Planning Board

FITCHBURG PLANNING BOARD MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 MEMBERS PRESENT: Paula Caron, Chair Peter Capodagli Paul Fontaine, Jr., Vice Chair Alyne Butland Amanda Koeck Laura O’Kane Alex Lopez (Associate Member) STAFF: Mike O’Hara, Tom Skwierawski CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Room, Fitchburg Fire Headquarters, 33 North St. BOARD REORGANIZATION Motion made (Mr. Fontaine) & seconded (Ms. Koeck) to nominate Ms. Caron to serve as Chair for the upcoming year. Vote unanimous in favor. Motion made (Ms. Caron) & seconded (Ms. O’Kane) & seconded to nominate Mr. Fontaine to serve as Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. Vote unanimous in favor. ANR PLANS None. MINOR SITE PLAN REVIEW None. OTHER BUSINESS The Patient-Caregiver Connection (a/k/a “Local Roots”), 371 Lunenburg St. Dean Iandoli & Catherine Trifilo present to request an extension of the time frame to commence operations, which was a condition of their Special Permit. They have a Certificate of Occupancy from the Bldg. Dept. and are waiting for the final OK from the Cannabis Control Commission to open. Motion made & seconded to Grant a one-year extension to commence operations, to Feb. 1, 2021. Vote 6-0 in favor. Green Era, LLC, 141-143 Water St. - Extension of one year to commence operations & Green Era, LLC, 371 John Fitch Hwy. - Extension of one year to commence operations Jack Carney no longer involved with Green Era or these locations. The LLC had emailed a request to extend their timeframes for both locations Motion made & seconded to Grant a one-year extension to commence operations, to - Feb. 11, 2021 for the 141-143 Water St. location, and - Feb. 12, 2021 for 371 John Fitch Hwy. location. Vote 6-0 in favor. The Fresh Connection, 175 Kimball St. - review of additional tenant in building Will Seagaard present. A condition of Will’s Special Permit for a Cannabis Cultivation facility at 175 Kimball St. (“The Fresh Connection”) approved by the Board last August states that: 9. No additional future tenants shall be located on the site without prior review and approval of the Planning Board to determine if proposed additional uses are suitable for the site or interfere with security measures. Will: An organization called “Angels of Autism” (an autism Behavioral Analysis Clinic) currently located at 368 Summer St. needs additional office space and are contemplating moving to approx. 12,000 sq. of finished space at 175 Kimball St. The space they would occupy would be entirely separate from the cultivation facility. All of the clients of the facility would be accompanied by a counselor at all times. 02/12/2020 FITCHBURG PLANNING BOARD minutes Page 2 January 14, 2020 Board comments:  How many of employees & parking spaces needed for this use?  Hours of operation? 7 days a week?  Is pedestrian access been needed for clients? Board needs more information before making a final decision. PUBLIC HEARINGS Special Permit & Site Plan Review - B.O.T. Realty, LLC, 223 Lunenburg St. - Retail sales of Adult-Use Cannabis Hearing opened. Sean Morrison & Rob Wotton present. Hearing opened. Applicants were advised of voting requirements from Special Permit. Six members and an associate member present, so the associate member can participate and vote on the matter. Sean had site plan revised based on comments from Board chair. Revised plans distributed & reviewed. A 1,080 sq. ft. portion of the building on the right side of the Conquest Video building is proposed to be retail space. The parcel’s address (& video store) is 227 Lunenburg St., the cannabis retail space would be at 223 Lunenburg St. Floor plans reviewed with Board. Only six retail customers will be allowed in the space at one time. Three P.O.S. registers at display counter. Hours of operation 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. 7 days a week. They expect to have 4-6 employees. Employee parking could be off-site. There are ten residential properties within the 300-foot radius. Applicants need to provide addresses of these properties and distances to the 223 Lunenburg building. Board comments: Mr. Capodagli: Need to look at the larger picture: This area needs major improvements, landscaping, better defined site driveways, etc. Ms. Caron: Parking is an issue. Looking for buffers and improvements to the neighborhood, narrowing site access. Need to show location of the building’s exterior cameras on plan. Public Comment: Capt. Lemay, Fitchburg P.D. - More information needed on plan & floor plan. He reserves comments until he sees a more detailed site plan. Among issues raised: Must have secure vestibule (sally port) at both entrance & exit to prevent unauthorized entry. Better defined entrance & exit points needed. Off street parking area is flush w/ the adjacent street pavement. Suggestion: Have a single dumpster for the several business on the site, including doughnut shop & locate it at the rear of the site. Comments from DPW read: Sidewalks in area are very deteriorated. Need to better define driveway entrances & exits. Suggestion: Make structure look like a single building rather than broken up into separate storefronts. Traffic Impact assessment should be done; every other retail Cannabis applicant had submitted one. Are the side streets (Garland St., Perkins St., Summit St.) public ways? Sean: This application is in the name of “B.O.T. Realty, LLC”, but the retail space’s D/B/A will be “OMG”. Motion made & seconded to continue hearing to Feb. 11th meeting. Vote in favor. OTHER BUSINESS Fitchburg Trails Vision Plan Ralph Baker & Larry Casassa present to review & discuss the recently completed draft Fitchburg Trails Vision Plan. Ralph has asked city boards and commissions (City Council, Parks Board, Conservation Commission, Planning, etc.) to review & comment. Ralph outlined the vast network of open space and trails in the city that can be an attraction. Possible trail improvements could include trails at Coggshall, Northern Watershed lands, Crocker Conservation Area, etc. This trail plan describe some of the best features that Fitchburg has to offer. Q: Are any of these trails ADA accessible? Yes, Gateway Park. Also, the City recently rec’d a trails grant to make the gazebo at Mirror Lake at Coggshall accessible. 02/12/2020 FITCHBURG PLANNING BOARD minutes Page 3 January 14, 2020 Larry & Ralph described a trails grant application being submitted by the Community Development Dept. at the end of the month to pay for wayfinding signs along trails & at trail intersections in several locations. The markers at intersections would have a QR code to give location and information about the surrounding area. A similar wayfinding system is used at Leominster State Forest, etc. They asked for a letter of support from the Board. Motion made (Mr. Fontaine) & seconded (Ms. O’Kane) to endorse the Fitchburg Trails Vision Plan. Vote in favor. Motion made (Mr. Fontaine) & seconded (Mr. Capodagli) to send a letter of support to Mass. DCR for a Recreational Trails Grant for the Fitchburg Trails Wayfinding Signage Project. Vote in favor. COMMUNICATIONS Meadowbrook PUD Peer Review of this grading plan and stormwater management plan has been completed by s Tighe & Bond. Several issues raised that the applicant will need to address. Also being reviewed by DPW-Engineering. Rezoning project Tom Skwierawski discussed Phase I of the Zoning Ordinance revision project and went over suggested changes on the Ordinance by the BSC Group, the city’s consultant. Board had numerous comments, among them:  Combining the Medical & non-medical marijuana sections is a large task. Board recommended moving to Phase II.  Combining RB & RC - Why? We should see how many Multi-family dwellings and SFDs are in each zone.  Should put standards for common driveways in the ordinance, not just in the Board’s Special Permit regulations.  Density allowed for multifamily uses should be clarified. Clarify that the maximum density requirement does not apply to a 40R Smart Growth project. Tom suggested that the Planning Board initiate a petition to City Council on Phase I of the Zoning Ordinance revisions. Motion (Mr. Fontaine) made & seconded (Ms. O’Kane) initiate such a petition. Vote 6-0 in favor. Meeting Minutes Minutes of the December 10th meeting approved w/ some corrections. Motion made & seconded to adjourn. Vote in favor. Meeting adjourned: 9:15 p.m. Next meeting: January 23rd, 2020 (CDBG hearing only) Next monthly meeting: February 11th 02/12/2020