Planning Board Meeting

Planning Board Minutes

September 10, 2015

Call to Order

The public meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by J. Atkinson, Chair, with the following:

Members Present:                                             Planning Staff:

James Atkinson                                                David Spitz, Town Planner

Peter de Bakker                                               

David Harris                                                      Fire Chief:

Joan Kozar                                                       Norman Clarke

Joe McParland

Tom Stello

I.a  Policy review on Road Standards

Mr. J. Atkinson introduced the discussion and Mr. Spitz described the packet of current rules/regulation and policies related to road standards in Harwich.  Mr. Spitz noted recent Planning Board approvals for subdivisions and ANR’s and said these could aid in the discussion of such topics as street category, road surface, road width, road base and number of homes served.

Mr. de Bakker expressed a concern about a slow “creep” in recent approvals and a lowering of road standards.  He said the Planning Board must look beyond the current applicant, who may have a history of good road maintenance, towards a future landowner who may not have the same approach.

Mr. McParland was concerned about recent sidewalk waivers or contributions to a sidewalk fund rather than actual construction of a sidewalk along a new subdivision street.  Overall, he felt that a lot of waivers of road requirements were being requested.

Mr. Stello said that some waivers may be appropriate for smaller projects and that a 14’ wide gravel road with 2’ shoulders on either side should be sufficient to serve 3 or 4 lots.

Mr. J. Atkinson said we must also address the issue of number of lots served by a road.

Fire Chief Norman Clarke said he was pleased to have been invited to this work session to explain his approach to the issue.  He said that, first, he tries to figure out how he will be able to assist an applicant.  He then visits the site to determine actual conditions.  He said that guidelines are important, but they are followed perhaps only 80% of the time.  He is not a black and white thinker, and he said that Boards exist to deal with individual circumstances and gray areas.  He also noted that the majority of crashes involving fire vehicles have been on higher speed, wider, paved roads rather than the type of small rural roads that are being considered as part of this road discussion.

Mr. J. Atkinson said that the Fire Chief’s review should be treated as the minimum requirement for adequate road access to new lots.  However, he felt that the Planning Board has an obligation to see if there are any other access concerns.

Mr. Harris said he has dealt with national standards that may or may not get down to this level of roadway.  He said that research could be done to see if there were any relevant standards.  He said he agreed with the Fire Chief about applying common sense in addition to guidelines that are provided to an applicant.

Mr. Stello noted that an applicant does not always have the right to make improvements on another property.  Mr. Kozar agreed that this had been a problem with a recent application (Squantum Path).

Mr. J. Atkinson said that recent applications have been radically different from each other and that it is hard to have a single road access policy.

Mr. Clarke said that many people in town do not want existing road conditions to change.

A discussion ensued about ancient ways and rights of the public to travel on such ways.  Mr. J. Atkinson, Mr. Stello and Mr. Spitz had different opinions on these legal rights, and it was agreed that further research was needed.

Aaron Gingras said that you cannot generalize different site conditions.  He recommended that the Planning Board needed better communication with a landowner prior to a public meeting.  He added that it is not fair to ask an applicant to make road improvements on another property where people are already living.

Freeman Allison said that common sense is needed about sidewalks and that they are not always appropriate in cases of rural character.

Ms. Kozar asked if there was a public safety concern about cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads due to lack of interconnectedness.  Mr. Clarke said that it was not an issue for him.

Mr. J. Atkinson said that the most difficult cases have been ones where some existing homes already use a road and that the addition of new homes may cause it to become more of a subdivision road.

It was generally agreed that a single road policy was not possible, particularly for ANR applications.  Mr. Spitz said he would write up some general guidelines for the Planning Board to consider further.

II.  Old Business

None

III.  Briefings

East Harwich Subcommittee.  Ms. Kozar said that the latest work session was discouraging due to continued negative public response.  Mr. J. Atkinson said he felt the biggest concern was the offset proposal (or lack thereof) rather than the proposed mixed use zoning for the existing commercial district.  He reiterated his approach of having a draft approved by the subcommittee, bringing it to the the full Planning Board for approval, and then presenting it to the Board of Selectmen.

Mr. Stello said it was time to refocus on other parts of town such as harbor development.  Mr. J. Atkinson said that some ideas on Route 28 zoning would be ready for the Planning Board perhaps in October.

IV.  Minutes

Ms. Kozar moved and Mr. de Bakker seconded a motion to approve the August 25, 2015 minutes.  The motion was approved unanimously (6 to 0).

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

David Spitz

Town Planner

Adopted:          September 24, 2015