##VIDEO ID:65KiNj-Il2Q## okay so uh we are newly back in public session after being in executive session uh and just to reiterate under Mass General Law chapter 30A section 20f this meeting is being recorded and are we going out live also so we're going out live as well so first would be uh administrative items for press auto file number 19-0008 Spa as Built Report close and release consultant review fees for this account we have a um the account has $2,735 outstanding um s SW call has signed off on the as Bel review and so we on the last bill for this um for this Consulting review and uh after that last bill comes in we can release the consultant review account so do whatever the difference is minus the the bill for Mr okay so I'd entertain a motion Mr chair I move to release the inspection funds of $2,000 plus interest for site plan review um Auto Repair auto body auto detailing auto financing office Forge uh Road Westport Mass map 28 lot 20 and 20 L after all invoices are paid in full second all those in favor I I I so uh next up oh we need to endorse the myar for 1429 main road do we have put it to theend at theend we'll do it at the end of the meeting okay okay uh next are public hearings public hearings public hearings um planners report a quick update on short-term rental the committee met on um what couple weeks ago on October 7 I guess that was last Monday to regroup after the bylaw proposal had failed and we've also had a number of um new committee members shuffled around on the off the committee and a couple of new committee members added so need to to reconvene that committee and what was discussed at the last meeting was to have a sort of self-certification process for short-term rentals in town they would be permitted use in all zoning districts and it would be you would have to open up a a certification with the the building department and then the select board would issue a license essentially in order to operate on an an basis so that's that's the concept right now that was discussed at that committee meeting there's not anything on on paper yet Roger Berard wanted to talk a little bit about this and what would be um what Our Town Council would advise for structuring that appr and the next meeting will be on October 21st at 6:30 I don't know the location all right next we have our Hazard mitigation plan just a reminder that we have a public engagement session at the library at 6: pm on Thursday um any members of the public are are welcome to to join that we'll have a number of Representatives across the town planning board Conservation Commission and so on an update on our assistant planner job posting we've received six applications so far um so I'd like permission from the board to review those applications with chair Jim White um to then set up interviews with the top three candidates and then hopefully select a candidate after we do those interviews you need to vote on that I would like yeah I think we should I I would move that U um the planner uh I confer with the chair uh all applicants with the goal of uh selecting the top three for uh interviews for interviews second all those in favor I I let me f one last update in here this is a quick one our online excuse me our online permitting system is um online essentially now it's not available to the public yet um we have a beta site for the planning office and the building department to review and begin experimenting with different workflows in there looking at what will work what doesn't work we need um right now it's mostly up to the to the building department to tell me and the consultant their expectations are that cure so um we're hoping to get that get that online um some sometime soon start5 okay uh we have a 615 public hearing uh for little Compton Housing Trust file number 24-28 C- rrl the applicant is proposing to use their existing 50ft right of way for access in utilities to the Little Compton land to construct a four lot single family housing development located at 245 old Harbor Road map 86 lot six um I think that's a little misleading because the lot the Housing Development will be a little competent it's just the road that we're talking about uh the applicant submitted Revis plans on Friday and there was insufficient time to review them burus recommends continue it continue it until November 19th at 6:15 um so is there anybody here from the applicant's perspective yes Mr CH so I would I guess entertain not the details but just an overview of what you're proposing because we don't have a consultant review on the plans so we couldn't approve it but since there's some people here from both V both the the applicants and I recognize some people from the neighborhood they would like to I'm sure hear what you have plans so Mr chairman I just want to um to correct the Consulting engineer has reviewed the first iteration of the applicants plans we've since sent that back to them in hopes that we were able to incorporate a second set of our Visions prior to this meeting but they were sent um I think on Thursday or Friday holiday weekend we just didn't have the time to review it so we'll be referring to the applicants first set of plans that were submitted with the origal application okay so are you okay with doing yeah this way okay all right so applicants please come up to the podium and introduce yourselves name and address good evening Mr chairman my name is Patrick Bowen I live at 225a Long Highway in L Compton I am the chair of the L Compton Housing Trust who within the last month closed on the piece of property in Little Compton the Housing Trust has retained the services of able engineering to do the necessary work that we're here for tonight so Donald madas is uh is the owner of able engineering and I'll I'll let him take over from here thank you thank you Patrick good evening Mr the chairman members of the board yes I'm Donald maderas from AEL engineering 291 Long Highway in Little Compton um we um prepared the plans and application that's that's uh before you tonight uh basically just to give a very brief overview um it's a piece of land in Little Compton which is owned by the Little Compton Housing Trust 4.9 Acres um which is located here's the state line in this area so little confidence to the West Old haror Road is is to the East Old harb Road in Westport and the the state line is about 225 ft westly of old H roads so the Housing Trust property has the benefit of a 50 foot wide RightWay which runs along the Northerly boundary of uh lot six in Westport and um so it's basically 50 ft wide approximately 125 ft long and contains about a quar acre of land um within that right away is an existing gravel driveway which um traverses Westerly from old Harbor Road crosses the state line and then turns to the South um and it's the driveway serving property owned by John and Kerrie McKinnon which again is in little comp uh what we're proposing to do is upgrade the existing gravel driveway and the right way um to conform with the standards of a rural residential Lane in Westport meaning a 20 foot wide gravel surface um drainage um on both sides right currently there is no drainage um in the right away serving uh you know addressing the existing gravel driveway uh we'll be proposing drainage Welles on the north and south side of the of the new road um basically that the new Lane will continue to provide access to the M's house um and it'll continue extending Westerly uh to where the Housing Trust property opens opens up and uh there'll be four single family uh units proposed there so um the basically the totals from the from the uh subdivision with an eye to the subdivision regulations and Zoning um is five single family units would be served by the right of way um we know that the up to six is allowed and and under the my understanding of the Westport um requirements or provisions of the rural residential Lane um most of the so this is kind of interesting all the engineering and and and work whatnot is is predominantly going to be in Little Compton and and serving the units in Little Compton but the access is through the 225 ft long right of way in Westport so that's why we're here is to get approval to build the rural residential Lane um which once we have that approval we would be going to the Little Compton planning board um to get approval for the four units that are proposed uh we've already have approved soil testing from the Rhode Island DEM on the 4.9 Acres which would support a shared septic system um the I could go on and on but I think that's the overview so I'll leave it there for for now okay so uh our bylaw that allows World residential Lanes uh allows four lots to get Frontage and uh two lots that don't need Frontage uh I don't don't know how we figure out what this is because it none of it is typical Westport subdivision you've got one lot that's going to have four houses on it right and you have one existing house which is going to continue to use this new upgraded right away Gravel Road it's I think I don't know what to think yet so I I have heard of this before from Dennis talet who was I guess the the person that own the land in the middle um and in my discussions with him and you know I I didn't tell him it's okay or not I didn't know this another house what's going on out there vacuuming shut the door somebody's out there it's a public hearing we can't shut the door um there's something more going on out there besides vacuuming there's a lot of people you can come up front so I don't know um how this fits or doesn't fit but I guess we'll work through it so um and the the right of way uh is I don't know if we have to have you prove it to us I I would think we do so but I don't know um because that's that's over the coming slot right so I would um does something that's located in another state have to meet ours on it I don't know no no but I mean no no no but I mean can we say it's a Ral residential lane or can we say it's a six Lane highway or can we say it's a driveway I mean to my understanding the Ral residential Lane is conveying access to two lots little okay so um do you have the I don't know what our Consulting engineer asked you to change and what you've done to change it but since he hasn't been able to review it I would let um that take place before we make a decision I would say so I'd go with the planner's report that is two lots and qualifies for Rural residential land so first I'm going to ask the board if they have questions or comments the planner and then I'll open it up to the public so anybody have any comments I any I mean it's pretty straightforward acquest they're building a small step of a road to con access into a different state where the town's bylaws obviously don't apply um so are a number of details that still need to be worked out with their storm water plan as well as on their existing and proposed plan there some things that need to be tightened up but in concept you know this is something that that would meet the the standards of the town okay so it looks I can't tell for sure but it looks like the road uh is on one side of the RightWay as it it intersects old Harbor Road and is there adequate sight lines and is there adequate radius there yes Mr chairman so the the the RightWay the the road starts on the near the southernly side of the RightWay at Old Harbor Road that's to um align with the existing driveway entrance and also to avoid an existing utility pole which is located on the north side of the driveway um and then we we basically run run it down parallel um with the with the right of way um again there's another utility pole on the North side just before the state line which which we we seek to avoid um and the alignment of the of the gravel road allows us to have swes drainage swes on both sides um so that it's the rationale and to follow up on your question that was one of the Consulting Engineers comments is that they need to show the turn radius at the the Terminus with old road so this is the old plan not the new plan this correct I I don't know what is on I hav yet any comments questions looks as if I don't know what the site condition the sight line conditions are along there I'm trying to picture exactly where this is but U um uh the road that they're proposing is pitching away from the road towards Little Compton there's a low spot just up in the upper left hand corner of the certainly from a drainer standpoint it's it's all flowing towards that Woodland in Little Compton so it's not putting water icing conditions back out on the on Old har Road and and from for me I think it's the same we we can't apply our standards in little compon and and I think it's uh this really is a a driveway to two lot so there's no access from the West into this lot with from John Dyer Road that's correct the original address of the was 164 John Dyer Road it's purchased by the agricultural consy trust could you could you get up and speak into the microphone because this is not aelis originally this parcel was a part of a larger parcel initially identified as 164 John Road from which access was available this portion being on the easterly most end of that parcel it is not accessible now from John D Road and only from old Harbor Road thank you okay uh anybody from the audience questions comments you please come up so I'm Paula Cummings 245 old Harbor Road I have two questions if there was once access from John D Road why is there no longer access from John di you have to and I'll ask ask so that's question number one question number two is I um I wonder if the Conservation Commission or the um commissioner has looked at this property on either side for any Wetlands or any any problems with with this road mighte represent on either side so uh I can't ask I can't answer the question about uh the conservation department in b island I have wouldn't have any idea but do think that should be looked at I think for the development of that lot yeah it should be but it's what we have before us is just a road not a development um right but I don't know is there any wetlands in this in the cumings lot there are no delineated Wetlands on that lot and it's also been reviewed by the Conservation Commission agent he did not provide any comments or concerns the appliation uh and for the access from Little Compton um I don't know how far John Dyer Road is from this lot but this was part of a very large lot right and there was cut out just for this purpose um how far is it to John di Road probably I'm just estimating probably 3,000 3,000 ft there a uh this of larer earlier parcel had front on John Dio however this extensive Wetland system um which pretty much isolated this Eastern end of the property and and that's why the right away was put in in the 80s from Old Road right because of that extensive weapons in the middle and so this lot has not retained a right away from John Dy Road through that big parcel no okay thank you thank you okay y thanks anybody else okay Mr chair I'm uh willing to uh make a motion to uh continue this public hearing to November 19th I do want to note that I'm not going to be in attendance on the 19th got a long plan vacation then so um if everyone else is present they'll still be in the Forum but I won't be here so um with that understanding I move to continue the public hearings for Little Compton Housing Trust to November 19th 2024 615 second all those in favor I I I thank you thank you next is the 6:30 public hearing for Bentley Estates 2 modification file number 15-9 c-mod the applicant is requesting to wave the sidewalks on the approved definitive subdivision for Bentley EST stage 2 map five lot 16 18 and 50 to 68 is there somebody here for this good evening Mr chair my name is attorney Patricia Kudo um and I'm here today on behalf of all of the homeowners of the Bentley Estates 2 subdivision um who are currently here tonight um additionally I'm also a homeowner at 8 whan way as part of the subdivision as well okay uh so I am here today to um and on behalf of all of the homeowners to respectfully um oppose uh the proposal to in install the sidewalks and request a waiver from the subdivision standards um while we do recognize the general intention behind uh the sidewalk requirements um we do believe that our concerns Encompass several key issues that make this installation both unnecessary unnecessary and potentially harmful to our community um these uh issues include not only a limited use and benefit for the sidewalks additionally there are also safety concerns in addition to financial burdens and also it also impacts the neighborhood and uh the character and property values um of the homes in the subdivision um given the low population density and the nature of the subdivision the sidewalks would likely see minimal use making their Construction an unnecessary expense on the homeowners unlike the urban areas with high pedestrian traffic our community does not experience the volume of foot traffic that would justify the installation of the sidewalks additionally many of the homeowners have ample space on their lots for personal walking paths or recreational areas reducing the need for public sidewalks um in addition and as was pointed out on one of the documents provided by um the board there is a shared use trail that currently planned on Old Bedford Road which is4 miles from the intersection of Bentley Lane um with Highland a which is which is supposed to be a component of the South Coast biking so therefore creating more recreational use um and less the need of the sidewalks um additionally there are also safety concerns uh which the sidewalks could increase traffic speeds as many drivers proceed wider roads as being safer for higher speeds this could potentially pose a risk to pedestrian especially those with children which many of the homeowners on the street have small children in addition to seniors Who currently walk on the Chira streets with slow slower moving Vehicles currently the residents walk along the roads with minimal traffic which has created a culture of mutual awareness um between the drivers and the pedestrians on the street so we're all aware of each other on the roads with the installation of the sidewalk this could obviously disrupt the balance leading to a false sense of security for the pedestrians and less caution from drivers um in addition uh the residents all 20 residents of the subdivision voted unanimously um in the application for the modification which is dated September 3rd 2024 I'm not sure if you all have a copy of this already we we're happy to provide um in support of um waving this requirement for the sidewalks again they're all here tonight in support of that as well um which you know basically just indicates that it's not a priority for any of the homeowners that live on the street and that should be considered as we're all the ones that live there um additionally it's also a financial burden on homeowners so the sidewalk installation and the maintenance um Can potentially pose um a financial burden on all of the homeowner owners within the subdivision the initial construction cost alone along with the ongoing maintenance snow removal repairs not to mention the liability that comes with the sidewalks which would be on the homeowners um may require increased taxes or special assessments on on all of the property owners for many families it's an additional expense which is not feasible especially given the current economic environment where Rising costs and mortgage rates have already tightened budgets given that many residents in the area prioritize the additional cost of maintaining sidewalks that could strain household budgets especially if the costs are passed down to the homeowners um and finally there's also an impact on the neighborhood's character which I think is the most biggest um issue here um in addition to the impact on the property values that it will have um so many of us we moved to Westport because it's known for its Rural and Suburban charm right which is my many residents including including myself have chosen to move to Westport the installation of the sidewalks will alter the character of our neighborhood making it feel more urbanized and less in line with the rural open space aesthetic that we all value Additionally the construction of the sidewalks would require significant grading and the alteration of existing land potentially disrupting local wildlife habitats and mature trees all additionally there are also several lots that will be affected um that was notated in one of the staff review that it would affect um several already matured trees on on those locuses um in addition um it would require um I mean most of the residents appreciate the current landscape and the natural feel of our streets um and the sidewalks will distract from that the green space that would be lost to the installation of the sidewalks would just basically impact the overall look and feel of the community preserving the current landscape is a major priority for the homeowners and eliminating the need for sidewalks would support that uh additionally uh as you may already be aware phase one of the portion of Bentley Lane currently does not have sidewalks nor is there an intention on installing sidewalks so not to mention that it the entire second phase of the subdivision is going to look completely different from the first which is why one of the main reasons the homeowners in the second phase chose to purchase the property in the second phase of the subdivision um in addition it could also potentially diminish the value of the properties with within the subdivision like I have indicated many of the buyers and many prospective buyers of people that may continue to purchase in that subdivision they are attracted to this rural feel of the community which could be compromised by the Suburban appearance that the sidewalks May create which could potentially make the properties less attractive and negatively affecting the homeowners and their property values so for those reasons we respectfully request that the board Grant the waiver of the requirement from the subdivision regulations to install the sidewalks so you're you're speaking in favor of the applicant's request to wave the sidewalk requirement yes we haven't heard from the applicant yet y good evening my name is Robert KFI I'm the developer of Bentley State 2 I was going to say a few more words but I was incredibly Amazed by everything that I needed to say she had covered um it's all up to you the board every one of you to respectfully vote to eliminate the sidewalk and fulfill the wish of all homeowners last time I appeared in front of the board it was mentioned to me if I have a unanimous signature from all homeowners that the board will consider possibility of waving the sidewalk and I urge every one of you to do that it's all up to you so I have a few questions for you and for you so uh when everybody bought their lot did you ever look at the plans and it show sidewalks so you didn't expect sidewalks well the fir the first phase the first phase it wasn't a requirement so we we discussed this when he came before us for approval so we know that first phase didn't have sidewalks the one that he didn't build it didn't have sidewalks and we discussed that in the hearings where we approved his plan and he wanted not to have sidewalks then so what he's done is build the whole thing without the sidewalks which you probably should do when you're building the road and gotten everybody to say let's go to the planning board and request not to have sidewalks because I didn't want to spend the money to do it and that is my interpretation of what he is doing he also was supposed to continue the road from that middle culdesac out to Highland Avenue and he hasn't done that either so to me I mean and your your discussion saying that the wide Road makes people slow down that's not true wide roads make people go faster narrow roads make people go slower because they feel that it's smaller um and I know that we told him that we would consider it we are considering it but you know we had the the um the Ada people that have a commission here come to us and say 10 it was 10 Lots or more have to have a sidewalk when Mr Gori came before us we have now changed our rule to five Lots or more because the handicapped people want sidewalks and I know that maybe you don't have any handicapped people living there now but that could happen in the blink of an eye and I think I will say just one more thing I just I I think his doing this and not building the sidewalks then getting all of you to come and say we don't want the sidewalks because he didn't want to put them in and pay for them I think is is what's happening here but I'll shut up and let other people chairman can I answer that if you don't mind yes if you'd like me to when homeowners approached me to buy in Bentley estate they fell in love with phase one I'm guilty slightly of not showing them sidewalks on second phase I had no idea I had to install sidef it's it's shame on me shame on me by the way I just want to say no I I would just rebut that because you were in all these hearings that we had for your subdivision for this second section and you asked not to have sidewalks and you uh agreed when you got the approval to put sidewalks in that was part of the approval it's on the plans and it was part of the written approval so I I cannot except you're saying you had no idea I understand in 2016 this subdivision was approved when I appear in front of you it was July of 2023 and we discussed the sidewalk prior to that all my homeowners had purchased and built their home and purchased the land I was almost I'm just going to say I mean if they had any desire to see what they're buying they would have looked at the plans and the plans had sidewalks and she just said yes the plans had sidewalks so I don't can they say something about plans I'm talking okay so I think that what you have done is when people came and said this is what it's going to be looking like and nobody asked about the sidewalks but we have and I just anyway I just want to say after the last meeting when I appear in front of you guys it was suggested by you the board and the planner if you can get everyone to sign which is unbelievably overwhelming 20 residents of the subdivision signed against the sidewalk I had every intention to go and install the sidewalk after your meeting I went and start surveying where I'm going to do the sidewalk and my homeowners came out and said what are you doing I'm like I'm in a process of surveying the installation of the sidewalk and they're like no not in my yard you're going to disrupt my driveway you're going to pay me for shrubs so on and so forth as a matter of fact I have one of the homeowners several homeowners here that could testify to that when you ask them in addition when a homeowner look at a subdivision they don't look at the pl's details they look at the subdivision which is the perimeter of the lot and all the coordinate of the lot and how big is the lot they don't go those are not public records the detailed plans I have them the planning board has them they have to be requested by someone that does this for1 most of my homeowners don't do this so basically they ask me to show them what the light looks like how much Frontage how much depth how much is the area in order for them to build a beautiful home none of them saw and if you you can ask every one of them can you guys raise your hand people from the subdivision hey hey hey I'm sorry yeah I'm sorry but I'm just saying you're going to speak to me I'm sorry chair so what what did happen is I show them what the lot looks like I show them the perk results and they move forward and they build their dream housee in addition when you look at a septic plan that designed by their Engineers you don't see a sidewalk on it which is the next phase for them that's all just just to add on what Robert said I mean that requirement was from 2022 that you just said that it it the Ada requirement that the sub go I'm not saying that you have to do it because you're more than five I'm saying that you had to do it because you're more than 10 you're 19 lots and that was the requirement for the approval of the subdivision including the utilities how they're done and everything else so it isn't the case that you can just build what you want and then come to us and say well we didn't think we needed that well I don't really think that's what's why isn't like that well he was supposed to build the sidewalks when he built the road okay well also the subdivision has not been completed yet there's still work in progress that's being completed that's true like the sidewalks and like top coat of the road so anyway let's give other people a chance to speak anybody it seems seems to me that on the one hand I can understand why now The Lawns are in the Landscaping the driveways you don't want to put in the sidewalk but are we letting the developer off the hook because he was bound by our terms to install them initially and had he done so when you bought your Lots you would you know you would have put in your driveway and Landscaping accordingly and would have accommodated the side so it's kind of we're we're in this situation where you're asking you don't want this done I I I get it but I don't I'm conflicted by what this means if we set a precedent here and allow this to to stand like this because it's you've you didn't do this in the beginning and that was your obligation and I don't know if we can uh release you from that obligation I I think uh I'm with Mark and the chairman uh we uh consider the issue of the value of sidewalks we to begin with say that new developments not old ones um of greater than 10 should when they're being constructed when people are constructing roads Etc all the infrastructure should put in sidewalks then we say you know it shouldn't be 10 it should be five and uh but it should be done when it's being constructed because that's when it's cheapest to do and uh uh then this gentleman says well you know what I'm going to do I'm going to agree to that then I'm going to ignore it I'm just going to build it the way I want to then I'm going to sell a lots and then I'm going to bring all the people in and say well won't you allow no sidewalks now if we agree to that we might as well just rip up the law that says there should be sidewalks anywhere because it's meaningless from then on because everyone will do what this gentleman does and totally ignore that because obviously the law means nothing because he will show that I can just ignore any agreement that I agreed to before the planning board and uh there's a reason for it and it has to do with accessibility and among other things I and so I just don't see why we should enter into an agreement with a developer who's there to make money and then when the developer comes in and says I want to be after the fact released from my agreement say sure we didn't really care whether that agreement was binding go ahead uh save all the money you want from the agreement that we thought was binding but you didn't think was binding these agreements that we representing the town of Westport we thought it was finding you didn't that's okay you're released from it you're a lawyer does that make sense to you am I allowed to respond yes while I can understand your point of view and obviously myself out of probably anyone in this room as well as you ourselves understand that there are laws in place I think that the whole reason why we're here is to consider the homeowners who actually live at the property and I don't think that you're doing that because based on each of your arguments your concern is the developer and putting the burden on the developer but the burden is not put on the developer because he doesn't own at least 20 of the Lots in the subdivision it's us as the homeowners that are now that's now being imposed on right in addition to your point right you made the point that that you stated that this is a requirement for new subdivisions and not old subdivisions well the first phase is an old subdivision yeah the first phas but we didn't put the that on the first phase we put it on the second phase well right but if you we didn't put the burden on the homeowners he did sure but if you consider that that you put it on the first phase think about how the first phase is going to look completely different from the second phase that's right right it's the first phase and the second phase new construction right we would not impose that on something that was already built because of the added expense we wouldn't say retroactively you have to go do that on something that's already built because of the added expense sure you only wanted to do it on things that where you're already saying okay I've got to construct the roads and everything else correct but because it's an extension of the same street it's not going to even look right it's not going to even look like it's a part of the same street so that's why we're requesting that to continue that the whole the whole way down well that was an argument when he came in uh to build phase two that I need a relief because it will look different I mean just and again to your point right like it's all about accessibility how accessible is it to have sidewalks on a second phase but not on the first phase like that it doesn't even make sense yeah but to pursue your argument that would mean I guess we shouldn't have sidewalks anywhere because we don't have sidewalks somewhere well that's not what I'm saying I'm saying not to sounds like it is what you're saying what I'm saying is that it's it's One Singular street it's not like there are multiple streets within Bentley Lane it's essentially One Singular street that turns into another street I'm not saying that I disagree with the regulation that there should be sidewalks in new subdivisions but not when a portion of the street doesn't have sidewalks and now you're requesting for the second portion to have sidewalks I mean it should be consistent right for the whole street and if you're saying that it's not a requirement to install it on the first phase how does that make sense to install it on the second portion because you start somewhere right I guess then wouldn't you need to retroactively go back and put it on the first phase you know chairman I two points uh one um if we were to relieve the developer of the obligation that he agreed to when the subdivision was approved I mean it it really uh to make my colleagues point it's a a lousy precedent uh the second point is this is really not a burden on the homeowners yes there'll be a piece of construction in it and you may have Lawns and everything extended to the pavement but all of this work is in his land not your land it's in the public way or it's a private way I should say so it's U the the disruption is not on your properties it's on his property and and that's and in the fact that there's now Lawns and Landscaping and everything that have been extended into the subdivision way is is really is really a function of the fact that the sidewalks weren't put in when the road was put in if the sidewalks had been put in then you would have fencing and Landscaping and driveways would would have been made to accommodate the the sidewalks and and yes we are I I hear hear the argument in this seems irrational that we would have sidewalk we have subdivisions that come off of drip Road which which is rural has no sidewalks at all its entire length runs the entire length of the town and and we we were compelled where by the arguments made by the uh the disabilities commission when they came before us of of people in wheelchairs having to go out and Dodge UPS trucks and snowbanks and all that kind of stuff and he and they said it makes a difference whether we can visit our neighbors or not and that's an argument that has Merit to us and that's that's why we acted so uh I I'm not you know I I I think if I know you didn't exist when I mean you didn't exist his homeowners when this was was approved but if if this was an argument made this was an argument made by the developer we and we disagreed with the argument because of our rules and regulations so I I think it's an obligation that uh needs to be fulfilled so U Manny anything is is the um this road is going to be accepted by the town is it that will we plan to get accepted snowplowing and all that stuff I believe I believe that is the plan once the entire subdivision is completed is is the first phase was that has that been accepted by a town yes it has so it's a Town Road I mean I I've been the time that I've been on this board and and Martin from from the has contacted me many times on the on on this issue with the sidewalks um and I and i' I've been pushing side walks um on our route six properties and so forth and I I am in in favor of sidewalks but I'm trying to listen to the public that came in um and in the in defense of the developer a subdivision in this size I mean I do this type of work and what I do try to do is put the gravel in first but when you get this many houses going in it's kind of tough to put the sidewalk in so it's you know and then individual you know you got I don't know 20 30 individual builders on the lot so it's kind of tough on his part but I mean Mr cfor you went there to install these sidewalks to fulfill your obligation correct I just want to mention that the homeowner I encountered while I was surveying my went with the equipment to start installing and the homeowner like they initiated this they're like there's no way I'm going to let you put a sidewalk correct the the re just to add just to add if I may the reason why he's here today is because we all requested it right and I think that's you know obviously your job as the board is to consider you know what the public thinks and the residents and homeowners of the subdivision I just find it interesting you say that you said earlier anyway that U that you were perfectly comfortable and the people your neighbors the neighbors here perfectly comfortable walking in the street elderly people young kids bikes uh U baby carriages um rather than being on a sidewalk away from the traffic I that's so just seems strange to me and and uh so as a public safety issue Maybe not for the for you who are there you don't you feel that you're adequately protected but the reason for these sidewalks was is to protect the public good and uh and the handicapped access there could be someone moving into one of these homes now that fronts these sections who is in a wheelchair and yes he won't be able to get through the whole development but at least he or she will that individual will have at least some access up and down that those stretches of road that have the sidewalks it it's something um it's not perfect but it's part of you know if we don't make an a start somewhere um it's it's unfair to a whole group of people people um who are not mobile so you know accessibility and Public Safety those to me are the key reasons for these for asking for requiring in fact and uh the sidewalks Mr chair um so so this subdivision it's going to be accepted by the town um the sidewalks were on it who who is responsible to maintain the sidewalks that's in the town layout normally I would be bet at the town if it's in the town if it's in if the town accepts the road only I'm just obligated in the city you know like the they the sidewalk in front of the property they home takes care of the sidewalk I'm just curious we don't have that the answer is that this get accepted by the town the town has to maintain the C so anybody else from the audience like to speak speak yes last time I spoke to you said to take a look at the plans and how wide the street was so I did okay and it's about 27 ft in some spots 28 ft Highland AB is 21 ft okay um that's why I think this plenty sufficient wide enough for people to walk and cost to go one way and the other way um what's going to happen here is the plan shown for the street to be 22 2 ft okay so now here I'm coming down benty Lane which a night nice wide Street and it's going to funnel into a 22t street okay where you know right now it's coming when we come down it's nice and wide it's plent of space for the kids to actually go back and forth with the bikes um CU they can't go on the sidewalk if actually the sidewalk is for pedestrians correct so now you have a 22t street where our kids are riding bikes back and forth makes it tougher when two cars are coming either direction not only that this morning you know seeing the uh truck the um the garbage truck uh the truck is about 102 in wide okay give it a take a little bit more depends what you know when it pick up the barrel 22 ft if you go through Highland a with the with the truck actually the um a garbage truck it's really hard to get get around that truck right you really have to stop you have to watch here in Bentley Lane the way the street is 27 ft to 28 ft you don't have to it just plenty of space there to go by so that's why I'm saying like 27 ft I could see the street was 22 ft okay or 21 ft but it's 27 ft wide so I take that in consideration that there is plenty of space there for people to walk cars to go both ways kids to ride a bikes versus actually trying to narrow that down to 22 ft which is going to limit our kids to actually ride the bikes back and forth because now they got to it's going to be tighter they're not going to be riding the bikes on on the uh the pads so just a point that I would like to put across you know and then and the only way to see it is by being there and watching it you know and I have cameras I can see how many people go byy by my yard go in front of my house there's not many and I actually go for walks with my wife I go up uh to Highland a take a right go to Deerfield Lane has anybody ever gone by Deerfield Lane and look at the sidewalks there no it's a disastrous we actually walk on the street because the sidewalks there that were all lifted up we can't walk on it there's no way we can walk in some of those walkways you know so is the town supposed to be you know keep on top of that the uh the sidewalks is this something that we're going to do in the future when something happens like you know the ground lifts up so you have driveways sidewalks ground freezes there's different levels right so now what happens with that is this goes this uh the sidewalk goes up higher maybe 2 in now it becomes a safety concern where somebody can trip and actually fall who's that fall under the homeowner um and then the other thing too is actually is because of the way it would actually have to go over more onto my side right my driver is already pitched right how would we pitch the new walkways to the driveways would you have to actually dig the driveways to get us a good pitch all the way up mine can't go anymore because I can't even get a plow at a certain height to actually go up anymore that which the the pitch of my uh driveway is so that becomes a burden on yes on the homeowners I get it it was from the F before it was supposed to be put in place and everything else but now you got to kind of see what we're looking at as far as from my rent you know so what do I do do I tear up my whole driveway all the way up to get a certain you know what I mean as far as level to make that turn into my into my garages so yeah there's a lot that's just not just you know putting I get it it's it's for safety concern but safety concern is what I see is you have a nice white Street people can walk back and forth cars can actually drive back and forth on either side with people walking with a 22t street you know well very well walking driving up in high half that's a safety concern can't even walk on on you know you're walking up there you have to jump on top of the the grass which is actually it's mountains up you know so that's my point okay thank you very much I appreciate your time his name yeah could you get I'm sorry my name is Emanuel Bello I'm from 65 Bentley Lane Mr chair make a make a mention of um de Phil Lane so uh de Phil Lane's in Dartmouth yes and that that road so when the question I asked if if these sidewalks were going to be maintained by the town um that's what I was at getting at so so that that road was actually built 29 years ago so there would be some you know if you go look at do D does have a maintenance program they go in and they go in um seal coat cracks and so forth so so de deerfield's probably in in desperate need of Maintenance from the town of dmouth and that's what your problems are and I'll I'll do another disclosure because phase two of Deerfield 45 Lots I built it in 1995 so um and and that and that subdivision in that town um I was before they accepted the road I was required that all the Lots had to be built on all the Landscaping had to be in place so we got it the binder we put the sidewalks in we got we got the um we got we got the Landscaping in we put all the sidewalks we top coated it was 100% complete within the 18 months that I was allowed to build an IT and coming up after the bond was ready to expire they would not accept the road until every house lot was built and then they they they once the house Lots it took four to five years before they accepted the road but that that road was built almost 30 years ago and as you know there's you know you keep seeing on 195 how many times they grind the road you can't just think of Paving these streets and just leaving them and not maintaining them so um we we we've got this situation across the boards we had we had an uh aist assisted living that the that the developer turned over the property to all the homeowners and never put the sidewalk in so we're just trying to you know we're trying to um you know kind of do what's right that's all I feel you CU that that that subdivision was was the road was um 26 ft wide to the G with one foot burn on both sides and then the sidewalk off to the side and and and you probably you've probably never never seen anybody walk on those sidewalk since it was built but I I can I can agree to that okay anybody else well you have to come up here and identify yourself I work in I work in 8 I mean I live in 86 mle Lane who are you uh uh uh Cesar Frank I live in 86 M Lane in Westport can c s a r yeah f n co co yeah Franco 86 Bentley yes thank you right I do construction work I I build roads we always put a sidewalk like you said I agree with you on that but at this point we bought the land we did all that we all love it we all live there all these people live there we don't want it should be our choice not the board's choice I understand where you come from if it's safety then you should have done all the developments especially the first one this gentleman built Mr Kori okay you should have put him in I understand that could look at the sidewalks when you buy the house so they were there so all landscape it's thousand dollars we put into those houses you guys drive by there you welcome drive by there all people going that street of people live there with their kids they all have kids two three 5 years old you know you walk by there like like we said all the other streets are so tight to go by you guys don't care none of them who's going to shove the sidewalks what they break you guys fixing West look like H some develops I don't see these guys uh fixing the sidewalk since I has a trip who going to sue the homeowner you're not going to be responsible for are you no you're not so they're not there we ask the gentleman we don't want them so we should have the choice cuz we live there not you guys I know you guys doing the job for people and stuff like that but if you're so concerned about the safety all these develops in Westport should be all put in and they're not so you just pick this one because he didn't read the fine prints for it okay he he made a mistake we all love it where we live so we don't want him and the people walk there just the people live there nobody else H walks there cuz it's a de and tree so only the house to live there go back and forth class we all know they all have kids so we go slow and it's PL room like bike like main many said it's PL of room so you guys should consider and we sign a paper to say we don't want them we just guys you're concerned that now all a sudden you're changing your mind you know you're pushing them back don't push you back it's our safety it's we know it's very safety there the future if you want to put consider go ahead we're not going to live forever we know that does your development have roads have a sidewalk probably not so it's going to look like crap coming down benley Lane one part of the street doesn't have it the other Pie has it so that that was no concern you should have made those guys put that in then all look the same as we addess it as you landscape according to the sidewalk but everybody Landscaping because there's no sidewalks there and some of these driveways like manyy said some high alow it's all kinds of uh crap you know the way we develop this this stuff you know what I'm saying so it's my concern we don't want sidewalk we're all here everybody lives here right here everybody know everybody here we can leave our doors open with our kids they all play with each other so you guys got to consider that to your mind they don't want it let's consider they don't want it I know it's got to start somewhere put sidewalks in but a lot of them West White around they not have sidewalks and they're million dollar homes just like these are thank you rest of my case thank you Mr chair so when when was the first phase built who who built the first early 2000 I'm not sure who the developer was for the first phase Bob do you do you know first pH do you know who the developer was for the first phase and what year it was built I was it was I think it was in 2012 16 2012 my memory is going a little bit so and that one so we didn't have a sidewalk regulation on that uh I I think it was earlier than that 2016 the hearing the first hearing date was September 22nd 2015 this is for number two that was for the first how about for the first first one it's probably not the I think it's 2009 yeah that's where I thought because like to mention you too about on what the town is so so back in the '90s when I did a lot of these subdivisions I also did Westport medals which is off the Sodom Road into um Charlotte white and that has a sidewalk the whole way um and we did do that when we had to bind the C before we did the top before we did the Landscaping but we also had had issues with the residents on on drainage SES that were on the side of the road that they didn't know when they started building the houses but but that one was a developer that built all the houses so it was easy to do so I I think this kind of just slipped through the cracks the whole way it wasn't in the first approval in 2009 I'm not sure that we had a requirement for sidewalks I think that came we didn't in 2009 we had no requirement for sidewalks um and it was instituted after Mr Kor did phase one uh but during all those hearings um he'd probably get tired of us saying we want sidewalks and he kept on saying no we don't want sidewalks because phase one doesn't have it well then when do you start having sidewalks when you have to have them and I think two people have talked about uh who's going to maintain them so we should have our roads wide as hell without any sidewalks and everybody would be happy I don't think so that's dangerous to have wide roads all over the place because it makes people go faster um and the way that uh Traffic Engineers uh get people to slow down is to narrow roads and to get the get in safety to get the people out of the roads and onto the sidewalk so I'm only one person here so but I I still have the same problem with what Mr Kori has done is he hasn't connected the culdesac to Highland Avenue which is a requirement of this his application from years ago and I don't know how we're ever going to accept this subdivision if those things are not done now the board can say okay we'll give you a waiver for the for the sidewalks the the the the discussion of it from the last time is if we're going to not have the sidewalks we have to have everybody sign on it doesn't mean that we're going to do it but if you were have any chance of doing it you had to have everybody sign on because uh the the subdivision at some point changes ownership basically to the home owners as opposed to just the applicant the applicant still has the the requirement to finish which he hasn't done so I don't know so so I think we're kind of we're kind of stuck because for in order for the road to be accepted it has to be built according to the plan I don't know if there's a way if if they decided not to have the road accepted by the town and you know Poss possibly paint a bike lane on your road if you think your Road's wider but it wouldn't you know I just don't know how we could if we can do that and that would be well the the plan I have here where did we get this plan it's on the our paper this one up here yeah this was submitted by the the appli okay so it shows with the sidewalk a 26 foot wide Road at least that's what it looks like to me looks 26t wide should probably gut to gutter you know yeah 26 gut to gut and one foot BM on both sides that's right so it's really 28 ft 28 and we have dropped some of these roads down you know I don't think it you know it's just a a sleepy KAC Road dead end I don't know that you need what what is uh anybody else Matthew the Sila 62 Bentley Lan um I have 5-year-olds and a 15-year-old my daughter is right on the street this traffic is slow there's no nobody's going in and out of there because it's a private neighborhood you get like a private feel when you walk in there um the sidewalk is not going to benefit them it's not going to benefit anybody cuz they can ride their bike turn around boom they fall off the sidewalk they hit the floor another thing we're talking about Paving this and this highland a was just paved not too long ago there is no bike lane line they just put the double yellow line my father-in-law lives in Westport too in a neighborhood off a Highland a he walks Highland a every day every day I see him he's jumping on off to the side every cop every morning I bring my son to school at Westport Middle High School the people who walk in the morning they're jumping off to the side there's no sidewalk there and 10 ft of that property belongs to the town 10 ft of Highland at belongs to the town no one's worried about that sidewalk but our private neighborhood where all our children play my son plays basketball in the street my my my daughters I walk my dog off leash everything in that but everybody walks there dog everybody has young children in this neighborhood and we are not concerned at all about a sidewalk it's not going to benefit any of us by a sidewalk being there if anything it's going to make it tighter so when my son decides to ride his bike in the street now he had usually just go off to the side and the car goes around slows down now he's going to have to hop onto a sidewalk this is not going to benefit anybody I just don't understand why our neighborhood is goingon to happen I understand he was obligated he was supposed to put it in but think about something if the sidewalk was already there and he had to come in you have to do septic systems fill in Lots your everybody's house wasn't directly had a plan for a driveway to be in a c certain location some people switch their driveways around some people put their driveway on the left side put their driveway on the right side because of the way the uh electric ran underneath the ground the way the septic system was developed if he had the sidewalk there how are you supposed to go you're going to go over the sidewalk with these these trucks carrying tons and tons of fill that they would have got destroyed that's why he didn't do it yet I know that's why he didn't do it yet he was going to wait till afterwards because it wasn't a set thing where like a developer would be like like Pacific Homes when Pacific homes does a development they usually go this house is going to be this style this style and your driveway is going to come this way this was all individually done by homeowners like myself I switched I had plenty of conversations with robw switching stuff around hey can you move my house a little more this way can you move my house a little more that way oh I want my driveway on the right I want my driveway on the left now if I bought the LW and he already had the sidewalk and the driveway done I would have been like oh so I have no choice but to put my driveway on the right or I have no choice to put my driveway on the left and if you were to drive trucks over it it would have destroyed it it would have destroyed the sidewalk because you can only get in there certain ways I understand he was obligated we all understand but we're all here because we live there we love just walking down the street um with our kids riding bikes and also I noticed other different neighborhoods uh people do their walk down our street also too I don't know the name of the neighborhood it's across Highland a some people come probably from De Lane they do their exercise they walk through our neighborhood and they they don't there doesn't bother them that there's no sidewalk so I just don't understand cuz I look at Highland Aven that's a tight Street to the point where I always just to give myself precaution when someone's riding a bike there is no bike lane line either and it just got paved so there's no and there's plenty of people who ride bikes on Highland a and I just go over to the side and I go around them if anything's a safety concern it would be Highland Avenue that's a safety concern that uh that that to me is is a tight straight one thing I think Highland AV maintained by do too I think it's half and half yeah yeah it's half and half that's why I figured but like I said even like I tell my father-in-law he walks on Highland half twice a day and I say hey be careful and he walks on the opposite side of the street so he can see the cops so then I go back towards him and then when he goes the other way back to his house cuz he lives off a blue he lives off of oral oral Lane and Bluebird Lane he lives in that that development and that development has no sidewalks but that's a older development but that's that's my that's what I'm trying to say this is this is a I know he was responsible he didn't do it but also there's a lot of things that come into play why he didn't do it cuz that would have affected us tremendously and now if the sidewalks are here and I know it put it's going to put like a burden on us if it cracks it lifts it's a new development everything's moving it's everything even your house four years old I got cracks cuz the house is settling the ground's going to settle so that's going to be now if that cracks up how long is it going to take for someone to come cut that section out and put in and put in and put in thing I work in new beff I work for the Housing Authority we have sidewalks everywhere no how kids stay on the sidewalk they always on the street always so that's why I feel this is is just an inconvenience is no point of having the sidewalk thank you anybody else Mr chair if I may just close out some of the arguments that you heard tonight I don't think anybody else has anything to say um have to okay my name is Adelina bores I live on 73 Bentley Lane and it's a beautiful development when we bought it we went down the first phase there's no we never you know right now if you I'm afraid if you put a sidewalk and you close that road down it's going to be danger to the kids your kids ride up and down that that with bikes and children and they're going to cross paths they're going to go to the street I I and you know I understand the Ada accessibility with a wheelchair I understand might have somebody in there but I bet you they won't go on a sidewalk cuz once they go on that sidewalk it's narrow they're going to it's going to be narrow for them to turn around they're going to have to go to the street and turn around especially the ones you know a lot of them have their you know the motor you know their uh electrical they're going to turn around into the street because it's going to be narrow these sidewalks I've seen them they're narrow they're not you know if you I understand you got to meet the requirements of everybody but you put that street narrow down I believe it's going to be a danger to the children in that street we have children that street they they drive like to ride the bikes back and forth families walking their dog comfortably it's very comfortable and we understand Mr CFI you know like it's a beautiful development it's great the way it is but if that street Narrows it's going to be like h and a half worse cuz children don't go there ride their bikes or walk I walk over there and I'm going to say Bo I got to scoot over when there's when when there's a car coming it's the way it is I'm young yeah right but but but when I get older you know so that that's my point it's I just think it's going to be more dangerous it may be more accessible for some people yes I understand but I have a feeling they won't use the sidewalk they will turn around and go into the street and now it's going to be narrow that's all I have to say thank you thank you Mr chairman Seth derso ad Bentley Lane um I keep hearing you know the homeowner should have known the homeowner should have known about sidewalks I know what I looked at as far as a building plan goes I'm not a developer I'm not a person who looks at these 247 can understand the septic location can understand this um but my only argument is if it's if the onus is put on the homeowners how many inspections did you guys do when Mr CFI was initially developing it that should have been flagged at the onset of the development to say hey this is marked out for properties there should be a 5 foot 6 foot allotment for sidewalks cuz I see drainage put in I see all that put in right at the BMS of of the the width of the street all is all that going to have to change are you going to have to push that all back five feet now Mr chair so I believe it's probably a 50 foot layout so the town will own 50 foot wide and you have a 26 foot roadway now so one of the shoulders is going that sidewalk is going to be on town property and what we've come up to now is saying that the sidewalk will be if the road's accepted the sidewalk will be the town's responsibility no no I get that but I'm saying like uh so there's um drainage ponds in the back where those drains are already fixed on both sides of the street so if you put sidewalks on one side of the street isn't that going to have to change those drainage uh locations I mean I don't have the plane in front of me but I'm I'm sure it was the sidewalk was on so I just wanted to say I just wanted to say everybody I think spoke said everything that everybody thinks um no need in me reiterating all that the only comment I had was if you guys are doing inspections when the properties are rebuilt shouldn't that sidewalk have been caught at the onset so this this doesn't happen so that way the the the soon to be homeowners don't have to be experts in everything that they're doing that's my only comment to the town the only thing I would say to that is that uh as uh somebody was saying that they don't know where the triways are going to be they don't know how many sand trucks are going to run over this thing they're not going to build the sidewalk and make a place for a for the driveway and you may not want it there so uh when it's not a developer who's building everything but a developer who's selling the Lots yeah uh generally they're doing the driveway after those trucks are done yep so all the storm water controls the drains and everything else should have been done per the plan which included the sidewalks so I don't think that the sidewalks should impede upon uh those things if he has built them to specification um and what he's obligated to do is to alert us when he's done and give us an ASU and show us where all these things are or our Consulting engineer goes out and checks all these things so Mr planner I really don't have any additional comments I think I think that the issues have been addressed on on both sides of the coin pretty well I I would like to know that the side boxs are outside of the layout of the road so they're not or the you know the Trav so it's not that the the road Lanes will become narrower they'll be located aside the the travel Lane um and the cost um just regarding the cost of this the the developer is still responsible for installing the sidewalks the the homeowners are not and the town still mean shity for this for this development in order to ensure that if there aren't p infrastructure that aren't installed or do not installed it appropriately the town does maintain that shity to make the necessary improvements so those are the only remaining things that I think need to be add I mean I just I don't like like I said I don't have the the cross-section of the plan in front of me but just looking at if it's a 50 foot layout so back of burn they should have 11 ft on both sides that you guys don't actually own that's going to be it's accepted by the town so I think the the the issue is driving around Bentley Lane uh the old section and the new where it changes um people it at some places it's really it's not steep steep but it's not flat right so if you cut uh six or seven feet out to make a 5 foot sidewalk you're going to have a it's not going to be flat so you're going to have to hold that bank back somehow um and so it'll alter how The Yards look but so if anybody's ready for a motion iate a motion uh I'd like to make a motion but I want to make a couple REM Mar s first uh first of all I appreciate everyone coming here we do this twice a month you're welcome to come to any of our meetings and and be part of this um I say that because uh the issue of uh how we deal with the sidewalks where you live is um is very important to you because it's it's your home and it's your neighborhood um but it's uh one of three public hearings we have tonight and this is one of a couple of meetings we have in October and we meet all year and uh the reason I say that is because we cannot just look at at this single uh decision about sidewalks in this development in isolation and just say well everyone here doesn't want sidewalks let's just do majority vote kind of thing because I there we have to think about um well we have zoning laws we have uh rules that we've talked about on sidewalks and how does that affect uh Westbard and if we make an ad h decision every time uh just based on who shows up at a meeting then we don't really have any rules at all we're just changing things by the seat of our pants every night based on who shows up and uh pretty soon it's just chaos so we decided as we talked uh this evening about the development of a rule on when should we have sidewalks in Westport and should it be for developments of over 10 then over five and how that got developed and how at some point we started saying yes it should be a requirement and we had to start at that point and that meant new developments would get them and we decided we're not going to make it retroactive and have it apply to older developments so that's why Bentley one didn't get them but bentle to did get them and uh so that creates a problem about the neighborhood where you live uh but we're trying to say how do we uh benefit protect all of the people of Westport and in our mind providing sidewalks for uh neighborhoods greater than five uh with sidewalks as our population ages and as people more more people uh require uh assistance in Mobility that makes sense for the uh people of Westport uh as a whole so that was a decision we made that's the rationale behind it and it's not just people in in wheelchairs we we thought it was a quality of life and it was a safety reason um and uh but but it needs to be uh a regulation that gets applied evenly to everyone that's written down so all developers know upfront that this is what I as a developer and required to do so they know it up front now the developer of Bentley to knew about it that's why it shows on the plan that there will be sidewalks it's right there boom sidewalks he knew it he agreed to it and uh anyone buying something there in the second in Bentley 2 uh I won't say should have known but but that was part of the plan that and that's what he agreed to and a lot of people have said well uh he made a commitment and commitments are commitments uh and it's his obligation to put it in and I know there's been a lot of discussion about sidewalks and all the problems of sidewalks but sidewalks are you know sidewalks people have been building sidewalks for a long time the sidewalks everywhere so you know it's not putting a person on the mo it's filing sidewalk so uh with that preface I would move to deny the requested waiver from subdivision bylaw section bb7 because the waiver is not in the public interest and therefore deny the requested subdivision Amendment that's my motion second so any more discussion just an my only comment is that uh only been on this board four years and I I find this to be a very well my vote that I'm about to make is rather distasteful only because I've never gone sort of against the public will and I mean you're we're all neighbors we're all part of the same Community but I the other hand I can't turn our back my back on uh the rules and regulations that were put in place for this town for the benefit of all of us I too would have to agree with my colleague mark on this one I I would uh I would love to vote to if if we had the power to give you a waiver for the sidewalks but I don't believe we do so okay all those in favor I I any opposed thank you we have another public hearing so oh yeah second all those in favor yeah but I mean if this is current you only so I'd like to open uh the 645 public hearing for Burks v twin file number 24-17 sp- maag continued from July 16th August 13th September 10th and October 15th of 2024 the applicant is is not here attendance at the meeting he requested a continuance to December 17th at 6:15 open you want it needs to be open for public hearing if you guys can move that would be great thank you you want a motion Mr chair yes please I move to continue the public hearing for Burke v twin to December 17th 2024 at 6:15 second all those in favor I I okay uh we're going to continue the planner report I think e yes with e um so we submitted to well e is the municipal vulnerability preparedness program expressions of Interest we submitted two expressions of Interest this year to the program um Jeff Canton prepared one that was um for assisting the climate resilience committee with drafting the or doing the Outreach engagement um to inform the climate resilience plan that the the climate resilience committee has undertaken and has really been doing a great job um of moving that forward especially since it's all volunteer based there's been a lot of progress made in the last year and I think it would be great for that plan to have um some additional resources d to outreach engagement so I think we have to discuss on how exactly we or who we would want to look at um consultant wise but I think it would be great to have a consult a dedicated consultant to go do that Outreach and engagement especially right now that we are only just me and the planning office so if we could get that extra help that would be great so it's again it's just an expression of interest it's not anything that you know they they'll give us kind of a tentative yeah this seems like it could be eligible or they'll give us heads up that now this is not a good fit for the program um and then the other one that I submitted was for uh storm water doing a a townwide storm water plan to prioritize locations in the town for storm water upgrades because we really don't have anything in place for looking at places like Culvert Crossings and and coming up with a priority for their replacement so that's what I submitted to them we would in the application um and in the plan prioritize nature-based Solutions supporting habitat restoration Wildlife passages things like that um ad Jason CA more vulnerable populations particularly um like seniors or the environmental justice area and also making sure that um First Responders are able to um have you know make sure that for example like near a firehouse there's if there's a culvert that can consistently overflows that you know those kinds of areas are addressed first so First Responders can get out and do what they need to do um as needed so those are the two that that we had submitted for and you're submitting this one yeah I submitted both of them but Jeff prepared the last one yeah and lastly is our One Stop Grant application so in the spring we submitted an application to develop a long range land use and neighborhood plan um for the area between Fall River and Dartmouth and that received funding for $91,000 to develop that plan um so we'll be looking to I mean it we just got the announcement last last week so we we don't even have a contract with the state but I prepared this application with the uh southeastern regional planning and economic development district sered and um I will intend I had prepared it with them with the understanding that we would contract with them to provide the the planning Services we don't need if we use sured we don't have to go out to an RFP or anything like that um so yeah that's it's good progress on on that front um because we'll be we'll be looking at drafting some things that we've talked about in the past and and and our zoning by law such as a starter home district and seeing where we can um look make some changes to our commercial zoning districts we have a lot of uh land uses that I think are a little bit Antiquated in there um and so I think we could could up some things yeah like bowling at good that's it okay uh I got an email today from an Ginger do you are you on her mailing list no says the time is now to apply for climate funding in introduction and I'll forward it to you um they're going to have a I think aom on the 24th and apparently we're going to talk about how to apply for climate funding okay okay correspondence I have this prepared this is just the signature page for the decision um that you have just made for the Bentley States modification so I'm circulating that around for your signature um we had two items for correspondence on here they're about chapter 91 licenses so we really don't have any regul well we don't have any regulatory authority over these applications except to really acknowledge the receipt of them but these are for um docks on the Westport River and so there's one that is a replacement and there's one that is proposed where are C's NE I think this is the one that's proposed no this is the one that's repairs and an additional two FL okay this is the C then the other one was off of drift Road that's it okay this one Bob tells us how many docks there are on g Road he always does there are hundreds hundreds you can walk from one dock from hi Bridge down to can't quite do that but you could uh CU you almost every house has one yeah between I reminded people between Hicks Bridge South to the Fontaine Bridge the route 88 Bridge there's a do every 50 yards every 50 yards half a football field well up in Adamsville there's a 600 foot dock I don't know if you've seen it it sticks out like crazy it it was denied by the Conservation Commission uh the Conservation Commission wanted them to go to the shortest rout would have been straight across the marshes and probably 450 F but they wanted to go up to a little piece of up in the middle of the marsh so it goes this way and then that way it's about 550 said it was denied and then the D approved it sueding order conditions and they have a price on the plan that I saw estimated price $360,000 and it's been there now for 3 years that that in rhod Island no it's in massachus it was built you said built yeah it's there you can I can see it from my neighbor's house and it's way up in ano I mean sticks up and nobody's ever seen a boat on the float so don't know what it's for it's incredible it's all monopoles so okay zba notices the the zba notices weren't on the correspondence of the section of the agenda not on the on the posted agenda oh so the 1180 American Highway that's long we can circulate that decision with you all um but since it's not on the on the agenda I don't think it should be discussed because it wasn't in the posted notice minutes of September 9th M Mr chair I've read the minutes and first of all it's a uh it's a different format I don't know who came up with the format na naen I love it don't sound so surprised this is uh this is really good uh it's really well organized it and U and it makes it easy to home in on the issues um so thank thank you for this Improvement to the minutes it really makes it easy to read and easy to find out what we talked about it's very clear and I read through them and and found them complete and accurate so thank you naen and with that I move acceptance of the September 24th uh planning board minutes uh I second and I second also the comments this is uh this is really very nicely done great all those in favor SE September 24th 24th yeah uh matters it says in the minute section September 10th do we have that also or is that just AES of September 10th where approved at the last meeting okay move to ajour well do we have anything that yes do we need a motion that's okay we can have sign I'll send it over to them tomorrow so needs to the sidewalks on the the high side of road that place took enormous amounts of f 2016 I think we'll get I think we can un you someone six foot on each side I we're still in session so we no we didn't adjourn yet um I got a little question so Mike um kudos for getting all those applications in I mean that seems in this climate to get six people to respond yeah so uh you you do know that we need to get moving on that quickly before they decide not to yeah so we can continue the good work that we're doing yeah no no you're telling me I well I should say the good work that our staff is doing here use an additional set of eyes yeah I was pleased to see that for yeah yeah I was I was surprised a lot a lot of thatn Team hopefully all those in favor [Music] right