MINUTES

APRIL 27, 2006

Members Present: Mr. Walter, Mr. Limbacher, Mrs. Chisholm (Alternate Member)

Others Present: Ms. Harbottle, Town Planner; Mr. J. Pollard, Selectman;

Mr. H. Kuendig; Atty. B. Sullivan, Mr. T. Stone; Ms. M. Monihan, Ms. L. Nelson;

Mr. S. Mallios; Mr. S. Bjorklund, Mr. M. Farwell

NOTE: Mr. Donald Walter served as Chairman for this meeting.

ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Mr. Limbacher Moved to Accept the Second Amended Agenda as printed. Mrs. Chisholm Seconded the Motion and the vote was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

CONTINUATION OF THE FLOOD PLAIN & WATERSHED PROTECTION DISTRICT SPECIAL PERMIT PUBLIC HEARING 6 LIGHTHOUSE ROAD

Mr. H. Kuendig represented the Applicant (Daniel W. & Jane M. Hannigan). He explained that the ZBA hearing on this property has been continued to May 18th . He

requested that the Planning Board hearing be continued to a date after May 18th, preferably May 25th. See letter from Mr. Kuendig requesting the continuance.

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to immediately continue the Flood Plain & Watershed Protection District Special Permit Public Hearing for 6 Lighthouse Road to May 25, 2006 (8:15 P.M.). Motion Seconded by Mrs. Chisholm and the vote was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

[This action was taken in accordance with the discussion with the Applicant’s Representative, Herbert Kuendig, at the April 27th Planning Board meeting and in accordance with the letter submitted by Mr. Kuendig at the April 27th Planning Board meeting on behalf of the Applicants, Daniel W. * Jane Hannigan.]

Old Business, New Business, Correspondence, Administrative Items, Updates on Approved Development & Ongoing Planning Board Projects, Acceptance of Minutes February 9th

FORM A PLAN 222 GANNETT ROAD. APPLICANT: TOM STONE, BRIAN STEWART. OWNER: WALTER W. JONES

Atty. Brian Sullivan said, “With me tonight is Tom Stone, one of the Applicants. I represent the estate of Walter Jones, the owner of the property. I am sure that you will find that the plan meets all the dimensional requirements. It is on a public way, Gannett Road. It meets the statutory requirements. Plans have been submitted to Health for a septic system but it has not been approved.”

Mr. Limbacher said, “Just as a matter of disclosure, I live on Gannett Road (the other end of Gannett Road). I am not an abutter and I have no interest in this.”

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to Endorse as Approval Under the Subdivision Control Law Not Required a plan of land in the Town of Scituate located at 222 Gannett Road. Plan prepared by Aaberg Assocs. and dated April 12, 2006. Owner: Walter Jones. Applicants: Tom Stone and Brian Stewart. Mrs. Chisholm Seconded the Motion and the vote on the Motion was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

Ms. Mary Monihan and Ms. L. Nelson were present.

Ms. Monihan said, We have submitted plans, designs, colored pictures. We will be making changes to the windows, awnings, signs. etc. We want to make it fresh and beautiful. The name of the store will be Front Street Gourmet. I will be happy to answer any questions.”

Mrs. Chisholm said, “I think it looks beautiful.”

Mr. Limbacher said, “I have a couple of questions. One is about the sign – you have indicated that Paul Kukstis is doing the sign. The second is – I know what you are doing on the front but on the side of the building where the parking is there is siding there. Are you going to do anything in that area?”

Ms. Monihan replied, “Not presently. We are talking about perhaps doing a small deck in the back with umbrellas and tables where people can sit and have lunch. We are not planning on changing the siding.” Mr. Limbacher asked, “Would that eliminate the parking or would you have to put some kind of barriers across there?” Ms. Monihan replied, “It would not eliminate the parking. It would be in the back.”

Mr. Limbacher asked, “If you are going to redo the doors will it comply with handicap accessibility?” Ms. Monihan replied, ‘The back door is approved for handicap access.”

There was a discussion on the proposed sign. See file for a drawing of the proposed sign. Ms. Monihan said, “The Sign is approximately the same size as what is there now. It is a little shorter.” Mr. Walter asked about the number of signs and Ms. Monihan said there would be two signs.

Ms. Harbottle said, “I really like it. I just want to bring up a couple of things. The owner of the building talked to me a little bit about it. One of the things that he was saying, just so that you will know, is that the bench is bolted in and he said that he paid for it. You will have to talk to him about changing that.”

Ms. Monihan said, “We may want to move it. – down in front of his store. He has not spoken to us about it that being an issue. There is also an old bike stand there.”

Ms. Nelson said, “I think that bench is appropriate there. There are other benches in the town. People may want to sit outside on the bench.. We may just want to change the seating arrangement. We don’t want to take the bench. We will talk to Gerry about it. He is around all the time. He has the Music Store next door.”

Ms. Harbottle said, “In terms of signs - I know that the whole character is changing and that is great. One of the things that I am concerned about is that there are two to four neon signs right in the window. I don’t know if the Board wants to get into that level of detail or if you don’t care about it.”

Ms. Monihan said, “It is our intention is to remove those signs. It will certainly still be a package store. We don’t intent to have the neon signs in the front. Our front will be evolving with the seasons. We are in a transition period.”

The Chair called for public comment. Selectman Jim Pollard said, “I read the article in the paper so I knew they are doing some renovations. What about the seating on the outside?” Ms. Monihan replied, “I don’t think we have gotten that far. I don’t think we would be chasing people away. I think it will be a nice place for people to have lunch.”

Selectman Pollard said, “You will not be able to serve alcohol out there. Their liquor will not allow them to sell liquor for out there.” Ms. Monihan replied, “That is not our intention at all. There will be no alcohol. It would be just soda to go with the sandwiches.” Mr. Limbacher said, “I envision it being like a small patio area like outside of Cosmo’s Café.”

Mr. Walter said, “You have a canopy coming out with the sign above it. Have you thought about putting the sign underneath the canopy so that people walking down the sidewalk can see it. It would be a way to get your name out there.” Ms. Nelson replied, “We have a ‘shingle style’ sign that people can see. We are waiting for the sign to be finished.”

Ms. Nelson asked, “Does the town have a requirement or an ordinance that numbers have to be in a certain place on the building for the Fire Department? If the number needs to be highly visible the numbers could be placed on the awning.” Ms. Harbottle suggested that she speak directly with the Fire Chief. Mr. Walter said, “I am thinking that the numbers should be placed over the doors.”

Ms. Harbottle said, “So the sign is actually going to hang out perpendicular to the building.” Ms. Monihan described the proposed signage.

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to grant the Site Plan Waiver for the All Star Minimart at 121 Front Street. Mrs. Chisholm Seconded the Motion and the vote was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

The Board had received a letter from the Applicant’s attorney, Michael Hayes, asking that Greenfield Estates be allowed to withdraw their request for a reduction in surety. See file for the letter from Atty. Hayes.

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher to allow Greenfield Estates to withdraw there request for reduction in surety being held for completion of the Greenfield Estates Subdivision. [This action was taken in accordance with the April 27th letter from Atty. M. Hayes.] The Motion was seconded by Mrs. Chisholm and the vote on the Motion was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

He showed the Board samples of the color (solid spruce green) and the material that would be used for the awnings.

Mrs. Chisholm said that she liked the proposed awnings.

Mr. Walter asked if there was public comment. Selectman Pollard said he thought that the proposal was very nice.

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to grant the Site Plan Waiver for 99-105 Front Street. Mrs. Chisholm Seconded the Motion and the vote on the Motion was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

Mr. Walter asked when the awnings would be constructed. Mr. Mallios said that they should go up very soon since they have already been ordered. He explained that he had ordered the awnings before he found out he had to come to the Planning Board for permission to put up the awnings.

Mr. Limbacher read the April 24th letter from Atty. Jeffrey DeLisi of Ohrenberger Assocs., the Applicant’s attorney. See file for a copy of this letter.

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to immediately continue the three (3) Common Driveway Special Permit Public Hearings for property located on Chief Justice Cushing Highway as shown on Assessor’s Map as follows:

1. Lots 1, 2, 3 Chief Justice Cushing Highway. Assessor’s Map 47-2-26A-26H.
2. Lots 4, 5 Chief Justice Cushing Highway. Assessor’s Map 47-2-26A-26H
3. Lots 6,7,8 Chief Justice Cushing Highway. Assessor’s Map 47-2-26A-26H

to May 25, 2006 (8:45 P.M.) Owner/Applicant: William Harrington. [This action was taken in accordance with the April 24th letter from Atty. J. DeLisi of Ohrenberger Assocs.] Motion Seconded by Mrs. Chisholm and the vote was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

Mr. Walter explained that the Board had received a letter from a student, Parker Hobbs, expressing interest in working as a unpaid summer intern. Ms. Harbottle said, “I don’t know if any of you saw the letter that he sent. He has to do this internship because he is government and environmental studies student. He is interested in doing some volunteer work in Town Hall. He will be coming to Planning Board and Selectmen’s meetings.

We could certainly use him for some general work e.g. perhaps on sidewalks all over town or in Greenbush or North Scituate.”

Ms. Harbottle spoke about a grant program where the City of Lynn received money for sidewalks. This land use and sidewalk information can be expected to help the town get these types of grants.

Mr. Walter said, “I think the intern is a great idea. I think he could identify the resources and then talk about some sidewalk connections particularly in the Villages. Maybe we could get consultant put it together for us. Perhaps a high school or a Vocational Technical student might be interested in being an intern.”

Mr. Limbacher said, “I have no problem at all as long as we have meaningful work for him.”

Mr. Walter asked, ‘Is there anything we need to do as a board?” Ms. Harbottle replied, “I agree with your idea that it might be nice to see if other people want to do it. I think it might be nice for Parker if there was somebody to go along with him because sometimes this stuff can get awfully boring when you are doing it alone. I was going to send something to the high school and perhaps some local colleges about the intern position.”

MOTION: Mr. Limbacher Moved to endorse the concept of the summer intern and to see if there is additional interest through some kind of public notice. Mrs. Chisholm Seconded the Motion and the vote was a unanimous vote in favor of the Motion.

INFORMAL DISCUSSION – CHANGES TO COMMON DRIVEWAY ENTRANCE 259 FIRST PARISH ROAD

Mr. Steve Bjorklund and Mr. Mike Farwell were present to discuss this issue with the Board.

Ms. Harbottle showed the Board the common driveway plans that had previously been approved for this property. See file for details. Mr. Limbacher said that one of the issues was to try to save a large pine tree.

Mr. Bjorklund said, “Mike is the purchaser of Lot 2 and he will also be building a house on Lot 3. He will be constructing the driveway. There is a big huge pine tree out on First Parish Road. We have had discussions with the Tree Warden, George Storey. We went out there together. When I was going through the approval process I wanted to get rid of that tree. I was out voted at that time. Part of the changes on this plan is to show that you can come out on either side of the tree. This plan saves the tree and it lets people pull out on either side. We will reduce the width of the bituminous concrete at the entrance. George did not want to take down that tree. He wants to try to save this tree.”

Ms. Harbottle said, “I talked to George today and I asked him if the tree really, really had to stay. He said that he would change his mind. The tree did not have to stay. I think that George is now willing to back down.”

Mr. Bjorklund said, “From Mike’s perspective he would like to save the tree. If I was constructing the driveway I would wipe it out. Mike wants to do a little garden thing in the front. In the back we have talked about this 26 ash tree. That is a nice tree. We had a conversation with Fire Chief about the turn around. When Mike was working on another project he had proposed using grass pavers where the grass grows up between them but they can handle 35,000 pounds per square foot. The Fire Chief had no problem using them before. He has asked us to delineate the turn around area with shrubs so he would not drive off the area where the pavers are. We have agreed to put a few shrubs along that area there.”

Ms. Harbottle said, “I am going to have to disagree with that. I talked to the Chief today about this and first of all he said he was waiting for a request from the Planning Board before giving his opinion. He also said he was not sure about the turn around.”

Mr. Bjorklund said, “We are not here tonight for an approval. We are just in here informally to show you what we would like to do. Obviously we will need to get something from the Chief. I know that we will have to get a letter from the Fire Chief saying that everything is okay.”

Ms. Harbottle said, “Maybe it can be redesigned. I think it is a very nice idea to try to keep that tree. I just don’t want the Board to buy into it that now.” Mr. Bjorklund replied, “The Board doesn’t have to buy in 100% to anything. We will get a letter from the Fire Chief. Again, we just wanted to informally come in because the entrance is a bit different than what the Common Driveway calls before.”

Mr. Walter asked about the location of the driveway and the tree and Mr. Farwell showed him how people will be able to get around the tree.

Mr. Limbacher said, “It is the location more than anything else. If this plan will work I don’t have a problem with it If the tree had to come down it would just mean that there would be a wider apron coming in and that is not a bad thing.” Mr. Bjorklund said, “If that tree had to come down we would likely put another tree there. You could condition that if the tree did die or had to come down it would be replaced with another tree..”

Ms. Harbottle said, “There is one other issue. DPW has looked at this a bit and they had some comments about traffic safety and stormwater coming off driveways onto the street.

in this area.

Mr. Farwell suggested that cobble aprons would be used. Mr. Bjorklund mentioned that there would be grass swales on both sides of the driveway to help slow down the flow. Ms. Harbottle said, “That might work fine but there is going to be more pavement there. Someone will have to take a look at this” Mr. Bjorklund showed the Board the location of a catch basin in the area.

The members discussed various measurements of the driveway and the driveway entrance. Mr. Walter said his concern was with having enough room for cars to pass.

Mr. Bjorklund said, “We will come back in and make it an agenda item. It is different from what the Common driveway Bylaw calls for because the entrance is split like that. I am not worried about the fire truck turn-around because we will still meet the 20’ x 30’ turn around. We will talk with the Chief. If it has to be paved we can do what the Chief wants. The only issue is whether he will let the pavers go in. If not, it will be pavement. We will talk to him before we bring in a formal submission to you. He may want more shrubs or a particular type of shrub e.g. an arborvitae that is there all year long. We will require a scenic road hearing because of the wall. We will use the stones that are there and we might add more stones.”

Old Business, New Business (Continued)

DESIGN REVIEW: Ms. Harbottle gave the Board some information on how other towns handle their design review process. She said that it will not be necessary to have any type of legal advertisement about a Design Review Committee (DRC) meeting and it will not be necessary to notify abutters. However, the DRC meeting Agenda will be legally posted by the Planning Board staff. Ms. Harbottle suggested that either she or a Planning Board member should attend the DRC meetings. She said that the Board has received a couple of applications so far but so far the applicants do not have architectural background.

including an area which could be used for employee parking. Ms. Harbottle said that the manager indicated that he was not interested in sharing parking with the new neighbors (Residences at Herring Brook) because of ambulances that are coming and going.

Mr. Limbacher showed an area which he though could be widened and he said it would be beneficial to have a single entrance that was both in and out. That would mean one less curb cut on the Driftway.

Mr. Walter asked Ms. Harbottle to talk to the manager about Mr. Limbacher’s suggestion. Ms. Harbottle said he will talk to the manager and his engineer.

Mr. Limbacher said, “If there is just one entrance we would not need a traffic study. Tell him that. If you talk to Fire Chief ask him about single or dual entrance.”

Ms. Harbottle said that the proposed changes to the Life Care facility would be put on an upcoming Planning Board Agenda.

BEECH TREE FARM SUBDIVISION: Ms. Harbottle said, “I got some phone calls. I went out to the site and took some pictures but these pictures don’t really show what is going on there. The non-disturbance zone is definitely disturbed.” Ms. Harbottle explained the photos to the Board.

Mr. Limbacher said he visited the site and saw what was going on. Ms. Harbottle continued to describe what had happened to the non-disturb area. See pictures in file.

Ms. Harbottle said, “ The good side is that we are holding on to a performance bond as surety. The surety belongs to some people but they are not the people who did the damage. The people who did the damage are some of the people who live there.

I did talk to the builder, Mark Finn. The new developer is Brian Dacy from Centerville, a big developer on the Cape. I called him and told him what was going on and he appeared to express some real concern about it. The main thing that will get action is that we have surety. What needs to happen now is to write a letter from the Planning Board saying that it must be restored and you must put in plants. Conservation is not really involved with this.”

Mr. Limbacher said, “The money should take care of it. This should not happen again.”

Ms. Harbottle will write a letter on behalf of the Board.

ANTENNAE FOR CELL PHONES: Ms. Harbottle explained that representatives from the Wireless Division of National Grid have been in Town Hall talking about putting up small antennae on telephone poles. She showed pictures of what this sort of thing looks like in Nantucket. Ms. Harbottle said that they would likely need a zoning change to do this and that National Grid would prepare the proposed zoning change. Mr. Limbacher said, “I thought we wrote the tower zoning to allow that.” Ms. Harbottle said, “We did not know about this when that was written.”

Respectfully submitted,

Merrilyn O’Brien, Secretary

Mary Patricia Brennan, Clerk

Date Approved