HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - MPC - 03/20/2017 March 20, 2017 FINAL
COHASSET MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE
DATE: Monday,March 20, 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
Charles Samuelson
Peter Hobson
Katie Dugan
Eric Seuss
Charlie Higginson
Board Member Not Present: Lynne Schwandt
John Donohue
Recording Secretary Present: Chrissie Dahlstrom, Administrative Assistant
Town Manager: Chris Senior
7:00 PM—Mr. Brewer called the meeting to order.
7:02 PM—BOARD BUSINESS
Approve the meeting minutes from February 23, 2017
MOTION BY MR. KENNEDY: Adopt the Amended Meeting Minutes for February 23,
2017
SECONDED: Mr. Schubert
VOTE: 9—0 MOTION CARRIES
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON MASTER PLAN THOUGHTS
Mr. Kennedy informed the Committee the Planning Board and Conservation Commission were
presented with possible zoning bylaw changes. These items will be discussed and voted on at the
Town Meeting. The ZAC and Planning Board are making changes to the language to the
proposed Citizens Petition. Some of these items are complicated and need a 2/3 vote to pass.
Chairman Brewer went to the Plymouth Harbor Plan Meeting. There weren't any charts or
graphs presented, they discussed goals and implementation.
Mr. Schubert would like the Committee to discuss modifying the marijuana bylaw in Cohasset.
He also discussed linking the current zoning with the GIS System as something the Committee
would like to see updated. The hired town consultant can do this task including the current
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development plans for solar array and other projects that are almost ready for execution should
be included.
Mr. McCarthy stated the next Master Plan should include vision goals. Route 3A and the village
will be the areas that need updating from the 2004 plan. Bringing a consultant to help with
organizing project plans with benchmarks, time frames and detailed schedules would be helpful.
In two years the Committee can see which goals have been hit.
Mr. Higginson suggested everyone on the Committee take a chapter in the 2004 Master Plan and
look at what needs updating or what is missing from each chapter.
Mr. Suess would like to add information to the charts with new data. He received the consult
information from Clark from the data that was collected in 2016. He is still working on the slides
and is slicing the data. He would like to create pivot tables and present a deck to the Committee
from the data collected.
Mr. Samuelson suggested going to different areas of town where the residents frequent to
conduct a survey. He is concerned with the large developments brought to Cohasset such as
supermarkets and large neighborhoods and their effect on transportation. There is no policy for
developmental growth.
Mr. Hobson questioned why the 2004 Master Plan was not adopted. The Planning Board has the
final vote on the Master Plan and at the time 2 voted in favor, 2 voted against and 1 abstained
from voting on the 2004 Master Plan. The Board felt many of the ideas were adopted over time.
Part of the plan is not applicable anymore and needs updating.
2004 MASTER PLAN REVIEW—TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction: The Master Plan Process
The first section of the 2004 Master Plan is still relevant. What should be addressed first is the
implementation. The weak points are Economic Development and Transportation and Mobility.
II. Vision and Goals
The vision statements from 2004 and 2015 effort are accurate and timeless. The Committee
agreed to go through each word on both vision statements and have them match for the 2017
vision. This should be a one page document.
On Page 5 of the 2004 Master Plan the section Cohasset Character needs to be looked to be sure
it's still accurate.
To encourage community participation for the last Master Plan there were neighborhood forums.
Only 5% of the community participated in the survey.
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III. Land Use 1
Cohasset did not meet the state requirements for affordable housing prior to the building of
Avalon.
The train has had an effect on the commuters and over the past few years there has been an
increase in passengers during the week, however, the train is underutilized on weekends. The No
Overnight Parking signs that state your car will be towed if you park overnight in the parking lot
are not correct. Chairman Brewer called the Greenbush and they told him parking overnight is
allowed for a fee but they have not changed the signage in the parking lot to inform the public.
An app for smart phones allows a commuter to enter the amount of days their car will be in the
lot.
The 2004 plan gave little attention to the schools where as the 2015 vision statement
incorporated a school plan.
IV. The Waterfront
The Open Space and Recreation Committee are meeting next March 29, 2017 to discuss the
waterfront. i'
The Harbor Plan just got funding after 15 years of being on hold. The Committee would like to
incorporate the Master Plan with the goals of the Harbor Plan. There was discussion of changing
the waterfront plan.
V. Natural and Cultural Resources
The 2004 Master Plan suggested expanding the historical plaques, adding a possible
skateboarding park and adding pools and fitness centers. Perhaps adding Uber and Lift to this
section makes sense.
VI. Open Space and Recreation
This section of the 2004 Master Plan talks about protecting the open space, views to the coast
and wetlands protection.
Katie informed the group the Assessors data didn't have open space, was there a clear listing?
She is looking for an inventory list. Patriot doesn't list the missing Open Space properties. Open
Space and Recreation has a consultant, maybe they have a list.
VII. Housing and Residential Development
Currently there are 160 single family homes in the 40B program. Cohasset is still under 10% and
we would like to be over 10% for the 2020 census. There are units that are not in the habitat
inventory and there are no 40B deed restrictions on these dwellings. The Town could buy down
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multi familys and resell for no more that 5%profit to bring the percentage over 10%using CPC
funds to subsisidize the housing.
VIII. Economic Development
An active committee needs to work and control the economic development for the Master Plan.
93% of Cohasset is residential. The Master Plan would like to see the housing values be
maintained. If there isn't any economic growth the residents will pay higher taxes. Developing
business from the village to the harbor would require a bylaw change. There was an effort 15
years ago to connect the two, making Elm Street more people friendly. There are four empty
buildings in the harbor area; perhaps these buildings could draw people to that area.
IX. Community Facilities and Public Services
It would cost$7.6M to connect Cohasset Water to North Cohasset. Hingham will have this topic
at their town meeting possibly in the fall of 2017. Hingham has old pipe and Cohasset has the
capacity to carry their water. A regional meeting with Hull and Scituate is scheduled for later this
week. Along 3A there are septic issues. The Committee would like to be educated by the
Chairman of the Water and Sewer Commissioners with plans on expansion. The town brought
sewer to the Little Harbor area and this is bad long term for the Jerusalem Road and Atlantic
Avenue neighborhoods. The residents paid 100% for sewer including the pipes and hook up.
Septic limits the size of homes and bringing sewer into town will be a big factor in growth. The
septic systems are better today.
X. Transportation and Mobility
The transportation and mobility needs help.
XI. Land Use II
If the proposed Land Alteration is approved at Town Meeting, we will need a Planner to help
update the map with the Long Range Committee by overlaying minimum lot sizes. Much of the
undeveloped land from 2004 became developed by 2016. The undeveloped land has not been
consistent. What made the undeveloped land undeveloped in the first place? The data could have
been incorrect from the beginning. Working with GIS we can see what work was done in the
past. Page 13 of the 2004 Master Plan discusses land use. This data is nearly 15 years old. The
Land Use plan is 15 years old and the technology of the land has been made usable by
technology. The State would like to reform the zoning laws and MMA is against the State
Zoning Reform. It takes power away from the local ZBAs and has been on the table for decades.
The models for growth in 2004 were for 5-20 new homes year. With Toll Brothers and Cook
Estates we have seen over 20 new homes in a year. The homes that have been demolished
without a new home added are not included. In 2004 the elders want to stay in town in a single
family home. Today's seniors are moving to condo units, there is a different need today.
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XII. Implementation and Action Plan
No follow up plans were done on the previous Master Plan and since it wasn't voted on, the
Master Plan ideas ran out of gas five years later.
Since the last plan the Committee has new ideas for improving 3A. The Committee should think
about creating a committee for economic development.
The Committee will build out a 2 x 3 plan using maps 6 and 10 from the 2004 plan.
The Waterfront needs to be updated as well as the natural resources.
The bylaw recommended ledge protection and the bylaw was not implemented. Ledge
preservation was important ten years ago.
The Committee should meet with the Open Space and Recreation Committee for
recommendations to prioritize and list the land that has been acquired. The CPC will let the
Committee know the top ten parcels to perverse.
The bike routes that were in the Master Plan in 2004 didn't happen linking Scituate to Quincy.
Some ideas for the new Master Plan:
• Bring dunes to Sandy Beach and take away the parking lot
• One Way Sunday along the coast using cones to divide the road between cars and
pedestrians along the coast on Sundays will encourage foot traffic
• Sidewalks from Forest Avenue to the train station along North Main Street on a steel
bridge
• Free parking at the train station on weekends
• Regional bikeway
• Make the marina a bike center
• Bring kayaking to the waterfront
• The sidewalk on South Main Street stops at the Scituate line and the commuters taking
the train have to walk on the street from Cohasset to the Scituate train station- Cohasset
received a $200,000 grant given to Scituate for the sidewalk but it wasn't installed
• Bike racks
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• Bus routes from the train station, to the village, to the harbor and the shopping areas
along Route 3A
• Zip Cars
• Bike rentals
Prior to the next meeting:
Break down the sections of the 2004 Master Plan, what is good, what is useful and what's
missing. Each member is assigned to the following Chapters:
Mr. Hobson- Housing Section
Mr. Kennedy-Natural Cultural Resources
Ms. Dugan—Open Space and Recreation
Mr. McCarthy—Economic Development and Community Facilities and Public Services
Mr. Samuelson—Public Services and Land Use and Future Growth
Mr. Schubert—Transportation and Mobility
Mr. Higginson—Land Use I and Maps 6 and 10 Nz
Katie suggested taking the Long Range data plan like Hingham did in 2003. They applied for a
grant to work with a Metro-Boston contractor in terms of demographics. Looking at the building
permits can help predict the long range population. Right now Cohasset is at an increase. The
past ten years the population increased from 0.4 to 1.3 percent.
A Planner will take the data the Committee has collected and, like Hingham, compare
themselves to neighboring towns in terms of the number of houses and development predicted
for the next 10-20 years.
Mr. Hobson will not be at the next meeting
Topics for the next meeting:
Review the Committee's finding comparing the 2004 Master Plan to the needs of today.
SET THE NEXT MEETING DATES
Next three meeting dates at Willcutt Commons at 7:00 PM:
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
9:20 PM—Adjourn the meeting
MOTION BY Mr. Brewer: Adjourn the meeting
SECONDED: Ms. Dugan
VOTE: 9- 0 MOTION CARRIES
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