is sponsoring the market to give them the opportunity to present and to present their point of view and give the Board more clarification. Ms. Macdonald said that they have the letter from them stating why they thought it was exempt and town counsel read it. Mr. Przybylowicz said anyone is welcome here to contribute and the Board needs clarification on the letter from the Building Inspector and the Board will call the church in when they meet with Building Inspector and town counsel to see if they need to clarify anything. He said if they want to bring other people with them such as the group from Springfield they are welcome to that.
76 Somers Road – Illegal business
Michael Carabetta read a letter to Mr. Dejere of 76 Somers Road dated March 29, 2010 from Dan Hellyer, Zoning Enforcement Officer, regarding his illegal business. Mr. Przybylowicz asked the members is they had any questions or comments regarding the letter, being none they will wait the response from the resident.
13 North Main Street – parking plan
Mr. Przybylowicz endorsed the parking plan for 13 North Main Street. Ms. Macdonald said that she did speak with Mr. Belli with regard to 13 North Main Street parking plan and he will enclose the dumpster.
Minutes
The Board reviewed the minutes of February 2, 2010 and upon motion duly made and seconded, voted (5-0) to approve them with edits.
The Board reviewed the minutes of February 16, 2010 and upon motion duly made and seconded, voted (5-0) to approve them with edits.
The Board reviewed the minutes of March 2, 2010 and upon motion duly made and seconded, voted (5-0) to approve them with edits.
Definitive Subdivision Plan – Betterley Lane
Ms. Macdonald said that she has the Declaration of Homeowners’ Association, Stormwater Easement documents and the Operation & Maintenance plan for the
Board to review. She said that is a is 5 lot subdivision off of Prospect Street and that originally they said that the easement was referred on the plan but after meeting with town counsel and DPW he decided that they need the actual written documents with metes and bounds so they can refer to the plan but the Board also needs the recorded documents. Mr. Kingston said the only thing missing is the requirement for them to maintain copies of the reports. Ms. Macdonald said that she thinks they did, copies of the inspection reports will be delivered to the town. Mr. Kingston said it only would be to tighten it up. Mr. Przybylowicz endorsed the definitive subdivision plan for Betterley Lane.
There being no further business and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to close the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
For the Board,
Michael Carabetta, Clerk
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