Legislative Affairs Committee

Legislative Affairs Meeting December 22, 2020 Councilors present: Schultz, Walsh, Zarrella Councilors absent: Couture, DiNatale Also present: Tom Skwierawski, Executive Director, Community Development and Planning A single agenda item: 029-20. Fitchburg Planning Board, to amend the Fitchburg Zoning Ordinance as part of Phase 1 of an Ordinance update to make clarifications in the Table of Principle Uses as outlined in the Petition. The meeting began at 6:03pm. Mr. Skwierawski outlined the changes in Phase, 2, Bundle 1 of the Zoning Ordinance The committee determined that it would be best to consider and vote on each section of Phase 2, Bundle 1. P. 4, Purpose statement- the committee recommended that this section be amended to provide guidance to the Planning and Zoning Boards. The Committee agreed that that was a good idea. p.18, Merging Nonconforming Lots Councilor Zarrella made a motion to amend the language to “Non-conforming lots held in common ownership with contiguous lots shall be considered merged for zoning purposes.” Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motions passed by unanimous consent. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to adopt the changes, as amended. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion; the motion was adopted by unanimous consent. pp. 19-25, Floodplain Zoning Amendment Mr. Skwierawski pointed out that this is required by the state. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to adopt the changes, Councilor Schultz seconded the motion; the motion was adopted by unanimous consent. p. 1, Non-Substantive Amendments The current wording reads: This Ordinance may from time to time be changed by amendment, addition, or repeal by the City Council in the manner provided for in G.L. c. 40A, s. 5, and any amendments thereto. The Director of Planning and Community Development may, with a two-thirds majority approval of the Planning Board, update figures and photos; correct scriveners errors, table and figure numbers, capitalization of defined words, correct cross references; and add or correct street names or district labels for maps without City Council approval. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to amend the language as follows: This Ordinance may from time to time be changed by amendment, addition, or repeal by the City Council in the manner provided for in G.L. c. 40A, s. 5, and any amendments thereto. The Director of Planning and Community Development may, with a two-thirds majority approval of the Planning Board, update figures and photos; correct scriveners errors, table and figure numbers, capitalization of defined words, correct cross references; and add or correct street names or district labels for maps without City Council approval subject to the following expedited procedure for City Council approval: The Planning Board shall transmit to the Council a report of any such clerical changes made. Such report shall be accepted without debate at the following Council meeting, unless any Councilor shall make a motion to contest the changes. If such motion is made and seconded, it shall be voted without debate, and if it passes, the matter shall be placed on the agenda for the next following meeting, when it shall be considered without the need for referral to any committee, though such referral may be made by motion or by unanimous consent. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion to amend. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to adopt the changes, as amended. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was passed by unanimous consent. p. 2, Merger of Residence A-1 and Residence A-2 zoning districts Councilor Zarrella made a motion to amend the language to reflect the proper change, i.e., that RA-1 is merged into RA-2 and not vice versa. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion to amend. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to adopt the changes, as amended. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was passed by unanimous consent. pp. 5-7, Artisan Food and Beverage and Artisan Manufacturing Zoning Amendment Councilor Zarrella made a motion to change any references herein to CBD to DBD. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion to amend. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to amend the last line of s. 181.6521 (p.7) to read, “Brewing, baking, and other cooking processes are exempt from the odor provision but subject to all other standards in this section. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion to amend. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. Councilor Zarrella made a motion to amend section 4, p.6, to be more concise. He suggested including only this language from the suggested change: Artisan production, also known as small scale manufacturing, has benefitted from innovations in industrial technology to become an emerging alternative use in mixed-use corridors and centers. Artisan manufacturers and artisan food and beverages is an umbrella term that refers to all types of small businesses that produce tangible goods; this includes but is not limited to textiles, hardware, woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing, hardware prototyping, consumer product design and prototyping, breweries and distilleries, local food production bakeries, and packaging. The businesses may be consumer-facing or provide products to other businesses and often have 1-30 employees. The committee agreed that it would suggest to amend and leave it up to Mr. Skwierawski and the zoning revision committee to make the necessary changes. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. p. 16, Temporary Storage Containers Councilor Zarrella made a motion to accept the changes. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. pp. 8-15, Large-scale Solar Facilities Councilor made the following motions: p. 8, #1, Table of Uses, ask the City Solicitor to review the language so that it gives the Planning Board the option to refuse; p. 8, #4, define the term “basic character”; p. 8, #5 Yard Exception, to specify that for ground-mounted solar energy systems there is included some type of screening, for aesthetic purposes p. 9, #6, 181.661 Purpose, to change the word “promote” to “provide for” p. 11, 181.554 Waivers, in the second sentence, add language to exclude RRD p. 12, paragraphs a and c, 181.667, 181.6671, a., Lighting, and c., Utility Connections - these should be assessed more stringently in RRD p. 14, 181.6673. Abandonment or Decommissioning, paragraph e, include a provision that allows the Planning Board to dispute or reject the estimate of costs p. 14, 181.6673. Abandonment or Decommissioning, paragraph d, add language at the end of the last sentence that “the City may enter the property and physically remove the installation,” at the owner’s expense. p. 14, Required Findings,181.668 Action by Planning Board, tweak language so these sound like actual findings; change the language from minimize/maximize so that it is specific, especially 181.6686, “Minimize unreasonable land clearing” – unreasonable land clearing should be prohibited, not minimized p. 15, Change definitions so that they are internally consistent, for example, the parenthetical language in “SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, LARGE SCALE: An Active Solar Energy System that occupies 1,750 square feet or more of surface area (equivalent to a rated nameplate capacity of 250 kW DC or greater).” Councilor Zarrella made a motion to adopt all of these changes, as amended. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was passed by unanimous consent. p. 26, Marijuana Transporter Definition Councilor Zarrella made a motion to accept the changes. Councilor Schultz seconded the motion. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. Councilor Schultz made a motion to adjourn. Councilor Zarrella seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous consent.