March 19th meeting of the eong meadow planning board to order oh I haven't used that yet interesting so those in attendance are Mr Rob Terell myself Russell Denver Cassandra chero and Bill fona so the first uh item is I need to ask if there's anyone either on Zoom or in the audience who might be recording this meeting if so please state your name and the method you're using to record the meeting I'll ask one more time if there's anyone on Zoom or in the audience who might record who might be recording the meeting we state your name and the method in which you're recording the meeting hearing none so the approval of the February 6 2024 open session meeting minutes make a motion to approv the February 6 2024 Open Session minutes do I have a second no second motion May second any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I that passes the minutes of the February 20th 2024 Open Session minutes uh because we just got those I'll make a motion to continue it to the next meeting and I'll second motion made and seconded to continue any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I that passes so Mr clerk to first order of business please uh case sp223 d10 request for amendment of special permit granted to dor Dental a dental office at 281 Maple Street ass partiel ID 6-12 A- 2A located in the residence B zoning District applicant gleny Goodman Esquire 82 Maple Street Springfield Mass 01105 continued 22224 so for everybody in the audience if you wish to be heard on this matter we would like you to have to come down sit here sign in so you can be heard on the microphone thank you Dr how are you yourself good thank you B yours so I believe that there was a a a plan presented from the landscaper yeah is that the one we got at 4:50 this afternoon I I don't know okay yes there is there is one in front of us so um questions on the plan before we open it to the public the fence was an addition right that was from last week is that agreed with the residents that was everyone's happy they took got stop throughs as far as I know y yeah so here's some basic questions so how high will the fence be six feet six feet and how soon can you get it in installed that's I can call heast defense and soon as possible so I I think I think we would like to see it done within a month yeah to be installed so it's a white vinyl fence and it'll be installed within a month okay any other questions before we open to the public that was the only concern I had with you know put a time limit on this to get you know keep it moved okay so if there's no other questions if there's anyone who would like to be open public hearing if there's anyone who would like to be heard on this matter please step forward sign in please thank you so uh we did meet uh my name is Kevin manchel I live at five Fairway Lane um adjacent to the uh dentist office and I just had a few questions just so it was on record um just let me finish writing um so I guess one of the things was we hadn't spoken with with uh the uh Doris until we had spoke with the um landscaper so I wasn't even aware if you were aware of this and agreed to all this stuff too that we had talked about so if that's all good with you I think we're good with it I just had a few questions um I just wanted when we spoke with the landscaper he said that the fence would be four to five feet from the curb um the area would be graded to make sure the fence stays as high as possible towards the parking lot without causing unnecessary runoff of water um the arbores that are being planted are going to be 5 to six feet high initially and the timeline to start which we just said will be within the month um so on the plan the way I read the plan it's on the North part of the fence not all across the fence correct correct so it's to the rear of the propes all right yep so that would be for the neighbors to to the rear to the side of our house and then we were in this spot here that just has the fence but we have arbores planted here so we're all right with that I asked that the F the first drawing that I got had the fence stopping right at the curve line um to the uh souths side coming down and I asked that it be extended a little further because really it stopped and we could see right through it from where we were on our deck and that was draw I just basically yeah basically chiming in just so you know we've agreed to that and that's on the that's why you got the drawing so late because they added that at the end of the day Okay cool so I just wanted that to basic be on the record and get face to face with you sure that everybody was agreeing to everything that was being said other than that I think we're uh I think we're pretty good all right is there anyone else in the audience who' like to be heard on this matter hearing none are so I'm just looking at the two drawings so there's a like a a row of arbores behind the fence is that are you adding that those are those are private got it property he's adding this okay it's theand this and then these freem men Maple ones those you're adding correct okay yes I guess too uh what are the size of these uh maple trees that are going to be added and in the email it said that they would grow uh pretty big but you know it said at maturity they'll be 45 feet in height and 30 feet in width at maturity but is that 30 years from now like what is do we know I don't know I don't have that information I'm I apologize but I'm sure that it's uh designed to be a rapid coverage we can get you that information absolutely and I'm suris look I did look up the trees and it does say that they're rapid growing trees I just didn't know if they were G to come in and be well I think that would be a landscaper question quite honestly yeah unfortunately Julian couldn't make it today something happened at the last moment but we will absolutely get you that data if that's acceptable so if there's no one else who wishes to on this matter do have a motion to close the public hearing I'll make a motion to close public hearing second second motion made in second on closing public hearing any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I right so back to the board so um so I guess we would want to Mo to approve what we can refer to as an amendment to the special permit which would incorporate the submitted landscape design number six that all work is to be completed by um April 18th of 2024 there was also discussion about either moving the dumpster or enclosing the dumpster so that is going to be part of the motion as well and thank you Mr may I speak to thaty good sure just to let you know we've we've hired Hasty not only are they going to do the fence along the western border but they're going to uh build an enclosure to code for the uh current location for the waste and recycling good okay but I'm still going to keep it in the motion yeah oh absolutely I was going to inform you at the appropriate moment okay great so do I have a motion with those conditions added to it uh make a motion to approve the following conditions I be listing these out so you can just say as presented as present as presented yeah got it do I have a second I'll second okay motion remain in second any further discussion here hearing none all in favor say I I anyone oppos say nay hearing none finally we're all SEP thank you so much thank you and Mr Denver may I just commend I wanted to commend your administrative staff they were they were fantastic really from beginning to end and I know you've you've had a transition there but uh from the beginning to the end your your admin staff was was wonderful so thank you great there you go Mr Mr Christensen good to hear uh next next item yeah uh case an anr 2024 d04 request for endorsement of a plan of land believed not to require approval under subdivision control law for the conveyance of parcel a at 11 Brook Haven Drive assessor parcel ID 70- 28-5 to form new lot 4-r at 397 quter Road assessor partial ID 70- 26-4 both partials are located in the ra zoning District applicant Stacy Elms 397 Porto Ro s metal Mass 01028 so is the applicant um available or representative hello let us know who you are and uh my name is Stacy HS I live at 397 Porter Road okay so tell us what you're trying what you want to do here I just wanted to uh buy a parcel off of my neighbor um just to increase see size of my yard y okay have a dog and I'd like to make an area where he can uh enjoy and possibly down the down the road put up a secondary garage so I have to ask these questions public needs to know absolutely y okay uh I I've looked through it and I don't have any specific questions I don't have any good hearing none so do I have a motion to endorse the plan is submitted I'll move to endorse the applicants plan as submitted um any I have a second second any discussion caring none on to endorse the plan is submitted all in favor say I I anyone oppose set thank you very much good luck you next item case sd- D-28 d01 reest for release of City bond for the definitive subdivision Hidden Ponds a 20 division on a 26344 Acres site located west of redstone Drive C ID cessor parcel 23-7 s-0 in the residence a zoning District applicant Bedrock Financial LLC DBA Rosebud Builders hbox 79 East metal mask 01028 okay Mr Joyce I think I saw you walking into the walking in do you wish to come forward and talk about this so we do have a letter from Mark Burman Deputy superintendent of Department of Public Works Penny writes Ray full Bond release Hidden Pond Drive the esa met Department of Public Works has performed a final inspection of the roadway after two free thaw Cycles our recommendation to release the bond in full my name is Alfred Joyce and I agree with that recommendation sure you do okay you want to add anything no that's I'm good with that anyone have any questions okay do I have a motion uh I'll make a motion to approve the release of the shy bond for the definitive subdivision hidden bonds I'll second any further discussion caring none all in favor say I anyone to post say nay there you go thank you thank you new business case site d224 d03 request for site plan review for the construction of a large scale ground mounted photo Val AR arrays mounted to carports and fixed tilt racks as well as containerized energy storage systems located on 301 Chestnut Street sessor partial ID 18 1-0 a 38 acre lot in the industrial Garden Park zoning District applicant Tyler Welsh 5610 dividend Road Indianapolis Indiana 46 the applicant available just spend minute signing in and then we'll get started right e so we have all the materials that you've submitted but just for you know public disclosure why don't you just give a quick Narrative of you're trying to do course well appreciate you giving us a few minutes here to talk about this project my name is Tyler Welsh I represent RPG Energy Group out of Indianapolis Indiana and uh we routinely will go around um alongside Stanley Black and Decker and other uh heavy industrial users energy users and um admin propose and Implement renewable energy Energy Efficiency projects um with me today I have Sam pudell representing kimley horn civil engineer and they've been teaming with us since I believe late 2021 uh working on this very project here so um if I could i' spend a couple minutes talking about the project team and our roles um the background of the project kind where we started and right now some of the the major improvements so um again I represent RPG Energy Group um we have been responsible for the engineering structural civil electrical for this project to date since 2021 we've been working with National Grid we submitted a pre-application in 2021 uh we have a um fully executed inter connection service agreement and uh should be receiving soon uh design drawings for for the minor grid updates they have a plan for us so when we receive those we can also share those with the board um again kimley Horn uh National engineer helping us here for several years um Samy can get into some of the maybe Civil and related items here in a bit but uh um this project will be owned and operated by a finance here this is a power purchase agreement between Onyx Renewables and the property owner uh Stanley Black and& Decker so there is no D transfer the property remains in the hands of Stanley Black and Decker um Onyx is just selling the kilowatt hours to the SES for this behinde meter solar and storage project so um I talked about the interconnection a little bit um this project is a major milestone for Stanley it's it's one of about 40 as they reach their 2030 carbon goals um not only are they trying achieve sustainability and carbon reduction but also a good utility savings project for them so um right now um in addition to the planning board uh which is our first hearing we have uh prepared and submitted today for hearing number two with Conservation Commission and um also keeping the state updated with our noi so um about the improvements themselves so at any time I can um I have the renderings in front of me have pictures uh speak volumes but I also have the drawings that I know all have those too and they've been presented or shared online but um in in summary this is about 3.86 megawatt total solar name plate and 2 megawatt uh battery storage container um there are two utility incentive programs we're participating in Massachusetts smart based on the production of the system and um connected Solutions which uh the battery the battery um represents so any given time the utility can call in that battery and um utilized on the grid so um the ground Mount portion is just over 1,700 solar modules um and the canopies are just over 3,800 solar modules um within the ground Mount portion uh per the code we're going to propose and install the UMass uh certified silver sht pollinator mix um and it'll be the responsibility of Onyx as the owner to um provide that maintenance plan annually to you um on time um it will be the ground miny weight array enclosed by a 7 foot tall chain link black vinyl fence uh one point entry lockable um system owner will have a key as well as grid um there will be security cameras throughout both underneath the carport and within the solar array um there's no lighting within the grand Monteray and there's no proposed grading we can get it at in a little bit if we need to um as far as the installation there is no proposed concrete within the ground Mount array they're all driven post similar to the piles you see along Bridges driving down the highway use a post pounder to pound those into the ground um now moving on to the carport canopies um these are what you call Long span and t- structure carports with a 14ot minimum clearance to not obstruct da operations the traffic in and out with the semis um they're on site I mentioned there are security cameras within there are snow guards there's no decking rain will continue to fall on the ground as it does today um and we're not proposing ing any adjustments to underground storm or tying into existing structures um we will plan restriping and when beneath the car ports there will be four dual EV Chargers electric vehicle Chargers so 8 points of charge um those are represented on the site plan too um with our submission um lastly here before we get to some Q&A um I will just make clear we are requesting one waiver for the um trainers report and kimley Horn can speak more to that but keeping in mind there's no regrading and we'll be including the pollinator mix there beneath the array so that was my quick snapshot of the project and I can get into more details so before we open for a public comment does the board have any questions this is just like fact finding and listening right now I I do have a question so Landscaping sure so come down chest Street beautifully landscaped property so will there be Landscaping along Chestnut Street about that yeah so per per the code um had uh drawn the required buffer on the front yard at 75 foot set back I believe the trees are shown at 50 foot on Center but what I should have mentioned is the the um the black screen mesh that will be between the front of the array and the road so you won't be able to see into the fence from Chestnut Street if you're if you're asking in regards to so if I'm if I'm standing on Chester Street looking toward the building and I know it's on most of it's on the left yeah are you going to have landscaping and then the mesh or the mesh and then the landscaping and then the so right we have the tree line buffer um and then we have the mesh on the fence okay yeah okay that mesh doesn't just go on the front section it wraps around to where the equipment pad's shown so even if you're coming in an angle you can't and how far is the side fence to XL dryer so the building next door um so you're talking about the West uh yes so um we're yeah nothing is within that 40 foot side yard and we are east of the trees so I also should have mentioned there's no pruning or tree removal umos to so so I don't know how much reconnaissance you did before looking at this but we've permitted uh two similar projects at a company Nissan Medical Mayberry Material Handling or so from yeah but you look at that and it has similar from an aerial okay um so this uh ground Mount array is fixed it doesn't move with the sun it doesn't tilt with the sun and uh it's it's two modules to high they call it 2p and um if you have the rendering in front of you um I if if that system at Mayberry what you're referring to is fixed it's probably very similar yeah okay where's the battery storage going to go on this um s i could dig into it but there's yep it's so within the grass area to the east of the solar array at the equipment pad area we call it I'm thinking as you're going through this keep that in mind for distance for fire and whatnot that's that out of anything that would be the source I think okay fire department having to access to it and okay quickly get to it right so we're going to keep um 20 feet between edge of module and face of equipment minimum within the fence and then we have a 20 foot outside the fence to edge of driveway for snow removal um on a personal note it looks like this is going in the field I would assume over there yes I there's we say gently a lack of fields in this town especially with my son he plays soccer there um would be Lov to see something happen somewhere else to make up for those lost Fields then it's soccer and whatnot there but something to consider be a good look for the C yes so we um just just to comment on that real quick we have been with the site there um obviously they're much more local than us and um understand that need so um I I don't think the conversation's over but we can think of something to um because my first site visit out there yes there were the soccer goals and things that are no longer there so we do realize it was recreational yeah wasn't pretty but was a nice look fora keep that in mind do I just want to kind of follow the ownership one more time sure okay the black from Decker own property you're going to put up the solar you're going to put up the solar and it's owned by owned and operated by Onyx Renewables okay out of New York and so the power that's generated is being sold back the Black and Decker correct okay by the kilowatt hour right and it'll be interconnected behind the meters so those kilowatt hours will be used on site before entering the gdia and so is there a lease agreement for the solar I mean you're entering into a lease agreement with black and& Decker for use of the land yeah so it there's an overall power purchase agreement contract uh I believe we put the cover page on there and um Stanley Black and& Decker is not leasing the equipment um right that agreement just gives Onyx permission to have those improvements on site for the duration of it I believe it's 20 years and then the annual maintenance and other requirements are done by Onyx they are they are completed they're the responsibility of onyx who um is oh how do I say it they they want this system to perform so they can sell as many kilowatt hours as possible so um yes um RPG right now um I believe is responsible for about one year workmanship and if they choose to have us continue that on a term basis then then we will but um our PG is not constructing we're we're not contractors we're just a construction admin We'll advise on the schedule and uh keep stand black and deer informed construction so that the public might know so if there are if there are issues associated with the town who does the town reach out to it's a good way to this whole yeah yeah so um the system owner would be Onyx Renewables yeah okay what I've always asked this question at the end of the light what happens to the panels where do they go like who's responsible for them at that point yeah it's it's a great question so the these systems are you know they're supposed to last 20 to 30 years right and um there are systems out there that maybe at the end of their life um there are some a lot of them stalled at least you know firstand experience within the last five to 10 years so there are groups out there that will take those and recycle them um or repurpose them but um yeah whether whether it's recycled or handled in a way that's safe right um I don't know the exact process but they're not just thrown away is that something in the contract when they're get say you know at the end of life who's responsible for it is that just kind of open it's actually in the to by loss it is because this is still a relatively new phenomena across the industry we had to submit to your team a decommission plan and a estimate for your approval and um I assume probably not this hearing but one we'll get into that maybe but go ahead question is there any concern about rodents getting in Behind These panels and chewing wires because I'll give you a p like I've got solar on my house and they put up before they put up Critter guard squirrels would go up there and make nests so UMass is requiring us to have a wildlife friendly fence which means um 6 to 12 in Gap at the bottom okay in addition to the pollinator mix okay um with the required maintenance there are quarterly visits um by onx themselves or someone they subcontracted to for visual inspections electrical inspections all those things so um time shouldn't pass before those issues are because all of us you know you'll you'll notice all of a sudden a drop in production and you wonder why yeah I'm to find out somebody's true to wire yeah and because it'll take a while before this actually you realize it because the production could drop off drop off couldn't might be little to none at the beginning if you understand what I'm saying yeah yeah of course so there's um there's a Das out there or monitoring system that that will monitor down to the string level and um certain folks are emailed texted Falls below that Mark but yeah thank you good point all right thank you anyone else or I'm going to open it up to the public anyone like to be heard on this matter please step forward if you want you can go back into the audience but get ready to answer questions if need do you want me to stay up here and answer them okay might over here it's a quick one we'll scoot over it down there so um my question is uh Lennox currently has Ralph paage 37p Road um lenux currently has a solar array system on the roof is this a completely separate independent system are they going to be at somehow meshed together uh will the one on the roof um correlate work together with it or are they two completely separate entities so that we have to know who's controlling the one on the roof who's controlling this one who owns the property um and controls for everything I mean if they're all meshed together it's nice in one area it sound like this is going to be completely separate from the roof so there's going to be multiple control areas for it right we we had explored the roof one of the first places we looked and um for structural reasons it it's going to happen um but to answer so there there is a solar array on the roof right now yes yeah yeah y so as far as I know completely different systems two different points of interconnection two different owners all behind the all behind the meter okay I mean that that's my question like I said it seems like a uh large facility a lot of solar panels and multiple owners a lot of energy being used our our system represents between 11 to 12% offset and I don't know combined how much lenux uses if any sold back or not but that was my question like I said I just wasn't sure if they're going to be intertwined together yeah thank you thank you anyone else like to be heard on this matter please step forward okay done I don't there's someone done who want oh that's uh Rebecca coming up okay all right thank you for your time yeah thank you thank you um so just to give you some perspective on this so a number of years ago the town was sued by a developer who came in and wanted to do a uh solar farm in a residential district planning board said no we were brought to believe lanc court I think it was LT we we lost um we said the judge found that our that our solar bylaw was too restrictive at the time uh and I don't know if that project actually ever moved forward or not but uh we did lose that but this is an allowed use in the industrial Garden Park District um I think I personally think the submittals are very well done very professional I don't have any further questions does anyone else no I'm good good someone want to make a motion there's no public hearing right so we just have to I make a motion to approve the site plan as presented okay do have second second any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I thank you and thank you for the investment in East meow thank youate very much thank you okay public hearings all right uh case sp223 d08 request for amendment of special permit granted to mes LLC DVA East Village Tavern Restaurant at 53-55 North Main Street cessor parcel ID 26-1 1480 located in the business Zing District applicants John and Joseph Sullivan 23 Road hampon mass6 129 2023 welcome back thank you thank you uh all of the Westfield flarities send their best thank you sure that just surprised you yes yes it did their son Thomas is marrying my niece in about a month and a half no way please give them my best eff Mr Kelly how are you good to see you again uh so why don't you kind of bring us back to where we were and where we are now just so that we canec we emailed a plan over March 6 and we dropped off the bigger version today I don't know if you had a chance to look at that because this is different than okay so if you if you've been by there you know that the one that was built in Co that we originally asked for you to un grandfather in and permit B so we took they took it down so is a little bit different uh than when we first came here just to kind of reorient you uh under covid there was the the RS to put up outdoor dining were relaxed so that's ending in probably I think next month actually officially and so the initial application was asking you to officially permit that uh porch that they had put onto the side of the building and you had some conerns and we heard them went back to drawing board and came back with a new plan that uh porch that was really put up there is gone now so what we have here is a new plan um I'll first start just exactly where the patio is you can see there it say restaurant um it's four tables the at the um right if you can see those four tables that's it that's the whole plan now um it's going to be for for do you see them no okay it's the looking at the wrong one these yep those are tables that's the entrance to the bot so that a unit you had some there that's all gone RI it off gone gone so all the seating would be in front yes okay all the seting would be in front and in taking that down um and re Paving and relining the parking lot they're going to go from 53 to 70 spots so they'll add 17 spots with what they're doing here um but to bring it back to patio for a second which is what we're we're here for is um there's going to be those tables there they're there are four tops so there's technically speaking you could say there's 32 capacity of there um The Proposal that we have here for you is you will not be able to sit there if you're just going to drink right you have to eat there okay you can't just sit down there you have to go inside get meet with a Hostess and make sure that um the seeding is available and the rules will be explained they have you have to eat there you have to have uh food there is not going to be turned into an outdoor bar at all um this is going to be for outdoor dining the proposed hours there will be a little different than what the operating hours are the D the hours for the patio are going to be 11: a.m. to 10 p.m. now you'll also knowe that the um since it's now no longer on the side of the uh establishment it's in the front it's forward facing so it's facing the the Main Street and all the neighbors the residential Neighbors which the bulk of them are in the back will be completely blocked by the building itself so it's actually taking that away from any concerns for terms of like sound traveling over there on top of that there will be no real sound out there other than people eating they may have some small speakers and have some Ambient sound but it'll be nothing more than just a small speaker and some background music out there so we hope that's um lay some concerns about any noise traveling because all the noise will be blocked by the existing brick building okay and again um you'll have to you'll have to be seated you have to be full only um so that's the change uh there now around that area on top of that they're going to have you know you see like the big planters you know they'll have plantings up so it'll be more aesthetically pleasing so when you go sit down there you're not you know you're not looking at the car you just parked or someone else parked there there's going to be some plantings between you and the car as well um so I think that'll be set using for the diners but also people driving by it'll just look nicer um so that's the proposal there um you had some valid concerns about parking last time this this will actually add 17 spots there since that time um that we last in front of you the uh the two owners who were both on Zoom have gone out and made agreements uh in writing and print with the people across the street Rockies um the dental spot across the street they have agreements there they've been added to their insurance Riders um so they have gone out it's not just people parking there without permission they've actually gone out and knocked on doors met with the owners come to an agreement shook hands have it in writing and it's been add to their insurance policy uh I know perhaps you're not happy from like I hear Last Time crossing the street but I want to let you know if this does this plan by taking that uh porch off adds 17 spots and adds it because they're doing a little more different array of how they're lining them they have the permission of uh obviously the landlord and they're going to pay for all this is going to be brand new Paving and brand new lining so that's the proposal that we have in front of you were you able to do an easement or a license with the the bank and the Professional Building you're talking about over this side over here over here like the mson bank the mson bank yes they've spoken with them but I mean every everyone's allowed to use this parking right no I'm talking about the parking that they have oh that they have um they overflow right so they they've reached out and spoken to them as well they don't um they have the agreement in writing are people across the street right um I think they just have handshake deals with the other entities from my understanding okay and then the other issue was you wanted to amend the special permit to allow additional number of musicians yes that's a second part of it where are you on that probably the same spot that we were last time here um you you and I had talked a little about it the board has some questions about you know the bylaws um you should look at abcc bylaws and different bylaws anyone we we talked about the the the Irish people that uh that you mentioned you're aware of that go there and play we were trying to look at a way where they were compensating that but that's just not what the master laws are I mean if you're there playing an instrument you're a musician so I think those laws are designed so people can't get around those types of bylaws by saying well we didn't pay him he just showed up and did it for fun so we're in the same position I understand your opposition but what we're saying is I my understanding is having represented at some points over the over their career the prior owners of this bar that they came in and those um that restriction was placed on there maybe due to some problems they may have had that was my understanding I could be wrong and I'll be corrected by whatever is in the file but that's my my memory from a decade plus ago but in in this particular case these are new owners they're starting fresh I think we we hope that over the course of the time that they've been operating and owning this bar you've realized that this is not operated as a concert venue right last weekend is an anomaly and that's one of the reasons why they want to have this um they got a one day permit to get the MERS in there um you know obviously they have an Irish Centric bar and for St Patrick's Day in the parade and the that weekend generally they're going to have those types of events but going forward this is not a concert venue it's an entertainment venue it's exactly what it presents itself to be right it's a place where you can go and sit down uh and have meal and still be heard um so that's their position we understand there may be some push back but the reason we're asking for it is new owners and asking for a clean slate we don't anticipate this is be something that they're going to have every single weekend but it's something they don't want to have to rush down here every single time and get a one- day permit for a couple of events a year but I did look at the B like you suggested but we'd prefer to just be straightforward and just say this is what we're doing rather than trying to find a back door we on the bylaws we that's just not how we want to operate uh questions from the board going back to the oh I'm sorry go ahead Cassie would anyone like to see the new proposed parking and the location of the outdoor dining happy to give you a copy and you can review it while we're doing this well okay thanks go ahead Mr Kelly going back to the tables and you said that there it you have to have food and everything else yes sir will there be waitress service out there yes okay so if I'm going to if my wife and I want to sit at the table we go inad and tell the hostess we want to sit out here yes and then a waitress will come out and take our order yeah so you go in I'll let Matt desell who's the manager kind of go through the more Logistics of it but essentially you go in and they'd say hey we'd like to dine and they'd say in or out okay say out and they'd say okay if there's a table available they'd sit you down there and at some point a waitress would come out and take your order so yeah you won't be able to travel like go to the bar get a drink and walk outside that's that's where I'm going no no no you have to sit there you have to be served you have to order food yes correct all right thank you so um what will the new seating capacity be 32 because you have eight tables and they're four total for everything so like the total I believe inside was 98 and I uh think that the from what I was seeing earlier when I looking reviewing that but this will be 32 okay but I think I always leave that up to the town because the town's going to make their own determination uh based on square footage and 32 would be if every body was seated there at all the tables now right at the same time now the town may have a different termination some U you know based upon square footage so I think they go by standing as well for 100 then that's when the fire department had comments yeah but not for not for inside inside is not changing but his note commented on total occupancy I haven't seen his note um but my there'll be no change on the inside well the question then it's really for something they they would then have to deal with if the town then determines it yeah and they'll have to do with it right reduce your inside to keep it under 100 or yeah correct okay that's not but it was on the drive I do remember that yeah I remember seeing something before I open interpretation is the inside's not changing but that's so this is a public hearing so I'd like to open if you two would like to maybe sit in the front front row uh I'm opening it to the public anyone like to be heard on this matter please step very good evening once again Ralph page 137 P Road um I just had a question with regards to parking and capacity know they said they've reached an agreement with like across the street and all to allow them to park there except our bylaws uh do not allow that to be um considered for um amount of people within the the building so in other words you can't count that parking and say hey there's five spots over there that we can use which will allow us another 15 people people inside so I just wanted to make sure that there was no change in that but um yeah so Rebecca are you she's here can you come into the meeting for a minute yeah so I I think I sent you a note last week to look at the revised planning or revised parking was there someone able to look at that on behalf of the town and verify that it met the town's conditions or requirements I did I did not get a chance to look at that sorry okay thank you okay and that was going to be my next question having not seen it I went online I didn't see it online or anything um finding 17 additional spots um if it works that's awesome um and like I said the other changes that they've made um sound wonderful um obviously they took into account what the board said and made adjustments and uh that's good to see they also are going to be putting in new planting Beds which I think really look great it's appreciative yeah I think it was awesome like I said I think everything as a whole looks great thank you just answer that I think in the plan we we recognize that uh for the purposes of your bylaws you have to you can't have people cross the street but we're just letting you know we're doing that but if you look our our person who's I'm sure very smarter than I uh they are says that we're required to get 43 and next door is 10 and we have 70 so I just want to point that out it's written on the plan thanks good anyone hi Mr I don't know if you want yeah can you guys hear me we can yeah that's that's basically like I worked with the architect directly myself um and basically that that's what we came up with originally we needed like 43 or 53 was was the requirement by the Tom bylaws that's what he based his information off of and then the 17 wasn't just shifting everything forward for the patio was also adding it along the sides and he was very careful to make sure he met all the requirements of the fire department and and every by law that was that was the the assignment I gave him was to was to build this within all the guidelines of the laws of the Tom meta so that that this is what he came up with that's why we scratched aside he said the side doesn't work it's not the most effective way to do this so the parking is is you know in my opinion and the architects's opinion more than legal for for what's required great thank you uh anyone else like to be heard on this matter okay do I have a motion to close the public hearing uh I make a motion to close the public hearing I'll second motion made and second and close the public hearing any further discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor say I I okay so back to the board thoughts first I like it solved all our questions parking is good they've been good tenants I think it's improving the frontage with the planting bed it meets what I was looking for would just check with the fire department yeah very creative you listen to what we are concerns and very creative I appreciate it okay um about any conditions on this so Mr Kelly introduced um 11:00 am to 10 pm so Define the 10 pm is it no one can sit there after 10 p.m. or it's no service after 10 p.m I mean what is that over I just want to make sure that it's it's it's in the conditions how about how about the regular hours and then because the main building will be open later correct yep so I think if I could handle that um uh Matt desro and Jin partner um after 10 pm there will be no one on the patio okay be music no music on the patio no ambient noise no nothing we'll have everyone inside after 10 p.m. great no dinner service no late night service no nothing so after 10 p.m at 9:30 we will start getting everyone inside the building and after 10 p.m. there will be no one on the patio Okay so be a noise no nothing what would be the last time you would see somebody outside 9:30 okay I would say to get someone rolling yeah I mean okay 9 9:30 depending on okay business dependent but I can tell you by 10 o'clock I'm there six days a week by 10 o'clock it will be clear there will be no one out there and it won't be a place where you can hang out afterwards no one drinking no nothing okay thank you so I'd like to maybe split this into the vote on the outdoor dining and then the vote on the expansion of the musicians you okay with that yep so um do I have a motion to prove because we need to have an affirmative uh motion to prove the outdoor dining as presented with the conditions and pursuant to the plan that was presented to the planning board this evening I make a motion to approve the amended parking plan with what was presented this evening what did I miss just for the additional outdoor dining for the additional outdoor dining okay a second all right motion made in second any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I want oppose say nay so we're all set with that so on the issue of the expanded musicians So currently the special permit that was in place with the previous owners which you said you represented at different times okay uh allowed three musicians uh at any one time um discussion see a problem I'm okay yeah so I don't know maybe as I I get older I get a little more more kudin but um you know uh so I'm one of those people that moved to Esau metal from Springfield and it was me I love Springfield I was born and raised in Springfield but it was I wanted to kind of get out to do go somewhere with something different Easton Meadow has a lot of uh what some people would call quirkiness like we don't allow fast food uh drive-throughs but we allow them in Banks and you know and Es meow has always been a place where you had restaurants that served alcohol rather than alcohol you know places that you know were bars that serve food and I don't know if I want to be I don't know whether I would vote to change that considering that you know that was you know it's different you live in a city you expect certain things you live in a town or a suburb and you expect other things but that's just me um I would ask that you might consider that we do a trial period I was so that think you can try it see how it works try for six months eight months see what happens I don't think you would mind to come back come back in six months y six months I would say six months see something like that and see how it works and if there's going to be an issue it's more likely to occur I would suspect in the summertime than it would be in the winter time so I think we might get a flavor I just throw that out to the board for your consideration I think that's a good compromise yeah we'll happy to come back here for your September meeting of course right so five would be the number whatever you said it is yeah sure okay I'm good so o what do you think just trying to formulate the motion in my brain so yeah if Russ does the right thing all you have to do is go so moved all right so that we would um so let's we'll make a motion to temporarily you want me take a stab at it no let me I'm go ahead so we make a motion to approve an expanded number of musicians from three to five for a period of six months and at the end of six months you come back and will reconsider a further expansion or a reversion back to the original and it would be we'll call it April June July August September so call it October 1st okay we here the October meeting all right so we have a motion do we have a second I'll second motion made in second any further discussion okay all in favor say I iOS say nay okay okay thank you so I I want to thank you you listen to the neighbors you listen to the town people what you did on the outdoor dining removing it from the side where there are a lot of neighbors was really really well done so I compliment you on that so you know um with that being said I would hope that you would just uh go um not quietly but go um in baby steps as you increase the music stuff like that so and still consider the neighbors 100% absolutely okay thank you thank than you thank you all right case ZN d224 d01 propos zoning bylaw Amendment regarding commercial kenneling and allowing the use in an industrial Zone District by special permit please hey tell us about your proposal um hi I'm Lori earlyy um I own the dog shop in the building at 15 Baldwin Street this is Sandy St Jermaine she's been my right side for 24 years um I'm I've been in town for um in that building specifically for about 25 years I've been in town for about 30 um working the same line of work dog grooming and daycare and um I've been trying to do overnight and I would really like to be able to do overnight for the town um that's one of the biggest requests that we get from our clients and um I would really like the opportunity to to do that so you're asking this board to do what to um allow it in an industrial Zone area I also have my attorney on Zoom he can probably speak that part better yes good evening everybody attorney Robert Ferris um I realize I couldn't be heard before but I'm assuming you guys can hear me now yep all right um so yeah essentially we're seeking to um change or amend I guess I should say bylaw to allow overnight handeling there's already a dog daycare and grooming business and structure in place there's 5,000 square feet I don't think it would change the foot traffic much because it's already in and out um with the Dog Daycare um but we're looking to amend for a n the letter N for no in industrial Zone districts to SP um simply to have special permit so that you guys uh can have oversight um of any overnight peling or um have it be required that we apply for a special permit um in order to get this um specific place at 15 Baldwin Street moving forward um I would say that I supplied um a packet with some information um I would also say that it's not something that's new um in Massachusetts there's plenty of towns that um have this as as their Norm Randy came to mind um they do this without major issue and they also have it as a special permit um obviously we put it in industrial Zone because that's where the building is at 15 Baldwin Street is in industrial Zone there's not an opportunity for a lot of noise um because it's an industrial Zone we could obviously just say commercial Zone and put it as a y for yes or recommend that but we'd like to have some oversight and have it be a town um involved issue as opposed to just asking you know carp launch for it to be a yes and just to have it introduced in but we'd like to have it work with the town on this so this is a public hearing uh before I open it to the public members the board have any questions so Mr Ferris you you sent us something from grandby I don't I don't consider East Long Meadow to be very similar to grandby uh it's 6 it's 6,000 we're 16,000 you have any do you have like wilam Long Meadow Agawam something more relevant to what we would consider a terriable Community there was the town changed their Charter about seven years ago and developed a list of about 11 comparable communities Gran B was not one of them so Northampton has has overnight kenneling um good dog spot uh chickp for good dog spot as well I'm not sure if those are as as comparable grany was kind of just the first one that that I saw it looked it looked good I I actually worked with some of the the um pening businesses over there and so I thought it worked out well um I mean I think you'd have to look at a dog to population percentage or ratio um in order for it to really match and I I don't have like every number of every town um in terms of dog to people ratio except that East Long Meadow I believe has something like 1,765 dogs registered which which is a pretty pretty big number if there's 16,000 people in in East Long Meadow so it seems like would be a certainly a needed um service um not that my personal testimony means um very much but I can I live in East Hampton um Southampton border we don't have um any Dog Daycare in eastampton um really to speak of and and my whole street block is filled with people that have one or more dogs that are looking for um overnight kettling so I think it would be a worthy Endeavor for for people especially dog owners I just want to make sure you're aware that if we if we were to recommend to the Town Council it then goes to the Town Council Town Council need is the final determination on changing the zone and since you're requesting an SP special permit you then have to submit an application for a special permit and come back before this board yes I understand that okay all right so this is a public hearing so I'd like to open it to the public if anyone would like to be heard on this matter Mr Paige there's a third chair easier if I just stayed here uh Ralph page 137 P road so for full disclosure I would just like to stay say outright that um I do take care of this parking lot I plow it um I until the last meeting at the council I had not met the owner um we've just been taking care of it so uh with that being said as a past uh chairman of the planning board uh one of the things that concerns me is that we're just changing uh table 3.1 and we're not listing any criteria um I would like to see some criteria listed under the special permit um I mean it may be such things as uh what size kennel uh is required to keep the dogs in uh what's the maximum number of animals um that can be kept at a kennel um what's the maximum length of time um if they're kept for multiple days how often um are they let out of the kennel is there a yard area um I'm I'm trying to think of this for the entire industrial Zone instead of just a single business and I think it's really important to put criteria in place um I will remind the board that um we had an incident with a uh um a kennel it wasn't a kennel facility a daycare I would like to speak on that I could we and um and again we didn't have specific criteria and the state didn't so the state's looking to change the rules and I believe the town is was also looking during the daycare process to change and that's all I'm saying is if we put criteria in place then there's a way to enforce if you know so believe that a new owner came in to the to this board and we permitted that 30 different conditions on that so things like a staffing ratio you know all all of that stuff and I believe I believe the final count was 30 differents that we had put on it so I guess that's my question that's part of my thought is you know overnight is there you know a phone number available if no one's on site is someone on site I guess my this is more my question to you is wouldn't that come out in the special permit process um all those conditions under um I think it's section8 under the zoning bylaw there's um special permit criteria uh we have it for um homebased trades we have it for daycares we have it for multiple other um sections that require a special permit and I would just like to see something in there for commercial kennels and these are you know whatever the board chooses for criteria to put in there thanks so other than that like I said the facility it's good I don't think anyone unless you're bringing your dog there you really don't even know it's there so quiet I went by there today to check it out thank you nice and far enough away from from the neighborhood yeah I have no complaints anywhere town or anything and the one last thing I would like to remind the board is a little bit later this evening we're talking about a Center District right and this would be right in the center district and so the industrial Zone if the Center District goes in basically goes away so it's something to consider as far as how the wording and all is done um but that may happen five years from now so thank you maybe less so Mr Ferris Mr Ferris so were you able to hear Mr Paige I I did I did and and that's why we're looking for a special permit is is to to do to work with the town on this specifically I didn't think I wasn't expecting to just have it be a yes and then you know have the whole Amendment bylaw change I assume this would be a little bit of a process so so would you you be well could you um take look at some other communities and look at the criteria they have for overnight kenneling and maybe bring them back to this board and I would ask the planning staff to pull up uh and maybe make available to the petitioner the conditions that were on the I'm going to call it dog daycare but it's on North Main Street close to the friendlies and there are about 30 different conditions is that for the one that's there now or the one that was there no for the one that's there now okay the problem the problem with the first one is we had about eight or nine conditions and they were not the issue is we did not believe they had sufficient Staffing all the time and it was open-ended on what the Staffing required so um when they came back we were able to identify some uh national standards yep that aren't mandatory but were recommended and we put those conditions on the new owner and I have not heard I've not heard from anybody that there's been an issue uh since then but I don't own a dog so um I've been in town doing I've been doing daycare since 2003 I was actually the first one in the whole area whole Western MK to doe daycare the first one to require vaccination records I'm on the up and up um I um that particular person was just not right for the business at all um there were major things as a professional yeah we don't need get intool um the I just I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't want to be judged on that no that's not at all it was it almost wasn't every everybody's different okay Y and and not all PEC your professionals are like that yeah okay so would anyone else like to be heard on this matter charge hi Mr Kingston George almost all the west side of Shaker Road in addition to bin Street and uh you need to understand that this is not going to apply to remember you understand this I'm sure but remember that it's not to apply to just one property right it's going to open up this to a large number of properties by the way 66 rural Lane I am an audio um neighbor of for Road petare okay and the fact that these folks do a really class job is great but without echoing to Mr P's comments without criteria to limit noise to um specify what special permit is based on you're opening you may be opening yourselves up to um of people who are not quite as fanous as uh this particular applicate is and so I would suggest that you consider um putting a more substantial change to bylaw so that there are conditions on what would be approved for overnight handling thank you thank you I had a hard time hearing anyone else in the audience like to be heard anyone else on Zoom wish to be heard hearing none so um can I get a motion to continue so that there's more homework that needs to be done I'm good with that yeah so let's give ourselves a couple of months um so we are at the end of March April May um we're only going to have one meeting in May um so don't meet the first Tuesday of June because there's a town election right so uh our second meeting in June is who's got a calendar calendar second oh I think it's June second Tuesday of June June 18th June 18th at six o'clock do I have a motion to I'll make a motion to continue the public hearing to June 18th at 6 PM have a second I'll second okay any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I all right thank you thank you reach out to Al and he might be able to give him a week or so to be able to find the materials from the conditions we put on the new owner and between that and Mr FIS just get materials back to us in a timely manner so we have an opportunity to review it before the meeting thank you very much thank you so much have a great night thank you okay um under other business uh planning and Community Development director's report nothing okay and now a presentation from Piner Valley Planning Commission on Center Town District planning project an introduction to Center Town District steering committee oh yeah of course a little bit of an audible for you tonight see me oh sure oh thank you thank you thank you wondering but yeah thank you Don Tom do you want to just kind of do an intro yeah I figure uh or Rebecca uh she must see her on there yeah well okay well anyway yeah so uh we have a presentation this oh sorry there seems to be a very big delay in uh my talking coming through oh all right that's all right I can I can get us going okay um can you tell me if the presenters have brought a digital file to broadcast through the zoom link okay so it's going to be on the screen up there that's thank you yeah we're good yeah great so I'll let our friends from pvpc introduce themselves in a moment um this is our sort of kickoff to our exciting senator Town District plan um I think we'll we'll we'll get some information out there via letting them start their presentation um and then we can introduce our steering committee um and uh sort of have a conversation discussion take any questions um it might be easier to sort of get through the whole presentation and then uh kind of have a back and forth uh with introductions and sure questions and if that pleases the uh the chair uh maybe we'll go that route I think I'm kind of easy I agree you're on R go ahead uh good evening you okay sir yeah uh my name is Kyle finel I'm a senior planner with Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and my name is Aiden Hemi and McMahon and I am a planner with the p Valley Planning Commission as well uh we're here tonight to introduce the planning board to the ongoing Centertown District planning project uh which is underway and just to provide some context um the project is timely as both a product of recent townwide planning efforts and is also complimentary to ongoing development in town uh in 2021 East Long Meadow completed the resilient master plan project in that planning document the community identified the importance of creating a more defined Town Center uh focusing on improving walkability uh building the Town Center as an economic driver uh and diversifying available housing stock to meet residents needs uh the ongoing High School building project and the ongoing housing needs assessment are just two examples of projects that are striving to address current and future needs for East Long Meadow residents uh and will directly impact considerations for the Town Center planning project so with successful Master planning recently completed and these exciting long-term projects underway uh the town of East Long Meadow is poised to achieve its goal for the center Town District planning project that primary goal is to craft a Centertown District bylaw that follows smart growth principles to guide future development of a community core to achieve this goal residents and town officials will be joining Pioneer Valley Planning Commission staff to Define smart growth in East Long Meadow and to work towards crafting the proper regulatory tool to encourage the types of development residents most want in a center Town District team is made up of iner Valley Planning Commission staff um the pvpc long Meadows Regional planning agency has been contracted by the town to conduct all work relevant and crafting a center Town District bylaw hen comia the deputy director of land use and environment will be serving as project manager uh previously uh Ken comia was a senior staff involved with the resilient master plan project uh he was unfortunately uh double booked tonight so he uh uh sent us along uh we will both be um primary staff working behind the scenes and also uh participating in ongoing meetings and Community engagement resident engagement and involvement in the process is critical uh so a steering committee made up of five volunteer residents has been convened this board is joined by representatives from both the planning board and the Town Council and this group will be serving as a convener multiple Community engagement events and we'll also be providing guidance and direction to pvpc staff at critical junctures of the project just real quick who's the planning board representative oh ell Mr Terrell we donate yes by theair uh of course Town officials will be engaged throughout the process Deputy Town manager Rebecca leisu is serving as facilitator for the team project project team convening regular meetings to advance this project and also connecting it with uh concurrent planning efforts across town leave town manager Tom Christensen will be joining at his uh convenience and availability the project timeline uh as we have initially scoped out uh the tasks uh this project will be concluded by the end of the calendar year uh there are five key tasks uh we're in the March April phase where we'll be conducting an existing land use analysis viewing draft Center Town bylaws any documents that have been uh produced by the community previously regarding this uh type of uh zoning or planning tool in may we anticipate to host uh the first public engagement event convened by our steering committee um we'll go into the summer months uh integrating that first round of community input uh helping to shape uh the draft bylaw we'll be bringing that back in August or September late summer to uh get initial feedback from the uh community and also uh get the last round of community input before we go into the later months of the year to where we will be crafting final uh Centertown bylaw to this board and eventually so um I'm going to take it over from Kyle for a few slides here um first just want to have a slide to think about um what is it that makes for a desirable downtown that's obviously a subjective consideration but generally speaking when we're thinking about thriving downtowns we're talking about a few key factors um so one of those is pedestrian friendly walkability um bikability additionally and public transit accessibility multimodal Transportation options is typically um key um part and parcel to that is uh or what makes that possible a lot of the time is um higher density and mixed use opportunities among a range of land uses commercial residential making sure that the area the downtown area can be active um at multiple periods of time so that you know at 5m it doesn't become sort of a dead zone after commercial businesses Clos people still live there there are Civic activities range of uses essentially they're conducive to a downtown community um and and what really goes along with that as well as of course um creating strong Economic Development opportunities for businesses which then also of course translates to economic opportunities for residents so making the downtown sort of a hub of economic activity and generally speaking creating a place that feels alive with activity um making sure that it's sort of a thriving core for the community um so now to to move to um East Long Meadow for a moment we have conducted a preliminary highle sort of L use analysis for this presentation um looking in particular at land uses in a one M periphery around the rotary um and just sort of a concentric Circle here so um a couple of things to to point out in particular um in this area residential use makes up over half of the total use in the area and as you can see from the map that's it's it particularly predominates on the right side of the road um and the vast majority of that residential land use currently is dedicated to single family housing so fairly fairly low density low intensity use um yeah additionally we want to just point out that um there is um there are some interesting pockets of uh underdeveloped or vacant land and Industrial land um in this area and you can kind of see how it has this pattern to it um and you know over time um with the right sort of um zoning law this these uses could transition to uses that are more conducive to what we were talking about in the previous slide of a sort of downtown community core um through different newon infill opportunities for commercial residential development Etc so quickly um one way that Massachusetts as a state has been hoping to Spur communities to establish um their Zone uh for denser uh smarter growth is through 40R so 40R in the Massachusetts General law um or the smart growth zoning uh law um is a method of providing payment to municipalities that zone and permit compact affordable and mixed use development in preferred locations and I'm going to get into what that means with more specificity in a moment um as of 2017 which is the latest available data for us um 42 uh 40R districts have been fully approved by the state um including some um right in AR neck of the woods as you can see in that little circle below the map of Massachusetts some of the surrounding communities have these districts so to quickly get into what the benefits are for 4dr speaking specifically to the direct Financial incentives uh provided by the state to get into some specificity here um there is an initial uh State incentive payment between $10,000 and $600,000 which is directly related to the projected housing units um that are assessed to be become available through creation of the district and you can see that represented in the table to the right um there's an additional $3,000 provided for each housing unit that is permitted and built after that initial payment um and the state also um assists with Education costs for school age children who move into the 40R development district there are also of course some requirements that go along with 4r and I will just outline outline them very briefly here so there is affordability con uh component 20% of the housing developed in the district must be classed as affordable housing which to be specific means um 80% of area median income or or less um there are also some minimum density requirements which are in the table again to the right um the housing can't have age restrictions and it must be in what is deemed an eligible location which in the case of East Long Meadow looking at the the the town Center rotary area would likely be an area of concentrated development um and there are just some considerations for that um regarding the land use buildout for the district for to qualify under this um location criteria at least 50% of the land must be currently developed and at least 50% must be zoned for commercial and mixed use um that shouldn't be much of a hurdle considering the intentions behind the creation of the district but um just want to point that out as a consideration so with the additional requirements of the 40R process there's additional application and um paperwork that needs to be conducted uh and eventually there needs to be a state approval through the executive office of Housing and livable communities so if we incorporate these requirements into the project timeline um in the spring months um we can anticipate a pre-application meeting with E8 LC uh and that is really an opportunity to um clarify any parts of the process uh and get their first take on um um what the community is considering uh there are public engagement requirements uh to public events so in May and in late summer uh the project would meet those requirements for the 40R process uh in the summer months uh that would be when um we would if uh going through the 4r application process we'd begin working through particular sections that include um uh various Maps various inventories of parcels uh we start to anticipate uh those projected units or future zoned units um in August September following the public or for the public engagement event number two uh that has to follow uh it has to include a local public notice and uh be a public hearing um and then in the fall and the winter months uh there would be an initial review by the eohc uh they would offer a letter of Eligibility if they deem the application eligible uh following local adoption of the bylaw by Town Council uh complete application and an adopted bylaw would be sent back to eohc where we would review and offer a letter of approval once all of that is done and completed uh the initial incentive payment would be sent forward to the community so again uh stressing that Resident involvement in the project is key uh the steering Community has a role to play in the project uh timeline particularly if 40R is deemed to be uh regulatory twe Community prefers so first and foremost uh our steering committee will be offering guidance determining characteristics of the center Town District that can include the boundaries also considerations and characteristics like parking also examining issues regarded to available infrastructure and the like uh in May or following uh that pre-application meeting um the steering committee will have to decide uh if 40R is the preferred Pathway to adopting this bylaw it is not necessarily the only pathway but um you know it's um it's up to the residents to decide if they want to U go forward with that process uh as we engage with the public broadly uh the steering committee will help integrate Community priorities bringing that language forward to help uh create the draft bylaw and then as we uh bring a final document to the planning board and then eventually Town Council uh the steering committee will act and serve as advocates for the adoption of the final bylaw at this point we'd like to offer a closing question for the planning board uh Beyond any clarifying questions you may have uh we would appreciate um planning board to share what priorities uh you may identifying for this project moving forward and thank you I guess I'll I'm gonna ask some questions because I know they're going to be asked by the public might as well just get it out right there is 40 R similar to the MBTA statute that is being fought by a number of communities in the eastern part of the state so if you don't adopt 40R you get shut out of state grants I would say that it's I would say that it's there are similarities in terms of what 40R um is trying to accomplish what it's trying to accomplish yeah I don't believe that there is a punitive uh response from the state if a community chooses not to adopt 40R there are plenty of communities outside of the NBTA communities right that have explored it uh have been deemed ineligible due to uh infrastructure limits and constraints uh so while there's there are similarities in their uh intended um um results I wouldn't necessarily say that there's negative consequences if the if East Long Meadow decides 40R isn't the preferred pathway and is this is the grant dollars for this study um tied to 40R um so the funding for the project itself for the project to pay you guys to do this work right the 40R no it it wasn't uh to my understanding it wasn't U contingent on a 40R application if that answers your question okay yeah so under the existing affordable 80% I think you mentioned yeah so what is that threshold right now that dollar threshold is that a household income oh um yeah so so I'm sorry I don't have those numbers in front of me so it' be um the area median income determined by is it um Housing and Urban Development right so um it's it would be a little bit beyond East Long Meadow I believe in terms of the area that they calculate that value but it'd be 80% of that I think it's a household of two two or four I'm yeah it gets it gets a little complicated we'd have to dig into exactly what's meant by area median income um but yeah it's usually household of four yeah and then how does this always tied to so we keep hearing that um the requirement for towns that state want the state wants towns to have 10% affordable housing Y and I believe the last time I heard a number we were at about 7% right believe that's accurate right and so far there have been no penalties from the state on failing to meet that but if you were to adopt 40R do that raise the threshold lower the threshold under that other law that I've been talking about right so you're you're referring to uh 40b yeah thank you Mass General law uh which does set a Statewide um uh goal for 10% affordability um available of housing uh uh across all communities so adopting 40R does not does not change that threshold in any way uh I would say that would it count toward the threshold uh it if we then develop if we then develop yes all that any affordable housing brought online uh within the district would be uh counted towards that uh subsidized housing inventory value so it would be helping the community meet that 10% goal and hopefully ex exceed it so what what I would like to see it it's more of a image rather than you know a concrete project yes so I participated in the Town Master Plan um you know walkability more small businesses um things that bring a little more life to the I call it the rotary or you call it downtown but to that specific area um you know when I talk about walkability I mean like you know sidewalks and crossw walks and you know the rotary is very difficult to maneuver as a pedestrian if at all laughing at me um so yeah things that you know you don't necessarily drive through the rotary at 6 o' and it's completely dead have a little life anyway you know into it um you know maintaining the open space that's already committed to open space and Recreation I think is a big deal I don't want to see that remove so specifically I'm talking about like Center center field yeah um couple things on my mind so thank you perfect do you want to add any other thoughts part of it I know all right my biggest concern was the open space initially the open space preserving what we have because it is starting to shrink you know it it's it's inevitable so if we can preserve what we have Spruce it up make you know make it all part of this project I mean that's one of the goals that I'd like to see no like you know any street light enhancements and okay you know public the perception of Public Safety so part of making it more friendly is making it the illusion of it being more safe I guess and all those infrastructure things that you can do to create that we're also planning to clean up the zoning right obviously that's a big of a mess with where things are and what can go there so that's I think most of this will help puts some organization to that for many many different examples I'm sure it's a good starting point yeah well said thank you very much for uh I guess we getting sure we won't be shy oh no don't no and we don't yeah that's the point right this is a forward- facing uh project and that's why we have our steering committee nice segue appreciate that so I guess stand and Don Starks is on our steering committee people know Don B Park's life resident ran a small business in town have been involved in governmental policies budgets and I live in the center of town so I feel like I can be as to what the actual of life is thanks Don Steve Graham I I'm Steve Graham my wife and I have lived here for many years raised a family we have a u manufacturing business on Industrial Drive called Tona Plastics and we have the Depot at gr Central Station and center of town and looking forward to serving on the committee thank Steve and I don't want to put anybody on the spot if you want to just stand up and wave high that's fine too uh Jason gumper uh I saw that hi Jason gumbert I'm on the Conservation Commission um I've been raising two s Town went to high school to middle school so I'm through the center of town a lot um and yeah everyone my name Isco for I also own a staffing firm in town as well for past years and I'm excited to be Carolyn um I live here in town um I'm a coach I that's where I came from hear that you guys want to keep the center Fields going um I was instrumental in Hing to get the new high school um and I also own a business I'm a real estate and Commercial photographer thanks and uh we also have two uh a member of the planning board and a member of Town Council the cats out of the bag on the planning board Rob there'll be uh ex official non voting members but since eventually planning and Town Council will be voting on whatever we do come up with for a bylaw we wanted to sort of keep their input uh at the Forefront so Rob you don't have to just say hi hi and our town council rep is President Ralph pagee who's been on the out of the bag all night so but you want to say anything or are you good I'm good excited for it I think it's a progess going forwards I really y obviously Rebecca's online uh she'll have an integral role in in in putting this all together thanks to pvpc uh and yeah I guess I'll be hanging around too and then I I you know it's up to you if you want to sort of open it up to more questions or um in the public like to ask some questions before no can you can you come up just because I gotta get at least one microphone pick bre there's good okay um my name is Bill pry I'm at 66 uh sou Street and I was um I have a question and I'm sure most of the people in town do how is this going to affect the rotary because we're we're talking about an increase of housing I don't is there any projection on how many more apartments or housing will be added uh that would be uh part of the process yeah uh at this point we haven't explored all that but uh by the end of the project we would have a parcel by parcel breakdown where we would have a final number of projected future units yeah will the rotary be addressed are we are we looking at that because right now you know on weekends during um in the mornings and afternoons the rotaries you're very dangerous you know I just came through here today and there was someone in the center who you just had no idea how it worked and and we're sitting there and you know my son Andrew who's just gotten his license I'm driving and we're trying to explain how to do it Lu yeah that's it your prayers go through um also I wanted to know um will the impact on the schools be addressed because right now that we're going to have a great new high school which which I'm excited about a little sad my boys are going to miss it because are graduating but it's being built for the students we have now right um and in fact it's going to be smaller than the high school that we have now so if we're gonna add you know I don't know 50 to 100 new students right our high school is already goingon to be um you know overcrowded it's not sadly the state I know have dealt with this in West Springfield doesn't allow you to build enough capacity for future growth um so what's and and with our elementary um schools I'm not sure what the numbers are for that um do we have buildings that can handle that you know this influx of uh students um thank you um very valid concerns and questions uh that'll be both traffic impact and um impact of the schools will be uh critical parts of the initial analysis that will go into the project uh if 40R is the preferred Pathway to adopting a bylaw uh the Commonwealth does offer through I think they call it 40s um that's where they bring in the um additional financial support for school districts that are impacted by additional students living within the district so uh we'll have to dig in a little deeper to find clear guidance on that uh but it is definitely part of um the analysis and process okay and I also I was wondering when it's time to reach out to the town um what that process will be like because I know I've uh kept close tabs on this and I've talked to a lot of people that they have no idea this is going on right and you know and that's when the the rotary becomes a big thing um you know how are we going to make sure that the this is what the town really is looking for that the people here want to want to see this yeah uh at this point we haven't determined exactly what our public engagement um events will look like uh I know that in our first meeting with the steering committee uh Rebecca shared uh a lot of really exciting and Innovative approaches uh I foresee more events happening than what we are currently uh anticipating or planning for okay uh I believe beyond the two big kind of CommunityWide events um there will be supplemental uh kind of pop up uh evenings throughout the summer that type of thing to try to get uh keep the uh Community engaged and that's where our steering committee will really step up and uh guide that stage of the process okay would that be something that you could do also do with elcat you know try to um presentation maybe that's that's it um like I said I feel a lot of people in town don't realize this is going on and I I think it's exciting um but there's a lot of issues I think that need to be addressed before you know we do it absolutely much thank you I mean these are all the questions that are going to get asked answered that's yes and that's yeah at the end of the day the bylaw that gets put forward is going to be for Easton meow Massachusetts yeah we're not if this the 40 y doesn't work we're not doing it yeah if the one that eastampton has doesn't work we're not doing it you know what I mean it's got to be right for us that's what it has to be at the end of the day which is why we want everybody at all the community events however many we do that's why we have a steering committee that is sort of committed to Gathering all this information so when we're done this is what we want and that's what we're gonna do good that's what I like to hear thank you very much thank you thank you hello uh Brad Hoffman I live over in Devonshire Terrace um thank you for coming and doing the presentation and glad to hear you're going get the community engagement uh Russ like you my wife and I moved here from Springfield part it was for the community that we had here and we did that before 4dr was actually adopted and I like the list of towns that you said have adopted 4dr but most of those were kind of neat towns before 40R even existed I'm a little bummed to see that your most recent data about 40R is from 2017 that six years ago when you do the uh communication with the town can you get us more current information and also talk about what has happened with the bylaws that they've adopted in those towns kind of what changes have happened since they put those bylaws in place um you know did it helped grow the town did it shrink things or anything else so that would be interesting to have for the public uh information and I know this is a bylaw and it's not actually going out and finding out who's going to come in as businesses or anything else but if you've got ideas of about the types of businesses that you're talking about moving in so um Russ one of the things that we like that you mentioned also was you don't have drive-thru um restaurants and stuff like that here I'd hate to hear that that's part of your solution is a McDonald's going into that area so what types of businesses are you talking I like my job too much for that what you are talking about you know and since town the they try to do some stuff there and they've had businesses come and go and what new businesses are you thinking are going to be joining would be interesting to hear for the discussion so thank you for being open and transparent with it look forward to more of these sessions but want to share with you at least some of the stuff I'd be looking for thank you thank you no you you raised a really good point it's the number one issue I hear from people when they find out I'm on the planning board is why did you allow that to go in there that to go in there and you have to explain to them that it's in the bylaw it's an allowed use and the last one is Chase Bank in the at The Rotary you know we got 12 Banks why do we need another one buy the property and put what you want in there it's it's just crazy yeah hi sit darks I'm also in the rotary as long as she's not mad at me uh so she will be now you're gonna be out there one big question we're we had a conversation earlier tonight we want more small businesses we want more walking there'll be a lot of people walking there be a lot of people driving there also we thought about the parking situation there'll be more cars the rotary is already congested one of the things I I was sitting there I suggested and got laughed at and we thought sorry Connie we thought about a parking garage any thoughts for that similar to Northampton gives you a place to park and then you can walk to the Steve braham's got a great location the bike trail is right through there Steve how many people go on the bike trail walk three miles and grab an ice cream right so so but with that have you thought about the bike trail if that's within the Mile s having some small businesses that are already there possibly set up along the bike trail too you want a walking Community let's take advantage of that bike trail and again I know a lot of residents would like to build a brick wall keeping the businesses away from the the residential but if we're going to have the mixed juice you know small businesses local businesses because if you're local you're going to care about the community more and please no no drive-throughs thank you thank you would anyone else like to add a comment or two okay back to you Tom are we yeah I mean unless uh Rebecca usually lets me know if I forgotten anything George do you want to add something no no Craig can you bring Craig in well George has his hand up too oh okay George go ahead yeah okay just want to comment having been part of enhancing Ean study and uh the mix use bylaw that we did put in uh some years ago uh my thought is you need to go up in Center okay um I grew up in New York City where stores all have Mark above them and it's an effective way to make use of space it's mix ju and mixed juice is a really good thing uh we've talked about how an East Long Meadow by limiting the number of bedrooms in mixed juice you can limit the number of kids that are in there and attract um young professionals okay which are looking for places to live particularly in the medical field where we've got more and more Medical in E long medal long meow area so um yeah there's a lot that could be done here we've look at you mix juice developments in the past neither which has come to fruition for a number of reasons but uh without ding on that I think that mixed juice development is a really good thing to the center I look at you know like uh West uh has a vision for that okay or West Hartford um and we have the potential to do something there so I hope that this moves forward or 40R or some other play that at least we move forward to really try to jump amp up the center of town with careful attention to traffic patterns and parking thank you is there someone else you're going to bring in time Craig Craig's got to put his audio and video on Craig you have to uh put on your audio and video if you wish to speak ah there we go sorry about that good evening everyone um thank you for the opportunity to speak Craig jernstrom 49 Weber Street Springfield Mass uh long-term resident of East Long medal hopefully be back in town shortly um but just have a couple questions slash concerns about this it it's an exciting project I I think there's a lot to offer here but um one of the things that concerns me is you know at a a previous meeting uh were one of the in my opinion one of the best Economic Development ideas for the town in over a decade the the warehouse on Chestnut Street got shot down and and a member of the planning board said the main reason and the reason they were not going to approve it was because this was going to increase congestion in the center of town um and I know heard Sid talk about a parking garage and some other things but how are we doing mixed juice uh and increasing uh businesses even small businesses in the center of town and possibly residential and how is this not going to increase the congestion in town in the center of town which was one of the the bit the only reason cited by a member of the planning board and I had heard it brought up by other members of the planning board that it's a concern how how can we pull any of this off without increasing congestion in the center of the Town um and I don't expect an answer tonight but I guess we need to keep it in mind moving forward um because I it is an ongoing issue and I I don't know how you pull this off without increasing congestion there thank you upet yeah okay thank you so um anything further all right thank you thank you very much appreciate it um don't believe there's any other matters before the planning board do a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn March 19th 2024 planning board meeting all in favor thanks Don