Ordinances & Rules Committee

Ordinances & Rules Committee Meeting Minutes March 3, 2025 The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:22 p.m. Present: Councillors Dunn, Harris, Logan, LeBlanc, McLaughlin. Absent: None. President McLaughlin moved approval of the minutes from 2/18/2025. The motion was approved by a voice vote. First agenda item: ADU Ordinance Councillor Logan spoke on the matter and moved to amend the ordinance to with the track changes he submitted at the meeting based off of the Law Departments guidelines. On the motion Councillor Hanley handed out a spreadsheet with rental information and HUD values and costs of rents right now in Waltham. Councillor Hanley moved to suspend the rules to hear from off committee members. Solicitor Laughman was present and spoke. She will need to research the legality of our ordinance and whether we can have a restriction of seventy percent of the fair market value within it. Councillor Logan withdrew his motion. Councillor Hanley made a request to have the Law Department look into it. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to amend the ADU ordinance and adopt numbers one through five (Councillor Logan read the amendments out loud) to be added into the ordinance. The motion was approved by a voice vote. The sixth amendment he wanted to change from 600 feet to 300 feet. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Dunn asked questions to Attorney Laughman related to two story dwellings. Attorney Laughman will research the ability to allow the ADU unit to be as tall as the principal unit. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan made a motion to add into the ordinance the hand out of changes he had. On the motion Councillor Hanley asked about codifying definitions and made a request that was approved by a voice vote to have the Law Department look into it. Councillor Logan moved approval of the amendments he made to the ordinance. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Second agenda item: Special Permit application for BP Third Ave LLC at 180 Third Ave Attorney Phil McCourt, Nick Skoly from VHP spoke on the petition. Councillor Logan moved to send the application to the Law Department for review. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to send the petitioner the law opinion once it is received and reviewed by Clerk and Chair. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor McLaughlin moved to take the special permit application for McDonalds Real Estate Company at 789 Main Street off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Attorney Joseph Connors, representing the petitioner, GM Rich Hogan and Ron Maluf from McDonalds, Bill Lucas from Bohler Engineering, all spoke on the petition and went through their latest submissions. Inspector Bower submitted an email stating he was satisfied with their lighting plan. Councillor Dunn asked questions about the guardrail. Councillor Logan asked about hours. Attorney Connors noted the original special permit #27214 from 1991 with the hours stated in that order. President McLaughlin asked to repeat the hours of operation. Sunday through Thursday six o’clock a.m. through eleven o’clock a.m. Friday through twelve o’clock a.m. and drive thru opens until two o’clock a.m. President McLaughlin moved approval of the special permit application. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Hanley asked about the hours of construction and how long the project will take. GM Richard Hogan stated approximately 100-120 days. Councillor Logan moved to take the Update Special Permit Resolution off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan spoke on the ordinance amendment. Councillor Logan moved to suspend the rules to hear from Attorney Laughman. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan submitted two versions of amendments to this ordinance. Councillor Logan requested that the Law Department submit an updated version of the amendments and language submitted by Councillor Logan and to have the language for a first reading. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take the Marijuana Zoning Amendments off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan spoke on the law opinion received from Attorney Laughman. Councillor Logan moved to adopt option one in the law opinion and to draft an ordinance amendment for option one. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to adopt the strikethrough of Section 11-11 as a special permit modification. On the motion Councillor Dunn asked a question. The motion was approved by a voice vote. These amendments require a joint public hearing with the Board of Survey and Planning. Councillor Logan moved to send this out to the full council in order to set up a joint public hearing. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Hanley moved to take the Kennel Resolution off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillors Hanley and Logan spoke on the matter. Councillor Hanley moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take the Complete Streets Resolution off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to suspend the rules to hear from off Committee Member Attorney Laughman. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Attorney Laughman spoke briefly on the 2014 policy and what is being proposed but would like to fully align with the state. We need a policy to even have the state look at it and the state will not accept it from the Traffic Commission. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take the Proposal for Zoning Consultant off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan made a request that was approved by a voice vote to have the City Planner and Consultants come to the next Committee meeting and discuss setting a timeline for the project. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take special permit application at 1432 Main Street off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councilor Logan asked if the Law Department would have the review back for the petitioner by the March 17th Committee meeting. Councillor Logan made a request that was approved by a voice vote to have the petitioner and the Law Department attend the March 17, 2025 Committee meeting to discuss. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take the Mayor’s recommendations of trash ordinances amendments 7.6 & 7.7 off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan spoke on the amended versions he sent, the 2/24/2025 version. Councillor Logan moved to send the ordinance amendment out to the full Council for a first reading. On the motion President McLaughlin spoke and stated it should be sent to the Law Department for review before we approve a first reading. Councillor Logan made a request that was approved by a voice vote to ask the Law Department to review the amendments and have copies for the Council by Thursday, March 6, 2025. On the motion for approval of a first reading of the main ordinance amendments, they were approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan made a request to have the Law Department review the fines section of the amended ordinance and have copies for the full council by Thursday, March 6, 2025. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to approve the fines amendment for trash and dumpsters be sent out to the full council for a first reading. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to table the matter. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan moved to take the special permit application at 1265 Main Street off of the table. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Logan had two concerns with the petition. The height of the building and location from Prospect Hill Park. Councillor Logan submitted a request to have the petitioner set up a site visit and to view the site and view what the height of the hotel will look like. The request was approved by a voice vote. Councillor Hanley moved to adjourn. The motion was approved on a voice vote and Chairwoman Harris declared the meeting adjourned at 11:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kara Wilson, Assistant City Clerk March 7, 2025