City Council - Ordinance Committee

City of Chicopee City Council Ordinance Committee Approved 2-13-2018 Members James Tillotson, Chair Fred Krampits, Vice Chair Frank Laflamme Timothy McLellan Jerry Roy MINUTES December 12, 2017 The following are the minutes of a public hearing held Tuesday, December 12, 2017, at 6:45 PM in the City Council Chambers, Fourth Floor, City Hall Annex, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013. Members Present: Tillotson, Krampits, Laflamme, Roy Members Absent: McLellan Also Present: Dan Garvey (Asst. City Solicitor), Dan Garvey (Associate City Solicitor), Councilor Labrie, Lee Pouliot (Planning Director) Al Kendall (Commission on Disability) The meeting was called to order at 6:45 PM. In compliance with the open meeting laws the Chairman asked if anyone in the audience was recording the meeting. Hearing none the meeting continued. ITEM #1 BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council that the Code of the City of Chicopee for the Year 1991, as amended, be and is hereby further amended as follows: Delete Chapter 275 – 63.1 (C) Permitted Uses. And insert in place thereof the following C. Permitted uses. The following uses will be permitted in an Industrial Planned Unit Development, Type II: (1) Industrial uses involving the manufacture, processing, assembly, fabrication, packaging, storage of materials or products; excluding those uses described in § 275-62B(1) through (23), Industrial Districts, special permits, and excluding the following principal uses: motor vehicle repair, motor vehicle washing facilities, drive-in restaurants, residential uses, motor vehicle towing, motor vehicle storage services and adult entertainment uses. (2) Office uses, including research and development activities. (3) Business and professional services. (4) Financial, insurance and real estate services. (5) (Reserved)[1] 1  (a) Editor's Note: Former Subsection C(5), Child day-care, preschool or nursery school, was repealed 9-18-2003 by Ord. No. 03-34. (6) Communications, telecommunication uses, call centers and telemarketing uses. (7) Recreational and sporting uses, including instructional and commercial uses, excluding sports assembly. (8) Aviation or aviation services. (9) Retail sales (with or without eating and drinking places as a component): (a) In a mixed-use, multistory structure with a minimum of three retail storefronts on the first floor, (b) Or as an accessory to another permitted principal use. (10) Urban agriculture and food processing, limited to the following indoor operations: (a) Horticultural operations (b) Hydroponic and aquaponic facilities (c) Nursery stock producers, defined as businesses that raise herbaceous or small woody plants for wholesale or retail (d) Food processing operations (e) Food hubs, defined as entities that facilitate the aggregation, storage, distribution, and/or marketing of locally produced food products. (11) Educational services, limited to the following: (a) Colleges and professional schools (b) Vocational and business schools (c) Tutoring operations (d) Makerspaces, defined as centers that: [1] Provide community access to shared facilities, tools, and technologies, and [2] Facilitate educational opportunities, either through organized classes or peer-to-peer collaboration [3] Cultivate an atmosphere of curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship. (12) “Last-mile” courier and logistics businesses, defined as entities that: (a) Receive and sort freight for delivery to end-users or retail points-of-sale, (b) Coordinate, contract, and/or perform such deliveries as defined in (a), (c) Limit courier operations to a service area not greater than 50 miles in radius, (d) Whose onsite building coverage does not exceed 75,000 square feet or 33% of the total parcel area, whichever is smaller. (13) Accessory uses This has already been approved by the Zoning Committee. Lee Pouliot stated that the changes are to accommodate more contemporary uses in the IPUD II zoning. This will allow WMDC more flexibility in attracting potential developers and tenants. Motion made by Councilor Laflamme and second by Councilor Labrie to approve. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. 2 ITEM #2 BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council that the Code of the City of Chicopee for the Year 1991, as amended, be and is hereby further amended as follows: Delete 275-63.1 (F) Nondimensional requirements. And insert in place thereof the following: F. Nondimensional requirements. (1) The Industrial Planned Unit Development, Type II, shall be served by both sanitary sewer and public water distribution systems. (2) All impervious surfaces shall provide for adequate drainage of stormwaters. Site stormwater drainage systems shall be designed for two- and ten-year, twenty-four-hour storm events. Drainage calculations prepared by a licensed Massachusetts professional engineer shall be provided for the two- , ten- , twenty-five- , and one- hundred-year storm events. Post-development peak discharge rates of the total tract shall not exceed pre- development rates of the tract, either at the point of discharge or the down gradient property boundary. (3) Minimum parking requirements shall be as follows: a. No parking space shall be less than 8 1/2 feet in width and 17 1/2 feet in length. All parking spaces shall be property lined and maintained. b. All aisles shall provide acceptable clearance for fire and emergency vehicles. The typical aisle width shall be 26 feet unless otherwise approved by the City Fire Chief. c. Continuous parking areas over two acres in size shall be divided by landscape areas. Such parking areas shall have storage areas for snow removal purposes. All parking shall be designed using current stormwater management practices and on-site stormwater retention/detention facilities shall be provided to control downstream and off-site flooding and erosion. d. All parking areas shall provide for adequate drainage of stormwaters as referenced in Subsection F(2). e. Driveways connecting off-street parking to streets shall have a minimum curb radius of 25 feet. The closest curbline of any driveway shall be offset from the curbline of all adjacent streets and driveways a minimum of 35 feet. Vehicles exiting from parking areas shall have an unobstructed view of 300 feet in either direction insofar as possible. f. Lighting. All required off-street parking shall have adequate lighting. Lighting shall be installed so that it does not cause glare onto residential properties or interfere with the safe operation of motor vehicles on abutting roads. g. Maintenance of parking areas. All parking areas shall be maintained in an attractive manner and kept clean and free of snow, refuse and debris. All site stormwater drainage systems shall be maintained as designed and approved. All parking areas shall have a dust-free surface; the use of dirt, gravel, trap rock or screenings as a final wearing surface is prohibited. h. The number of parking spaces to be provided shall be calculated in accordance with § 275-40J(3). (4) Landscaping. 3  a. Industrial Planned Unit Development, Type II, shall be landscaped in such a manner as to provide an aesthetically pleasant and cohesive environment. b. The placement and design of the landscaping shall target functional areas, such as site entrances, signs, parking areas and building entrances. These plantings shall integrate the project with the natural existing environment through the enhancement and retention of existing plantings and the use of native plant species. Quality existing plantings should be maintained wherever possible. c. The minimum number and type of plantings required for noncorner lots or sites shall be calculated as follows. In all cases, native species are recommended. 1. Three trees (two-inch caliper or more) for every six parking spaces for the first 80% of the spaces provided. 2. Three trees (two-inch caliper or more) or six shrubs (eighteen-inch to twenty-four-inch height and spread) for every six parking spaces in the remaining 20% of the spaces provided. d. If the IPUD, Type II, is located on a corner lot, then the minimum number of plantings required shall be as follows. In all cases, native species are recommended. 1. Four trees (two-inch caliper or more) for every six parking spaces for the first 80% of the spaces provided. 2. Four trees (two-inch caliper or more) or eight shrubs (eighteen-inch to twenty-four-inch height and spread) for every six parking spaces in the remaining 20% of the spaces provided. (5) Loading docks and facilities for receiving, handling and shipping by rail and surface shall be located on those sides of each building which do not front on a street, insofar as possible. Screening, either natural or man-made, shall be provided and maintained for these areas in all cases. (6) Outside storage may not exceed 5% of the area of the principal building. The use of trailers or trailer bodies for temporary or permanent storage is prohibited. Only construction trailers are exempt from this provision and then only for a limited time period approved by the Building Commissioner. Construction trailer locations shall be approved in advance by the plan review committee established hereafter. (7) Signage may be provided as follows: a. Attached signs. Signs on the exterior wall of each building shall not exceed one square foot in area for every five linear feet of building frontage occupied by a tenant; no single dimension shall exceed seven feet. No attached sign shall be greater than 42 square feet in area. Each tenant shall have only one attached sign. Attached signs shall not project more than one foot from the building wall and shall not extend or project above the top of the wall to which they are attached. No sign shall project into or over a sidewalk in such a manner as to endanger the health and safety of pedestrians. b. Freestanding signs. Freestanding signs shall be no larger than 42 square feet in surface area, with no dimension larger than seven feet. The top of any freestanding sign shall not exceed 12 feet above the ground level at the base of said sign. No freestanding sign shall be located within 35 feet of the street pavement edge. No more than two freestanding signs for each building within the IPUD, Type II, shall be allowed. 4  c. Prohibited signs shall be as follows: 1. Any sign, artificial light or reflecting device connected or used with a sign or otherwise located or displayed where such light competes for the attention of the driver of a vehicle or may be mistaken for a traffic signal. 2. Flashing and rotating or blinking signs or optically projected slide signals which are changed periodically. 3. Lights with such brightness as to cause glare to roads or neighboring businesses or residences. 4. Strings of lights or flag-like devices hung from any part of a building or residence. 5. Billboard signs. (8) Finish construction. The exterior walls of each building are to be finished with quality metal panels, stone, brick, block or other materials exhibiting aesthetic and durable qualities. Combinations of the above materials are also permitted. Lee Pouliot explained that this is a separate section that deals with IPUD II districts. It deals with accessible outdoor storage and finished materials on the exterior walls could be any number of combination of materials already called out in the ordinance. Motion made by Councilor Laflamme and second by Councilor Tillotson to approve. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. ITEM #3 Jean Circle – At the intersection of Jean Circle and Wildermere Street – ISOLATED STOP SIGN Councilor Krampits stated that this request is for the new development in the area. In speaking with the Engineering Department this will be added as a stipulation in the development. Motion made by Councilor Krampits and second by Councilor Tillotson to deny. Committee vote 4 – 0 unfavorable. ITEM #4 Royalton Street – At the intersection of Royalton Street and Bromont Street – ISOLATED STOP SIGN Motion made by Councilor Laflamme and second by Councilor Tillotson to approve. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. ITEM #5 Rochester Street – At the intersection of Rochester Street and Bromont Street – ISOLATED STOP SIGN Motion made by Councilor Laflamme and second by Councilor Krampits to approve. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. ITEM #6 Sullivan Street – At the intersection of Sullivan Street and Kaveney Street – ISOLATED STOP SIGN 5 Motion made by Councilor Krampits and second by Councilor Labrie to approve. Committee vote 4- 0 favorable. ITEM #7 DELETE - Concord Street – Both sides 21 feet from Mary Street intersection – PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Councilor Labrie stated that this ordinance was passed this summer and it’s not working. Ambulances still are not able to access the street. Motion made by Councilor Laflamme and second by Councilor Krampits to delete the ordinance. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. ITEM #8 Concord Street – West side - 25 feet from the intersection of Mary Street –PARKING PROHIBITED HERE TO CORNER Motion made by Councilor Roy and second by Councilor Tillotson to approve. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable. Mr. Kendall stated that he has been trying to set up a conference call with Boston to discuss handicap parking in the City. Councilor Tillotson stated that he would like the information in writing. Daniel Garvey stated that he had a conversation with Jeff Dougan, Assistant Executive Director. Dan continued that the city has competing interest. The city’s interest and the Engineering Department is that we will abide by what we believe is the strict dictate of the ADA. That means that if there is a request for us to put a handicap spot on a public way in the city, we want there to be sufficient distance so a person if in a wheelchair has access to get in and out in a safe manner. So that’s the position of the City Engineer and their parallel concern is the safety of the public. On the other side of that is the State Handicap Commission whose opinion is that if it’s possible to put on street parking for someone who is not handicap the rule of thumb should be that you should put a handicap spot there regardless of the issue of safety. The State Commission suggests that if the area where the proposed is really not a good safe area then you can move it up, down, right, left to provide a handicap spot for the disabled person. Dan continued that there is a competing interest and he suspects that even if the city receives a letter from the state they will stake out their position which is you should be granting the requests as opposed to our position we will grant them so long as they provide safe access to and from the vehicle. Dan suggested that the committee take each request individually and try to determine whether it’s appropriate or not. Councilor Tillotson stated that if the committee does not take action tonight then these requests will die. Commission on Disability to create a form for new requests for Handicap Parking spaces. ITEM #9 (POSTPONED) 76 Maple Street – HANDICAP PARKING ITEM #10 (POSTPONED) 7 Forest Street – HANDICAP PARKING ITEM #11 (POSTPONED) 38 Peloquin Drive – HANDICAP PARKING ITEM #12 (POSTPONED) 94 Prospect Street – HANDICAP PARKING 6 ITEM #13 (POSTPONED) 54 Plante Circle – HANDICAP PARKING ITEM #14 (POSTPONED) 122 Elcon Drive – HANDICAP PARKING Motion made by Councilor Roy motion to remain the following items #9-10-11-12-13-14 in committee Councilor Tillotson second the motion – motion passed. ITEM #15 Minutes – November 14, 2017 Councilor Roy motion to accept the minutes – Councilor Tillotson 2nd the motion – motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:23 PM. 7