6:00 pm - Open Meeting

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1 Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals DRAFT - Minutes from March 30, 2017 at 6:00pm Selectmen s Meeting Room, Falmouth Town Hall Present: Kimberly Bielan (Chairman), Kenneth Foreman (Vice Chair), Terrence TJ Hurrie (Clerk), Edward Van Keuren, Paul Murphy, Gerald Potamis (Associate), Robert Dugan (Associate), Sari Budrow (Zoning Administrator) 6:00 pm - Open Meeting 1) Minutes March 23 rd, 2017 (T.Hurrie and E.Van Keuran recused themselves) Robert Dugan made a motion to approve minutes from March 23 rd, Jerry Potamis seconded motion. Motion carried ) Board review and discuss Procedural Rules and Policies tabled 3) Town Meeting Discussion K.Bielan I have reached out to David Viera to let him know that we intend to speak for TJ s presentation and Ken s power point. We have incorporated size of parcels, average lot size and pictures of lots. We should take this time to review. K.Foreman TJ should review the power point so his discussion can be synchronized with the power point. T.Hurrie I think that it hits on the exact points that we want to make. J.Potamis I don t think that the last part should be included as to protection of water quality. K.Bielan Could you take that comment out at the end or do you feel that strongly about it? K.Foreman The accessory apartment doesn t accept open space, we value water quality and try to preserve the quality of life in Falmouth. J.Potamis I don t think it s applicable. P.Murphy I m not in favor of the bylaw, its fine with me to leave it in. J.Potamis The Board of Health has failed to mention that the septic systems need to be upgraded that aren t on sewer. K.Bielan This is the statement of the Board. Would you still be on board with this? J.Potamis No, I don t agree, improving water quality is a second agenda. K.Bielan Isn t water quality a separate issue from Title V? P.Murphy Water quality comes in many different forms that we work hard to improve. 1

2 K.Bielan I want you to be on board with this, it s the issue about water quality, so if we strike that from the presentation would you be ok? Would everyone else be ok with that? We have worked hard on this. What are some major things to include? J.Potamis Yes, I would be on Board if that item as to water quality were removed. K.Foreman - I feel Town Meeting should be informed well, the abutters would have very little recourse. R.Dugan I think the minimum lot size is very important. K.Foreman They have gone from 30% gross floor area to 40% and from 750 S/F to 800 S/F. R.Dugan People are under the assumption that if they have an illegal apartment now, if this bylaw passes it will become legal. K.Bielan You still have to go to the permitting board, if it s a detached assessor structure you would have to go to both Boards, planning for site plan review and the ZBA for a special permit. S. Budrow It looks like it s a by right. It s not clear whether they would come to the ZBA if they are nonconforming. K.Bielan After we make the change in the presentation, everyone will be good. This presentation will be Monday night. 4) Future Agenda Items None KBielan We ll take a 5 minute break and return at 6:30 PM for scheduled hearings/continuations. 2

3 Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals DRAFT - Minutes from March 30, 2017 at 6:00pm Selectmen s Meeting Room, Falmouth Town Hall Present: Kimberly Bielan (Chairman), Kenneth Foreman (Vice Chair), Terrence TJ Hurrie (Clerk), Edward Van Keuren, Paul Murphy, Gerald Potamis (Associate), Sari Budrow (Zoning Administrator) Continuation # Falmouth Hospitality LLC 556 Main St. Falmouth (+ 5 lots) K. Bielan opened continuation # at 6:30pm, introduced Board and consultant Paul Haverty of Blatman, Bobrowksi and Harverty. T. Hurrie read correspondence from Lt. Trott stating that he reviewed the plans in the office and has seen no changes on plans in regards to his letter of January 30 th. P. Haverty introduced the Boards consultants Design Consultant, Glen Fontecchio, Traffic Consultant Jennifer Connelly and Engineering Consultant Brian Milisci K.Erickson Introduced himself and Jeffery Dirk from Vanesse and Associates their traffic consultants. We have submitted a traffic impact letter and Mr. Peznola submitted revised plans. We have addressed nearly everything and what is still outstanding we will address in a supplemental letter. The Board asked us to review the letter again which we did. Not all responses have changed. Some of the supplemental information was in regards to the revised plans. J. Dirk I am the traffic consultant for the applicant. One of the central features was a full traffic study. The study needs to be in accordance with MA DOT and Cape Cod Commission standards. The traffic study complies with both of those standards. Our findings for the traffic study was no apparent deficiencies, and has the ability to accommodate the proposed projects traffic. Delays didn t increase, delay queuing was no more than 1-2 cars over an hour period. The change was 1-2 cars. The site lines at both ends of Lantern Lane either meet or exceed what s required for the actual speed of traffic, not what s posted. The two things that we look at are if the project will add more than 100 cars during peak time or more than 5%. Existing conditions on Main Street and project location, the traffic volume during a 24 hour period this time of year is about 9,000 in the peak summer months, vehicle count can be anywhere from 12,000 15,000. Dillingham has the same fluctuation in the peak summer months although the vehicle count is about half. Main St. has a posted speed of 35 MPH, we measured the speed over 2 days and found that in the summer months they are generally below, this time a year closer to the posted speed. Dillingham is posted at 30, but speeds were generally higher. We want to encourage public transportation to reduce the trips in/out and need to make sure that the current crosswalks are up to code. Closest crosswalk to project is near Nye Rd. Bus service operates down Main St. and would be able to 3

4 stop at Lantern Lane, but the actual crossing happens at Nye Rd. We looked at a crash history from the RMV over a 5 year time period ( ) at each of the locations, there were no reported crashes at either end of Lantern Lane. We found at the Nye Rd intersection there were 4 crashes over this 5 year period. The crash rates at the locations were below the state average, the crashes that did happen in relation to the traffic flow were low. In terms of future conditions, we are required to look at a 7 year plan 2024, traffic would increase to added drivers, more families, which would be a general growth rate. We would also discuss any future project with the Planning Department they may impact traffic. 10 Years of growth information provided by the Cape Cod Commission would generally increase by less than 1%. We increase our traffic rate by 1% & over a 7 year period. In 2024 without the project it would be an increase of 1% per year. There are 97 apartment units and 7 townhouse units and they generate traffic differently. Over a 24 hour period, traffic volume at both ends of Lantern Lane would increase by 776 vehicle trips to the roadway, including any delivery service, USPS, UPS, FED EX. ect. The 776 is the net increase which would then be added to the 10,000-15,000 vehicles. The peak hours in the morning are between 7-9 AM. We would expect 57 vehicles 46 exiting and 11 entering. Peak time at night would be 4-6 PM and an added 78 vehicles with 51 entering and 27 exiting. We would add these numbers to the peak hours. About 85% of that traffic would use Main Street and the other 15% would use Dillingham. Conditions at this time of year is sufficient capacity and it takes very little time to get out of Lantern Lane. There was no big increase with the project for vehicles coming out of Lantern Lane. At peak summer months there are delays coming out of Lantern Lane and Nye Rd., and you see the que back up. The delays are high to begin with in this area. The queuing at Nye Rd. after project is built will be about 1 car. We want to make sure that people have safe access to public transportation and those who ride bicycles. Both Main St. and Dillingham have wide enough sidewalks. We want to get the traffic numbers down as low as possible and the best way to do that is with public transportation. Lines of sight at both ends of Lantern Lane are sufficient. Another important issue aside from safety for pedestrians is linking to bus services, we want to make sure that the sidewalks are compliant with the ADA, at Nye Rd, there is a need to reconstruct the wheel chair ramps as they are not compliant add tactile strips. The crosswalks need to be reapplied and install pedestrian crossing warning signs. There is a curve at Dunkin Donuts and crossing signs need to be installed in advance of that curve along with reflective tape on poles. The property owner will become a Mass Ride employer partner, information will be provide to residents to encourage carpooling, they will contact various business to match people up. They also provide an emergency ride home. A voucher is provided to the taxi service if you ride a bike or walk to work in the event that you need to get back to the complex quickly. This is an important feature that would cut down on traffic. Bicycle racks will be installed outside and there is also indoor bicycle parking. J.Potamis I would go up Lantern Lane if I saw that traffic on Main Street. J. Dirk Really depends on the time of day and what my destination was. J Potamis My concern is really with Lantern Lane. J. Dirk Lantern Lane can accommodate the added traffic. 4

5 K. Foreman What is the delay in the summer? J. Dirk During peak summer months, for both Lantern Lane and Nye Road, with or without project we would see delays of about seconds. The queuing is more predictable. The average of all wait times over an hour is about 1 minute. One vehicle might wait less some wait more it s all on average. K.Foreman - So it s the wait time that generates the queue? J.Dirk Yes. K.Foreman Will it help if there were turning lanes on Lantern Lane to Main St.? J.Dirk If you provided additional lanes you would cut down a bit on the queue time but a downfall would be the pedestrian exposure if you were to widen the road. It would encourage cut through traffic through Lantern Lane and it would start to change trip patterns. If the queue time was a problem I would suggest to look into it. K.Foreman Is there a pull off for the bus for people that utilize public transportation? When the bus stops, that will also delay the Main Street traffic. J.Dirk We weren t proposing one, the bus will stop in the travel lane, picking up and dropping off will interrupt the flow of traffic on Main St. It could benefit the flow of traffic on Main St., but would there be enough room for the bus to pull off. We have that little bit of frontage, would it be beneficial to the traffic on Main St., yes geometrically, not sure. T. Hurrie Would the applicant be responsible for what you outlined in the pedestrian improvements? J.Dirk We have set that as part of the project. E.Van Keuran I feel like a place to park the bus would be an advantage. P.Haverty I m curious about the bus stop because a school bus would still have to pull over, put its lights on. J.Dirk You would never want to do it for a school bus because the kids have to cross the street, you want the traffic to stop for school buses. P. Haverty So this would just be for public transportation? J.Dirk Yes K.Bielan In regards to the trip generations I know that you look at the number of units and the townhouses, does that also take into consideration the number of bedrooms? J.Dirk Units, there is a certain number of trips generated per unit. K.Bielan Did you calculate a trip generation for Lantern Lane? J.Dirk In terms of daily volume it would be less than 1,000. It s about 10 trips per home. 5

6 K Bielan You stated that you would be making some improvements to you section of the road, is there any proposal to improve the remainder of Lantern Lane? J. Dirk If it s private, we wouldn t be able to do improvements to the other end. K.Foreman Could the residents of Lantern Lane block access, do you have any rights through Lantern Lane? K.Erickson Easement rights, through the whole way. J. Connolly He [Jeffrey Dirk] was very thorough in his scope of work. They did follow the standard steps and accounted data. After the last meeting I got feedback from some of the neighbors that they wanted to leave the road as is to discourage going down Lantern Lane. The improvements would be great. Each of the steps of the traffic assessment I found to be appropriate and correct. I did verify the queuing and the findings as presented were correct. The one thing I had asked about last time that wasn t addressed, was that the assessment said that traffic volume in May was higher, but that doesn t really change the findings, the queuing may increase slightly. The crash history is low,it is a safe section there. K.Foreman What are your feelings about turning lanes and a bus pull off? J.Connolly As far as the turning lanes, you would just be serving the people in the development, I don t think it s needed. I like the idea of the bus pull off, be careful to make sure that the sidewalk widths are what they need to be to accommodate all users. G. Fontecchio One of the major concerns in the density and volume in relation to the character of the village and the other buildings. The building is monolithic. The roof has very shallow pitches. In this picture you can see the roof lines vary in height making sure the mass fits in with the community. The layout of the site, there is a blank setback from the sidewalk to a blank parking structure. There is no base provided for the structure and no activity. What is shown doesn t engage anything. It would be nice to see a 30 ft strip to provide an active entry/retail space to engage the street front. Right now the proposed structure is 4 stories 1 parking garage with 3 levels of apartments, then the roof space. The building should step down a minimum of 1 story (areas in yellow). If this was done, it would appear that it would affect appx units. This will read as a 3 story building with an active retail space, it will make it feel as though is belongs. It would also be beneficial to have an entrance to the development that faces the street so when residents/guests are going to shop, they have a main entrance to come in rather than walking down the side. K.Foreman From a safety point of view, would it be good if there was an entry lobby with a person there, so people wouldn t just be walking into the building. G.Fontecchio Having the amenity of a concierge is a benefit to the development. Most importantly I would encourage activities with small retail shops and an entry lobby. It could be a coffee shop, professional offices anything to service the residents or a gym. K.Foreman Another issue that has come up has to do with shadowing. 6

7 G. Fontecchio It s a significant issue the larger buildings are very close to their property lines. The adjacent properties are much smaller structures so this will cast a significant shadow. K.Foreman Would you recommend having one done? G.Fontecchio Absolutely, it would be appropriate. K.Foreman Would that have an adverse impact? G. Fontecchio Definitely, I think that the applicant would have a complete application if there was a shadow study done as well as detailed elevation. K.Bielan Did you have any concerns regarding the townhouses? G. Fontecchio Those aren t my particular issue in terms of scale. I think that they are appropriate. It s the 2 larger buildings, scaling height back would be beneficial. K.Bielan Do you have any concerns with the material they are proposing to use? G.Fontecchio It s something to talk about but I think there are bigger concerns. The trees along Main Street should be street trees something that gets to be tall and has a canopy that can provide shade in the summer as opposed to a more decorative tree. Smaller trees don t provide a breaking scale between the street and the structure. K.Erickson This is the first time we are seeing this, whether the Board agrees with him or not the applicant does not want to do a commercial element or eliminate units. It s not something we are proposing. As for the rest of it, we are very comfortable with our design and our architectural team. K.Bielan Will you take these recommendation to review with your team, is there no moving? K.Erickson I would like to see something in writing from Mr. Fontecchio. G. Fontecchio I would be happy to write comment letter and to summarize what was presented. P.Haverty He can write a letter, but a live presentation is more effective and then the next step would be to get feedback. K.Erickson The only think I would ask, is that the comments that come not address the retail aspect. It s not something that we are proposing and it is off the table. P. Haverty I understand that s your position, but the Board isn t agreeing with you and it is something that s important to them, under chapter 40B the Board has the right to require certain things that comply with municipal planning chapters. K. Erickson If you believe the Board has the right to require that we provide retail space, then I have to disagree with your interpretation. P.Haverty The Board has considered this issue and they do believe that there is local planning concerns with maintaining the local street scape.chapter 40 B does provide in the regulations that the Board can establish if planning issues outweigh the regional need for affordable housing. 7

8 You might want to go back and have some additional consideration as this is important to the Board. K.Erickson I have no further response. P.Harverty I am letting you know that this is something that is a concern to the Board and aren t easily going to take no for an answer. K.Erickson We have been very clear from the beginning, even in this zoning district that although it does encourages mixed use, it doesn t require it. P.Harvety There are massive waivers that are being requested, they want to see the street scape maintained, more accessible and more consistent. I want to make sure that you are aware of these concerns that hopefully we can discuss further at the next meeting. B. Milisci We did receive a set of revised plans and reviewed them and were able to issue a rereview. Most of the storm waste comments have been taking care of and we are in agreement with them. Our first comment was the proximity of the very large building and the property lines. The applicant provided a detail sheet of the footings/columns with the footings being 3ft from the property line, my firm and I do not believe that this can be done without encroaching onto the property line. The applicant and their engineers are adamant that it can be done. I have also put in my letter that a geotechnical / structural review be done before building permits and if it warrants as a condition. Most of the lighting plan is appropriate we found two areas on the NE and NW of property that would need some further review. K.Foreman Which sides? B.Milisci The NW (behind building #3) and the NE (behind #4 and the 2 townhouse buildings). They provide signage, although a few spots can be looked at better. Curb radiuses can be better looked at for the maneuverability on site. We urge that the fire department get involved for that review. E.Van Keuren The drawings that were submitted last week on the 22 nd, there were setbacks that were changed from 5ft to 10ft but on the west side of building it s still 5 ft. How are they going to do building maintenance? It should be 10 like everything else. B. Milisci That was one of our concerns. They re very tall buildings very close to the property lines. S. Budrow I just want to mention the that was already read from Lt. Trott that he didn t see any change in the maneuverability radius. K.Foreman My concern for the geotechnical aspect are both the closeness of the setbacks and the soil conditions. Do you think we should wait for the final plan or get some data prior to. B. Milisci - More information is better, the applicant is adamant that they can do it within the setbacks. 8

9 K.Bielan There was more discussion tonight about shadow study and we have asked for that and you have said that you re not interested in doing it and again that came up again, I would recommend that we would like to see a shadow study, we can have our architect put some comments together so you can respond to the presentation and another thing that has been requested are accurate elevations in comparison to neighboring properties. I think coordinating something with the fire department will be helpful. E.Van Keuren Parking for the bus and the delivery vehicles on site. K.Bielan Proposed dates for next meeting? S.Budrow My concern is how many more hearings will the Board need? We thought May 18 th just for this application and will that leave enough time before June 7 th. We could schedule a new hearing. K.Bielan So I guess it s May 18 th. Everyone is available? K.Erickson One thing that Mr. Haverty and I have discussed is the possibility of a workshop. P.Haverty Work sessions are very common under chapter 40B, it would be a discussion of ongoing issues, and the Board member that is there is not allowed to make any commitments or decisions. That person will report back to the Board. The public can attend. It can help to eliminate certain issues. S.Budrow Do you recommend that before the next hearing? P.Harverty I would, that way it will allow that Board member to come back and report in before the next meeting. S. Budrow So we can have that work session in April and the next public meeting May 18 th. E.Van Keuren I d be willing to go. K.Bielan So the only date for the public hearing in May 18 6:30. K.Foreman made a motion to continue to May 18 6:30, E.Van Keuren seconded. Motion carried 5-0. P.Haverty Do you want to pick a date and time for the workshop? K.Erickson Can we do Wednesday the 12 th? S.Budrow So April 12 I will see if I can get this room. K.Foreman The public can attend, correct? S.Budrow The public can attend, but no public comment. Chairman Bielan closed the hearing at 8:00pm 9