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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - MPC - 04/18/2017 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18, 2017 APPROVED MINUTES COHASSET MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE DATE: Tuesday,April 18,2017 TIME: 7:00 PM PLACE: Willcutt Commons 91 Sohier Street, Cohasset, MA 02025 Board Members Present: Clark Brewer, Chairman J. Patrick Kennedy, Vice Chairman Kevin McCarthy Paul Schubert Peter Hobson Katie Dugan Lynn Schwandt Eric Seuss Charlie Higginson Board Member Not Present: Charles Samuelson John Donohue Recording Secretary Present: Chrissie Dahlstrom, Administrative Assistant Town Manager: Chris Senior 7:00 PM— Chair Brewer opened the meeting. Chair Brewer created a tentative 20 month Cohasset Master Plan Process. April 2017 - Information review: • 2004 plan • Regional sewer priority recommendations • Dealing with a moving target for present conditions and projections into the future The Committee would like to look at the impact of the regional sewer five, ten and twenty years from now. The Committee would like to look at the timeline of other committees. It was asked if the Committee would create studies if there was an existing committee (Open Space and Recreation, Harbor Committee). The Committee will reach out to these committees to ensure no duplication of efforts and to see if MPC and these committees are in agreement. May 2017 -Information review: • 3A corridor study • Phase 1 Master Plan strengths, challenges and priorities The town is seeking a Town Planner whose role will be defined. When the 2004 Master Plan was created the Planner coordinated with other departments, committees and boards. It is critical to have someone coordinate. June 2017 - Review and update vision • Develop work plans • Coordinate with Open Space Plan Committee and Harbor Plan Committee Wage 1 of 6 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18,2017 • Work with in-house Planner • Develop mapping resources Having a Town Planner by June would be desirable for accomplishing the Master Plan goals. The Committee would like a joint meeting with the Open Space and Recreation Committee. Updating GIS mapping with more detailed data would depend on available funding. Integrating with the GIS that's available can take place during the 20 month plan. July 2017- Finalize focus chapters • Create RFP for Master Plan Consultant August 2017 • Interview and select Consultant The Consultant would work on population projections and separate the data. Communicating the specifics to the Town Manager before they meet with MAPC is important. The funding is available for both a Planner and Consultant. There is a need for an interdepartmental coordination with access to cross information with other Committees. September 2017 • Organize visioning session for the Town • Prepare and update relevant mapping The goal is to gather more targeted information than in 2015. The information would involve the concerns of residents and what issues they feel are key (housing, Open Space, sidewalks etc). October 2017 • Review results of the visioning November 2017 • Focus meetings on Economic Development,Water/Sewer, Open Space, 3A, Village, Harbor, Climate Change,Housing,Transportation, Capital Infrastructure, Refurbished Buildings, and Regionalization The Assessors have 8 different neighborhoods used for market changes; the Committee discussed using these different neighborhoods to conduct surveys where they would like to see Cohasset in the future. This data would be used for the Master Plan. December 2017 • Organize updated survey • Prepare and update relevant mapping The 2004 Master Plan talks about public safety. The new Master Plan can continue with the data already collected from the old Master Plan efforts. The Committee will organize a new survey and complete the public outreach by way of interviews or channel residents through electronic surveys or postcards. Having ten surveys per neighborhood will guarantee fairness. The surveys need to be targeted. Having a check a box is better than written data when it comes to surveys. We will know the chapters at this point so the questions will be specific. January 2018 Page 2 of 6 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18, 2017 • Review results • Update vision statement • Joint meeting with the Planning Board February 2018 • Direct Consultant's on chapter outline and mapping The Consultant to focus on specific chapters, and gather missing information. March and April 2018 • Review work products and comment Ensure all information is available and review proposed work. Notify the Town Meeting Coordinator which Committees will be bringing their ideas to the 2018 Town Town Meeting. May 2018 • Review draft Master Plan • Joint meeting with the Planning Board The MPC wants the PIanning Board to be in agreement with the Town Planner and Board of Selectmen for the proposed Master Plan. However, implementation will most likely happen if the Planning Board doesn't vote to agree. June 2018 • Prepare short presentation to engage Town Meeting on progress July 2018 • Assemble comments and review recommendations By the summer of 2018 the final Master Plan should be together. At this point a committee needs to be formed for implementation. August 2018 • Present final version of Master Plan for public review and comment September 2018 • Engage Planning Board for final review and approval October 2018 • Strategic implementation • Prepare zoning articles for annual Town Meeting Approve Meeting Minutes MOTION BY MR. KENNEDY: Approve minutes from March 20, 2017 SECONDED: Dr. Schubert VOTE: 9-0 Review 2004 Master Plan Mr. Kennedy studied the 2004 Master Plan cha ter titled.Natural and Cultural Resources and Economic Development and Community Facilities and Public Services Page 3 of 6 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18,2017 One of the key changes since the 2004 Master Plan was lack of attention paid to some analysis. Cultural resources data was light. Some questions that weren't answered were: What are the major values added to Cohasset as far as activities and resources are concerned? What do people do with their free time? The 2004 plan only touched on limited aspects such as the South Shore Art Center, Music Circus and Historical Society Museums and nothing much beyond that. What was missing was the schools musical performances, arts boosters and drama club performances. There was no mention of the Farmers Market, concerts on the common, the Christmas Stroll or Holly Hill Farm. The Music Circus brings lots of people to town and is great for bringing business to local restaurants. There are lots of nonprofit fundraisers and sporting events. This section of the Master Plan should be more wholesome. There have been milestone events with Natural Resources. The Little Harbor expansion has had a significant change environmentally with a watershed area that has allowed for more development. There was a program at the harbor to discuss which shellfish species were in the harbor and also the water quality. Jack Buckley conducted this program. Major water front areas are not subject to development and maintain the water shed. CPC money was used to buy land to protect the watershed. Ms. Dugan studied the 2004 Master Plan cha ter titled Den Space and Recreation Ms. Dugan compared the 2004 plan to the 2009 plan. One goal in the 2004 Master Plan was to develop a system to rank Open Space, how to protect or acquire more land. The 2004 plan wanted to acquire ten acres of land per year over 20 years. This plan was too aggressive for the land acquisition. In 2009 the goal was to acquire five acres per year. The 2004 plan discussed roughly a third of Cohasset land was open space. The modest amount was Wheelwright Farms and Thayer Park. The survey done in the 2004 master plan mentioned playgrounds, parks, and private clubs. It was more narrative. The 2009 survey gave more detail. Skateboarding, an indoor pool and rollerblading were discussed in the 2004 plan. One option was to put a dome over the town pool. Recreation increased walking after school. The sidewalk committee was able to install sidewalks on Forest Avenue. People want to bike and walk around town. State funding is available to help build sidewalks. A grant from King Street to the train station was not approved. Getting sidewalks throughout the town is now a 15-20 year old goal. Along the south section of Route 3A a redesign of the street will have sidewalks and bike paths. Mr. Brewer pointed out it's worth looking at the 2009 Recreation Plan that was missing in the 2004 plan. There is detailed analysis with natural resources that talks about solving problems like water resources and watershed. Mr. Hobson said the Open Space study will be done by June. The consultant also completed a list of open space that lists who owns it and where they live by town and state. The 2004 reported a third of the land is open space but it is actually 31.5 sq. miles, 9.9 miles are land and the rest is water. Updated goals and objectives of the community setting population, employment, and growth doesn't belong in Open Space but should be included in the new Master Plan. The population in 2004 was projected to decrease but it actually did the opposite. The town census understates the children in town by 600, which is not a good measure for population. There are multiple sources to cross check the actual population. The long term development and growth patterns talked about Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission, a buildout analysis and requirements for the State. Page 4 of 6 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18,2017 Q: Does Open Space need to talk about some items we would put in Master Plan? A: Open space comes to the Advisory Board after the State approves. Mr. Brewer discussed Housing in Cohasset: Cohasset has 3,311 homes, 308 of which are affordable, bringing the percentage to 9.3%. The goal is to be above 10%. Cohasset was in compliance with this requirement. It is critical to find 23 units to get above 10%. There are 12 in the village that are approved and will count for the 2020 census. All units count in Avalon. There is an exclusion of single family so Cooke Estates and Toll Brothers didn't participate in affordable housing. Our 40B issue will be fixed by 5 0-100 units. Changing the zoning will allow people to buy down. An affordable unit goes through a lottery process and needs to be on subsidies list. A possibility of large scale rental units would help. We could ask Avalon to create more units to bring Cohasset over the 10%. The buy down option is the best option. Original owners can stay in their home with an agreed set price when they sell. The Town would pay the resident for the deed restriction. Mr. McCarthystudied the 2004 Master Plan chapter titled Economic Develo meet and CommunLI.E Facilities and Public Services Mr. McCarthy found a good amount of data in the 2004 plan regarding Economic Development. The new data will make the comparison and trends interesting. Another theme was the sensitivity to protect the historical, character and quality of life in Cohasset. An interesting prospective for Economic Development was to add a Town offer to increase commercial business. Adding a$5M commercial business can yield $420M income, like in 2004 with Stop and Shop. Looking at numbers going forward with goals and increasing revenue helps the town. Perhaps the Town can offer tax incentives and market to bring commercial businesses to Cohasset. Sewer is an issue along the 3A corridor. There are 360 acres zoned commercial in Cohasset and the Committee doesn't know how much the Town is using. Q: Would tweaking the parking allotments bring in more business? A: Parking lots are not full most of the time. The Committee may look at smaller niches. The Harbor study is looking for Commercial opportunities in that area. Years ago there was a place for boats to fuel in the harbor. Q: Docks rebuilt to sell fish? A: Maybe think about smaller ways that makes Cohasset Harbor unique. Perhaps an ice machine, bait, fuel and accessible docks would bring people in. This can become an environmental issue. Getting a boat into Cohasset Harbor is hard. Rezoning land for business in the area between the harbor and the village would connect the areas. Another suggestion is putting green buffers along 3A for residents allowing commercial mixed use. Beechwood Street has a commercial zone that would be a great neighborhood for mixed use and could work to increase commercial business. Part of the 3A corridor study consisted of sidewalks going from Chief Justice Cushing Highway to the sidewalks on Sohier Street. Incorporating sidewalks and improving the streetscape would help clean up Rte 3A. The Economic Development Committee could begin working on alternative use along 3A. Mr. Brewer will attend the regional sewer meeting next week. Hull has extra storage and there is a need for sewer in Cohasset and parts of North Scituate. If we expand sewer capacity, where is there a priority? Sewer could cost $40-$50k. People with good or new septic systems will be forced to hook up to sewer. Changing the zoning to mixed use where sewer is could give more Page 5 of 6 Master Plan Committee Minutes of April 18,2017 options. The State is fixing 3A from Scituate to Beechwood Street_ By partnering with Scituate, Cohasset could to expand sewer. What are the impacts of connecting to sewer? Topics for May 23, 2017 meeting: • Sewer- Capture the cost of the benefit of businesses with sewer or zoning changes • 2004 Plan Review o Mr. Samuelson—Public Services and Land Use and Future Growth o Mr. Schubert—Transportation and Mobility o Mr. Higginson—Land Use I and Maps 6 and 10 • Parcel Permit Population Analysis With no further business a motion was made by Chair Brewer, 2nd by Dr. Shubert and voted 9-0 to adjourn the meeting at 10 pm. DATE APPROVED BY MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE SIGNATURE OF COMMITTEE CHAIR: Page 6 of 6