Category Archives: Permitting

Trinity Financial’s submission to Planning Board for 3/6 hearing

From: Sarah Raposa <sraposa@medfield.net>
Date: March 3, 2023 at 4:26:17 PM EST
To: Lisa Mead
Subject: Trinity Submission Updates for Monday



BCC to PB and FYI to others – Please see HERE for Trinity’s latest submission for Monday’s Planning Board meeting. I hope you find the cover letter with matrix helpful. The information is also being posted on the Planning Board’s webpage and shared with the Longmeadow/Evergreen folks. 

Here is the link for Monday’s meeting (7:30 pm): Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
    Please click this URL to join. https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/88330845134?pwd=YWY5c1BKVGtsTlI4akxacTMrZzA2Zz09
    Passcode: 291696

Or One tap mobile:
+16469313860,,88330845134#,,,,*291696# US
+19294362866,,88330845134#,,,,*291696# US (New York)

Or join by phone:
    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
        US: +1 646 931 3860

Trinity Financial interview now on-line

Trinity Financial was interviewed by the Medfield State Hospital Development Committee last night with respect to Trinity’s proposal to develop the former Medfield State Hospital site. My sense was that Trinity is willing to be exceedingly flexible, and to listen to and consider proposals for changes to what the town wants, if the town wants to further tailor the result to precisely what the town desires. So far Trinity proposes 334 rental units in the existing buildings, 25% affordable, meaning that all 344 should get added to the town’s SHI list of affordable housing units.

Trinity clearly thought that the site could allow for more development than the 334 units, should the town residents want to achieve more tax revenue so as to lower existing real estate taxes (any greater density would target getting more real estate taxes without adding more municipal costs, and hence would lower existing taxes).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 3:02 PM
Subject: Trinity interview
To: Kristine Trierweiler <ktrierweiler@medfield.net>

Last night’s interview with Trinity has been posted onto YouTube:
https://youtu.be/bO6V-9hHCl0?t=70


Nicholas J. MilanoAssistant Town Administrator

Clark Tavern 5 condo proposal

Clark Tavern Proposal

The application to turn the Clark Tavern into a five unit condominium development (two in the renovated/expanded existing structure and three all new behind) has been filed and the plans are now available on-line at the town website.

 

Posted on: June 1, 2020

Clark Tavern – Historic Property Reuse

rendering crop 353-355 MAIN ST. UNIT 1 and 2 copy

The project requires the following approvals under the Medfield Zoning Bylaw:

Section 5.6 (ZBA Special permit for historic properties, adaptive reuse) 14.10 (ZBA special permit criteria), and 14.12 (PB site plan approval). The Medfield Board of Health will also review the stormwater component of the application per their more stringent rules and regulations.

ZBA Application HERE

Planning Board Application HERE

Preliminary schedule via Zoom:

  • July 8 – Joint Planning Board and ZBA meeting scheduled to kick-off the application (open PB & ZBA public hearings, present concepts, identify issues, continue as needed)
  • August – Board continuances as needed

More information will be posted as it is received.

An appreciation of our town employees

town seal

An appreciation for a job well done

I have been thinking this morning about the Town of Medfield employees who provide we residents with the services that allow our lives to continue with as much semblance of normalcy as possible at all times, but most especially in these truly unsettling circumstances we are currently experiencing. Our water goes on, public safety continues to serve us, the Transfer Station even added Sunday openings, and all the town government systems continue to function, if behind a digital curtain, all so that we residents can continue our lives.

The town employees are providing essential services, so while they likely share the same unease that envelopes us all, they continue to work their jobs.  I wanted to publicly share with the Town of Medfield employees my sincere appreciation for their efforts  and to thank them.

I am extremely appreciative of what all the town employees are doing now, working under difficult circumstances – I want to let them all know just how much this one resident, one who tries hard to observe closely the functioning of the town government so as to understand it as well as possible, truly appreciates what our team of town employees are accomplishing for we residents.

Status of Rosebay

Rosebay

Town Status on the Rosebay Project

I have been asked enough about the status of the Rosebay project that I thought I would share what I know.  Rosebay is the private development proposal for 45 units of senior affordable housing on Medfield Housing Authority land that is directly adjacent to Tilden Village on Pound Street.  Rosebay would be all seniors, all rental, and all affordable.  The developer is Brian McMillin of NewGate Housing LLC of Westwood, who was selected by the Medfield Housing Authority.  Brian McMillin previously worked for Gatehouse, at the time Gatehouse built The Parc in Medfield.

In general, the Board of Selectmen have been pushing to have more affordable housing, especially for seniors, so conceptually I support the Rosebay project.

The town’s active and effective Affordable Housing Trust has been meeting with the Rosebay developer and I understand that the Affordable Housing Trust has been advancing the Rosebay project as part of the town’s solution to our affordable housing needs.  I also believe that the Affordable Housing Trust even provided some monies for fees to that developer to advance the project.

The Town of Medfield is in a good spot at the moment with respect to unfriendly 40B proposals because we are currently in a safe harbor, meaning that:

  1. we have a Housing Production Plan that the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has accepted, and
  2. we are currently building 21 SHI units per year.

I believe that we have about another year and a half of safe harbor remaining, but we also have several irons in the fire that could extend that time frame.

So as long as we remain in that safe harbor, the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Medfield can turn down any 40B that it does not like on the basis that we are in that safe harbor, and the developer cannot end run the town by appealing for state approval to the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC) at the DHCD for an approval.  The HAC routinely approves any developer’s 40B developments turned down by towns, but the HAC will not overturn a ZBA denial based on our being in a safe harbor, while we continue to be in that safe harbor.

The Board of Selectmen will soon send a letter to Department of Housing and Community Development opining about the suitability of the Rosebay project in general, and we would welcome citizen input as part of our formulation of that letter.

The project is not looking to be a Local Initiative Project (LIP), which is a town endorsed 40B.  The need for that town endorsement of a LIP gives the Board of Selectmen a high level of control over any LIP.  The Board of Selectmen therefore does not have that same high level of input and control over Rosebay that we would have if it were a LIP.

In this instance the Zoning Board of Appeals will be the main town entity that will deal with the nuts and bolts issues of the Rosebay project, and that will seek to ameliorate the proposed project and its impacts on both the neighbors and the town.  The ZBA has even greater than usual control over the Rosebay proposal, because of the fact that we are in a 40B safe harbor, and any ZBA denial should be supported by the HAC.

I am trusting the Zoning Board of Appeals to see that the details are worked out as well as they can be so as to minimize the impacts and effects of the project on the neighbors.

ZBA says no to LCB

LCB

The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Medfield voted to deny a special permit to the proposed LCB assisted living facility on Main Street, whose application has been pending for two and a half years.  The entire decision is available here 20180621-ZBA.LCBdecision), and the essential excerpts appear below.

=========================================================

TOWN OF MEDFIELD
Office of the Board of Appeals on Zoning

NOTICE OF DECISION

APPLICANT: LCB Senior Living
DECISION DATE: June 21, 2018
DATE OF FILING DECISION: June 27,2018
DECISION NUMBER: 1339

  • While the Applicant has provided sufficient evidence to warrant a number of positive findings, the Board has concluded that it cannot make one of the key findings. Section 14.1 O.E(3) requires that we determine that the proposed use is architecturally and aesthetically consistent with other structures in the neighborhood.
  • Section 14.10.E(l) requires that we determine that the proposed use will not result in a public hazard due to substantially increased vehicular traffic or parking in the neighborhood. While the proposed project would provide 51 parking spaces, we are concerned that that level of parking may not be adequate. . . Section 14.10.E(l) requires that we determine that the proposed use will not result in a public hazard due to substantially increased vehicular traffic or parking in the neighborhood. While the proposed project would provide 51 parking spaces, we are concerned that that level of parking may not be adequate.
  • Section 14.1 O.E(2) requires that we determine that the proposed use will have no adverse effect upon property values in the neighborhood. . . we do not believe that we can make the required finding that the proposed use will have no adverse effect on property values in the neighborhood.

 

LCB restart

LCB

The permitting for the proposed LCB assisted living facility behind the Clark Tavern on Main Street with the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board is starting up again with a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on 5/23 at 7PM at the Blake Middle School auditorium.  In advance of that ZBA hearing Town Planner, Sarah Raposa circulated the most recent peer review by the town’s engineering consultants, BETA Engineering, dated 4/19/2016, which gives a summary of where things stand.

20160419-BETA-Medfield Senior Living Peer Review (002)

 

Also, I believe that there are still two outstanding and as yet unresolved apeals by LCB of the wetlands determination issues by the Town of Medfield Conservation Commission.  I understand those appeals are pending with the state DEP and at the Norfolk Superior Court.  The ConCom determined that Vine Brook is a “perennial stream” (i.e. it flows year round) and as a result that building setbacks are subject to the 200′ Rivers Act requirements.  I believe that LCB takes the position that Vine Brook is only “intermittent,” and that therefore the Rivers Act setback do not control.

 

Below is Sarah’s transmission email to town department heads –

===============================================================

LCB is coming back from continuance-hiatus next Wednesday night (5/23) with the ZBA. I wanted to refresh your memories on the project and where Beta is at with the reviews. The application and plans may be viewed here: Dropbox Link

Attached is the most recent civil and traffic engineering review from Beta.

 

For some departments, your predecessors submitted comments on the project. Previously submitted comments are HERE. You may wish to update departmental comments, if so, please provide written comments by next Wednesday at 10 am.

 

Looking closely, I don’t having anything from the Fire Department (though I know Chief Kingsbury reviewed the plan).

 

I did not include the COA and School Dept. in 2015 but feel free to submit if you have any comments for the ZBA.

 

I do have several documents from the Historical Commission that I didn’t attach here but are online. I know you’ll be at the meeting on Wednesday to submit comments in person.

 

All are welcome to the public hearing session: Wednesday, May 23, 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Blake Middle School Auditorium.

 

Thank you,

Sarah

 

 

Sarah Raposa, AICP

Town Planner
459 Main Street
Medfield, MA  02052
(508) 906-3027
sraposa@medfield.net

 

5G may look different in Medfield

Medfield already has one Verizon permitted antennae on a light pole, in front of Palumbo Liquors, and according to this article, we may be seeing many more.  The Board of Selectmen were told when presented with that pole antennae application, that in Massachusetts Verizon had the right to install on an existing pole.  The town gets no revenue from that antennae.  By contrast, the antennae on our two water towers pay, from memory, about $30K/year /antennae).

 

Why Cities Should Jump at the Chance to Add Cell Towers to Streetlights

COMMENTARY | In a contributed piece, the authors suggest compromises and efficiencies to ensure cities do not get left behind in the 5G revolution.

This is the first in two contributed articles on broadband access and local government’s role in building better connectivity for its citizens. Read the second one here.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. —  Numerous state lawmakers are filing bills to encourage or even compel large cities to incorporate cell towers into existing municipal infrastructures. Not everyone is sold on the proposition.

Wireless carriers want to install miniature cell towers on utility poles and streetlights to keep up with fifth-generation—commonly known as 5G—cell phone technology. Carriers plan to install more than 250,000 small cell sites across the U.S. in the next few years, but they require broad access to public property in order to proceed. Legislators have introduced wireless siting bills in 25 states so far this year, with hopes to begin work on installations in 2018.

In Illinois, for instance, legislation intended to streamline this process has enjoyed a cold reception. The Small Cell Wireless Bill passed the Illinois House and Senate during the 2017 veto session, though State Senate President John Cullerton decided to hold the legislation after public outcry from area communities. Policymakers said they hoped to negotiate with local officials who have called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to veto the bill.

 

Meanwhile, both sides of this ongoing debate have been clashing in California Gov. Jerry Brown late last year vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for telecommunications companies to install the small transmitters on public property. Brown argued the permitting process for new technology must be weighed against the right of local governments to manage public property under their jurisdiction.

Skeptics claim these small cell sites will be more of an eyesore than an asset, but city dwellers should welcome this beneficial blend of private tech and public property.

 

A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships

Opponents argue that this integration of street furniture and tech will harm community aesthetics and historical preservation. Local and state representatives who oppose the legislation, however, will cause self-inflicted wounds to the long-term prosperity of their communities.

By attaching small cell antennas to streetlights and other street furniture, carriers will be able to use 5G technology to deliver wireless data much more effectively. Wireless customers in affected areas will enjoy improved coverage, fewer dropped calls, and faster download speeds.

 

5G technology saw an informal test in Minneapolis during Super Bowl LII, after Verizon crews installed 250 of the small cell sites throughout downtown Minneapolis to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of out-of-town visitors for the big game. The stadium itself was blanketed in wireless signals, with antennas hidden in everything from handrails to small boxes scattered among the stadium’s seats.

As 5G technology gains traction, wireless carriers hope to eventually supplant cable as the primary provider of home internet service. Speeds on 5G networks are better than traditional cable internet, and the wireless service can compete with high-end fiber networks. Homes within reach of these small cell sites would no longer require wired connections, but the infrastructure for this sort of network does not exist in many communities. As a solution, carriers want to pepper small cell antennas on existing street furniture.

Critics contend the wireless industry’s initiative will roll back public efforts to expand broadband access to underserved and rural areas. In truth, the push to install cell antennas on public furniture would actually support these efforts by forcing cable providers to bolster their infrastructure and reduce their rates in order to remain competitive.

According to Deloitte, the U.S. must spend more than $100 billion over the next five to seven years to support fiber infrastructure demands. Wireless providers can ease this burden by densifying their networks, increasing consumer access along the way. Carriers would partner with municipalities to design, permit, and construct saturated wireless networks, benefitting all parties involved.

Residents want improved connectivity, but they fear unsightly additions to city structures. To mitigate this aesthetic issue, cities should require companies to shroud antennas and install non-transmitting equipment below ground.

In exchange, cities should agree to give wireless carriers and cable companies a free market in which to solve the digital divide. To build seamless networks, wireless companies will need to serve all high-density areas — including impoverished districts. By simplifying the installation and permitting processes, cities will be able to facilitate better services for their citizens with minimal effort.

Leaping from Legislation to Implementation

Before this technology can change things for the better, local leaders must modify municipal policies and procedures. Steep lease rates for cell towers on private property inflate the operating expenses of wireless carriers. Low-cost access to public street furniture would remedy this issue, reducing operating expenses for carriers and freeing up capital for infrastructure improvements and denser networks.

Many municipalities lack defined fee structures and approval processes for the corporate use of public property. By creating straightforward licensing procedures, cities can help carriers plan ahead for new networks. Public works departments should interfere as little as possible, only stopping proposals that overstep the common sense of aesthetics and function. If cities keep rates fair and permitting reasonable, carriers can pass their savings on to customers.

Communities that oppose the installation of 5G technology on their assets risk falling behind other municipalities that cooperate with carriers. Technology-fueled startups and participants in the gig economy prefer areas with better technology. If one city is saturated with high-speed wireless service while another avoids upgrades, startups are more likely to flock to the city with the better technological offering.

Fast internet service is the lifeblood of the global economy. In nations with fewer regulations on wireless infrastructure, carriers provide denser networks with better service at lower costs. Without reliable, affordable access to these advanced systems, American communities will trail behind their global counterparts.

To remain globally competitive, government officials must work with the wireless industry to rethink commercial access to public assets. By cooperating with carriers on permitting and reasonable use rates, municipalities can create room for compromise on the shrouding and location of new equipment. Opening city hall for business will create new economic opportunities for wireless generations to come

MCC at PB

After listening to the last planning board hearings on the Medfield Children’s Center petition for site plan approval of its proposed new child care facility at 75 High Street, I concluded that the planning board will approve that petition, with the conditions discussed last night.  The planning board closed the hearing last night, will next await any Board of Health action, and then the planning board will formally vote on the petition for site plan approval at its 12/4/17 meeting.

It is my understanding that the zoning compliance issues will need to be decided by the Building Commissioner, or the Zoning Board of Appeals if he defers to the issues to the ZBA.  It is my understanding that the lot does not have the minimum width required of lots, that the parking will not comply with the bylaw requirements, and additionally the lot is subject to a 1975 variance that limits any use to one single family home.

The Medfield Children’s Center currently operates child care facilities in both the Baptist Church and Episcopal Church in the downtown, and I believe the churches are looking to reclaim their spaces.  The Medfield Children’s Center looking to consolidate its operations in one location.

This was the crowd at the start of the hour long hearing before the planning board last night –

20171106 202104

20171106 202104

Proposed Child Care Center

Proposed Child Care Center

A child care facility has been proposed for 75 High Street, a fairly narrow lot on which the land slopes up steeply from Rte. 27.  The area is zoned residential, but under the state statute, child care facilities are exempt from local zoning, just as are religious and educational uses, so the facility can locate there subject to reasonable health and safety strictures imposed by the Planning Board on site plan review petition.

Today I was provided a copy of the plans, and I thought that there will be many who will want to see those plans, so I uploaded them here.

75HighSitePlan8-9-17