Minutes
LYNNFIELD PLANNING BOARD MEETING – AUGUST 30, 2017
The regular meeting of the Planning Board was held on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 in the Joe Maney Meeting Room at Town Hall. Co-Chairman Heather Sievers called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and adjourned just before 9:30pm. Present: Co-Chairman John W. Faria, Co-Chairman Heather Sievers, Vice Chairman Michael Sheehan, and Member Brian Charville. Clerk Charlie Wills was not in attendance.
1.BOARD OF APPEALS CASES
Case #17-15 322 Pilling Pond Road, Kevin and Mara Smith
Withdrawn by petitioner prior to meeting
Case #17-16 and Case #17-17 14 Lovell Road, MAS Builders LLC
Attorney John H. Kimball, Jr. represented the petitioner to request either modification of and an amendment to the decision in board of Appeals Case 17-06B (Case #17-16) or approval of a new petition for a special permit/finding under Section 11.4 of the Zoning By-Law to allow the petitioner to raze and remove the existing non-conforming one story structure and to construct on a slightly larger footprint, a new two story dwelling which will also be non-conforming due to the non-conforming nature of the lot (Case #17-17) . The Board considered each petition separately. For Case #17-16, the Board reasoned that some portion of the original foundation would undoubtedly remain; therefore, Board Members unanimously voted No Objection to the petition. On Case #17-17 Board Members unanimously voted No Objection to the petition and noted the side setbacks in the proposal comply with zoning requirements.
2.PERLEY BURRILL PROPERTY 906 SALEM STREET DISCUSSION
Charles Richter, Town Engineer and Jim Boudreau, Town Administrator
Mr. Richter presented a hypothetical proposal for a two-house subdivision to be built on the Perley Burrill Property at 906 Salem Street. Due to a proposed shared driveway rather than a roadway, this proposal would require waivers from Subdivision Rules and Regulations 8.2: Streets and Roadways, 8.5: Street Lighting and 8.6: Natural Gas. Mr. Richter asked the Board to discuss whether such proposal might be something they would approve. Board members noted that shared driveways have been approved in the past under special circumstances in Lynnfield. For example, a shared driveway exists off Alexandra Road; another shared driveway is off Summer Street. Board Members noted the plan was for a 16-foot wide driveway with a 60-foot turnaround. A hydrant or house sprinkling system would be required; if the sprinkling option were chosen, the driveway would never be able to become a public way, though it is unlikely the driveway will be an accepted public way in any case. The shared driveway would have no street lighting, no gas main, and no sidewalks. A vote was taken for each of the required waivers. Member Brian Charville abstained because he was not comfortable taking a vote where none was indicated on the Agenda. The other three members in attendance voted to approve all three waivers.
3. TESLA CHARGING STATION, MARKET STREET
No representative for Tesla was present. The matter was not taken up.
4. PLANNING AND LAND USE ASSISTANT
Ms. Sievers discussed plans for Kathy Randele’s retirement. Ms. Randele was Lynnfield’s Planning and Land Use Assistant, and her last day was scheduled to be August 31st, the day after the meeting. Ms. Sievers provided copies of the Planning and Land Use Assistant job description and detailed the process for replacing Ms. Randele as told to her by Jim Boudreau: The Planning Board needed to determine the job description and title for Ms. Randele’s replacement and formally vote to approve that. Once the Planning Board had its recommendation, Mr. Boudreau would take the next steps in either creating a new position or screening applicants for the existing open position.
A spirited discussion among Board Members ensued. Some felt that Ms. Randele’s position was given too much authority, which caused conflicts with Board Members. Others pointed out that Ms. Randele had not performed many of the duties in her job description, so the Town had been paying too much for someone who did not even complete secretarial tasks such as taking and posting minutes for 17 of the Board’s meetings in the prior 18 months. Still others felt secretarial work was incidental to the need for a planning professional to be available to manage ongoing planning issues and to represent Lynnfield’s interests in planning-related matters in the region or state. Co-Chairman Faria expressed concern that a professional planner might have an agenda that would not coincide with the town’s best interests. In the end, the Board came down to two options: hiring someone to provide only very basic secretarial services or hiring a professional planner who will also provide clerical support for the Planning Board. Co-Chairman Faria and Vice Chairman Sheehan preferred the first option and Co-Chairman Sievers and Member Charville preferred the second.
Further discussion on this issue was tabled until an unspecified later date.
5. MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF PLANNING DIRECTORS
The Board appointed Heather Sievers to represent the Lynnfield Planning Board for this organization, replacing Alan Dresios who is no longer a Board Member.
6. MASTER PLAN
Members of the Master Plan Committee conferred and opted to schedule their next meeting on September 13th. Their next order of business is to plan public forums.
7. ZONING MAP
A report from Kathy indicated that final changes were being made on the new Zoning Map and the Board should expect CAI to deliver the completed map by September 4th.
8. MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes from the July 26, 2017 Planning Board Meeting and determined that edits were required. Co-Chairman Faria will make the changes and re-present these minutes at the next meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Heather T. Sievers