City Council - Ordinance Committee

City of Easthampton Ordinance Committee 9/1/20 19:00 Meeting conducted via Zoom Members present: Chair Salem Derby, Thomas Peake, Owen Zaret Call to order Minutes from 6/30/2020 approved 3-0 (motion Peake second Zaret) There was no public speak Agenda: Plastics: The committee agreed to remove the clause outlining non renewal of licenses for outstanding fines and to set a public hearing for October 7th New construction Cannabis in HBD: There were a number of members of the public for public speak Planner Bagg outlined the process for planning board recomendations to go to public hearing. Was hesitant about the role of deliberation by ordinance at this point Kot Kosom of 70 Pomeroy Meadow Road Southampton: Requested that ordinance review the language prior to a public hearing and continue to deliberate over this proposal Councilor Derby indicated that a public hearing would be set, the committee would take public input, and continue to review Jeff Cernak: Asked a question about abutter notification for these processes and for input from the city attorney Planner Bagg reviewed the language about abutter notification The committee commented on the need for better communication and notification to abutters Danielle Martineau 89 Northampton St: Frustrated that meetings occurred during quarantine and did not feel the public was notified, did not see a notice, and where there were notices did not see a 14 day notice Rick Cernak: Could not find the proposed language on the city website Planner Bagg: Indicated that that info is on the planning page Danielle Martineau: Unable to find this information on the planning board web site Councilor Peake: Stated the planner’s input is valuable but the discussion was perhaps better for another forum Kot Kosom: questioned the process, stated that the amendment was triggered by a proposal to build on the current Tasty Top site, and perhaps a more full throated discussion should have been had Councilor Zaret: commented that the process has made him uneasy Rick Cernak: The process is a little funky, and if this about just the highway business district why is there such a rush on the city’s part The next meeting was set for 9/22/2020 at 19:00 Meeting adjourned 3-0 (motion Zaret, second Peake)