WELLESLEY PLANNING BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009, 7:30 PM
PLANNING BOARD OFFICE
LOWER LEVEL, TOWN HALL
MINUTES
Planning Board Present: Mr. McCauley, Ms. Wasser, Ms. Donahue, Ms. Conroy, and Mr. Chan
Staff Present: Ms. Jop, Mr. Zehner
Also Present: Judi Barrett, Glenn Garber, Steve Sykes, Virginia Ferko
1. Zoning Recodification- COG
Judi Barrett and Glenn Garber, consultants for the Planning Board working on the Zoning Bylaw Recodification came before the Board for review of the draft Zoning Bylaw. The Board and staff discussed the following:
1. Table of Contents and structure- suggestions were made to create a new section of the bylaw to discuss the processes such as Project Approval and Design Review. Other suggestions included adding the Historic District back into the Zoning, separating the Administration and Enforcement, and other layout issues were discussed.
2. The Board discussed the Definition sections at length and made suggestions for revisions and inclusions. The Board asked staff to have the Building Inspector review the proposed definitions.
3. Ms. Barrett highlighted several changes she was suggesting to bring the Zoning Code into compliance with State Law and for ease of reading.
The Board after a lengthy discussion continued the review to October 19th. Ms. Barrett asked the Board to send comments either in a word document, or highlighted as comments on the draft Zoning Bylaw PDF file.
2. STM Articles
The Board discussed two possible Zoning Amendments to be brought forward to the fall Special Town Meeting in November if the Board of Selectmen votes on September 21, 2009 to move forward with a STM. The two potential articles would be amendments to Non-Conforming Lots and Structures and Retaining Walls. Mr. McCauley noted a meeting with the Advisory Committee to discuss possible articles for STM has been set for September 23rd.
The Board discussed the amendments to Section XVII. Pre-Existing Non-Conforming Uses, Structures, and Lots. A suggestion was made to codify the types of projects that would be considered "small scale alterations" under the Bjorkland v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Norwell decision in the ZBA's rules and regulations. The Board suggested staff work on drafting an additional paragraph authorizing the ZBA to adopt in their rules and regulations changes that would comply with the Zoning Bylaw and would not require a Special Permit Finding. Ms. Jop indicated she would forward any drafts to Dick Seegel, Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Mr. Zehner presented to the Board a suggested Zoning Amendment that would create a new section for the regulation of retaining walls. Mr. Zehner questioned if the Board should consider exempting retaining walls setback a certain distance from lot lines.
Mr. Zehner discussed several comments he had received on the draft retaining wall regulations from the Design Review Board. One comment suggested looking at fences and large foundation walls in conjunction with retaining walls. Another comment pointed out the remaining developable lots in Town are lots that require extreme engineering.
Ms. Donahue suggested several alterations to the proposed language including the height trigger, setback distance, and the removal of some criteria she felt could be interpreted as subjective,
Mr. Chan noted the draft was comprehensive and logically explained the regulations. He suggested trying to scale back the proposal for ease of use.
The Board suggested the retaining wall draft amendments be simplified, and suggested the staff review the Jan Gleistein proposal on retaining walls from two years ago.
Mr. McCauley noted the Board had received suggested revisions to the Building Height provisions of the Zoning, and suggested the Board hold off on Building Height until Annual Town Meeting.
Next Meeting: September 30, 2009
Meeting Adjourned: 10:55 p.m.
Approved: October 7, 2009
Meghan C. Jop, AICP
Planning Director
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