Development Review Board Meeting

Present:Brenda Madkour, John Watanabe, Perry Green, Ray Ferrarin, Devin Halligan; Tim Waker, Bob Bushee, John Watanabe, Alan Benoit, John Griffin; Sydney Schiffman, Kaitlyn Filippi; also Planning Director/Zoning Administrator Lee Krohn, and others per sign in sheet.

Motion Griffin to approve the minutes of 1/13/10; seconded by Bushee and OK by all.

Design Review applications:

Thebeault Design, 256 Depot Street: Design Review OK with two new roof-mounted skylights, with bronze anodized frames, and centered over the windows on the side of the building. Motion Griffin to approve; seconded by Benoit and OK unanimously.

Seasons Restaurant (former Sox Market), 4566 Main Street: Design Review OK with a new sign panel on the existing free standing sign. Motion Griffin to approve as presented; seconded by Benoit and OK by all.

Village Tile (former Best Tile), 685 Depot Street: Design Review OK with a new flush mounted sign to be placed where the previous sign was located on the building; and a new sign panel on the existing free standing sign. Motion Griffin to approve as presented; seconded by Bushee and OK unanimously.

Northshire Day School, 5484 Main Street: historic barn issue, continued...Applicant submitted a request to withdraw the application; it appears there is an agreement with a local person to use the barn for storage, and who will perform at least basic maintenance and repair on the building. As the Board must issue a written decision in some form to close out the case, it was agreed that a condition should be added limiting storage to inside the barn. Motion Griffin to close the hearing; seconded by Bushee and OK by all.

Movado/Peruvian Connection sites, 4746-4764 Main Street, preliminary reviewCraig Hunter presented preliminary concept plans and architectural elevations for a new building in front of Movado, close to the street; and an expansion of the Peruvian Connection building; the two parcels would effectively be merged. These concept plans were presented under the RT 7A South Corridor bylaw and its various incentives for smart growth infill development. The new building would have a footprint of approx. 4700 sq ft, and would be two stories as required; the addition would be approx. 1400 sq ft, and would seek to make the former Simple Coffeeworks space (now below grade) a more functional and visible space for café use. Architectural designs were reviewed, along with the proposed incentives earned and parking locations and calculations. The plans and project were received favorably, and appeared consistent with the stated goals and approaches in the bylaw.

Aubuchon, 1131 Depot Street: continued discussion of access road...Ellis Speath presented the latest concept plan as discussed last time, with a widened/strengthened/paved lane along Depot Street west of the intersection with Taconic Business Park Road. He stated this plan was based on field surveys, and was buildable and workable as shown. The purpose is to provide space for the propane trucks to maneuver outside of the traveled way of Depot Street, so that they no longer need to back into or out of these travel lanes and traffic. Adjoining landowners Doug Dorr, Keith Ellis, and Ben Weiss were present, and appeared to support this plan as functional and workable. Further discussion ensued, with suggestions that moving the power pole in this vicinity would allow additional improvements to ingress, egress, and flow for all patrons and users of this road and the driveways it serves; it was believed this would be especially important for Aubuchon itself, and its own large delivery trucks. Speath agreed to investigate this further, and return to the DRB with a final plan showing all proposed improvements. He will continue to work with adjoiners, and especially Aubuchon, to help resolve these matters at last; and will submit any new plans or information for advance review before the next meeting (which will be either Feb. 17 or March 3, depending on Speath’s schedule).

Campbell, 198 Elm Street: preliminary review. Will Hersom represented landowner Patty Campbell’s request to consider allowing the expansion of a nonconforming use from three to four dwelling units. The property would conform to density rules with two units, but has an existing right to three units. Upon prospective sale of the property and due diligence by the parties, it was discovered that a fourth dwelling unit has existed for several years. The permit record is clear that three dwelling units are permitted; apparently, the owner converted her personal art studio (which was part of and accessory to a dwelling unit in which she lived) into a separate apartment. The studio was not a separate land use on its own that might otherwise constitute a fourth land use on the property, it was just like a typical home office or home occupation that is accessory to the primary use of land for a residence. The Planning Commission heard this matter first, as a request to consider changing the density rules in this downtown, mixed use district. Upon in depth discussion of this specific property and the district as a whole, it was decided that increasing the density further in this C-3 district (which already allows the highest density of any district in Town) was likely unworkable. Further, it would require doubling the existing density to roughly 16 units per acre to make this property conform with four units on a 1/4 acre lot. Thus, this request of the DRB to expand the nonconformance. Hersom believed this reasonable in that there was no additional construction or building expansion involved, and that it conformed with Town Plan goals encouraging provision for affordable, in town housing. Understanding clearly both perspectives, no clear consensus emerged on whether a formal application might be approvable. That in itself is helpful for the landowner to know.

Upcoming schedule, and other informational items were discussed. A decision was signed in the Bogossian restaurant application. With no other business, the meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M.