“I’m the chairman. It was my fault if something was done wrong. I take full responsibility. We never proposed the zoning bylaws,” said Mattapoisett Planning Board Chairman Tom Tucker on November 3.
This came in response to Mattapoisett resident Bonne DaSousa’s reading of an open letter to the board. DaSousa has been trying to find out how zoning bylaw changes got into the warrant for the Fall Special Town Meeting, and she had questions about a letter sent to the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen from the Planning Board.
DaSousa asked the Planning Board to “correct the record regarding the [Planning Board’s] letter.” She also asked them for “a constructive review”of the events leading up to the Fall Special Town Meeting that resulted in the error.
During a follow-up interview, Town Administrator Michael Gagne provided clarification on the sequence of events of the zoning bylaw changes proposed by Brad Saunders of D+E LLC (a Bay Club partner) as they took place over the past few months.
Gagne said that on September 16 he asked Planning Board Secretary Tammy Ferreira if the Planning Board was submitting zoning articles for the Special Town Meeting. She replied affirmatively and sent Gagne the proposed changes from Saunders that had been vetted through the public process. Gagne sent the documents on to town counsel for review and editing into proper language for the warrant.
On September 22, according to Gagne, town counsel returned those documents to Gagne, who in turn sent them on to Director of Inspectional Services Andy Bobola and to Ferreira.
Gagne said on October 8 Ferreira submitted a letter to Gagne, along with original zoning bylaw proposals from Saunders, as the ‘report’ from the Planning Board that he had requested.
Gagne read that letter at Town Meeting; however, Ferreira’s letter incorrectly stated that the Planning Board voted in favor of amending the articles.
DaSousa was successful in motions from the Town Meeting floor that postponed voting on the zoning changes indefinitely.
At the November 3 Planning Board meeting, Mattapoisett resident Lisa Winsor said that what was “really disturbing” was the huge communication gap. She said the letter read by Gagne from the Planning Board seemed to have weight because it was referred to three times during the Town Meeting discourse on the proposed zoning changes.
“What are you looking for?” asked Planning Board member Ron Merlo. “I’m confused. There’s nothing hidden.”
DaSousa wanted to know how a private citizen could propose bylaw changes. Planning Board member Mary Crain said that private landowners can make a request.
Planning Board member John Mathieu told DaSousa that the board follows the Attorney General’s Office Guidebook for town clerks and planning boards. He said that the guidebook has been uploaded to the Town’s website for everyone’s reference.
“I don’t think anyone is trying to hide anything,” stated Mathieu.
Merlo said, “We voted to send the bylaws to Town Meeting – we didn’t vote to approve.” Continuing on he stated, “We held public hearings – no one came.”
Tucker reiterated, “…It was just a mistake…”
By the end of the conversation, Tucker, Merlo, and Mathieu had made it clear that if the public attended public meetings and hearings, they would be well informed and able to participate in the open communication afforded by the process.
Tucker said the board would invite selectmen to meet with them. He also said they would contact town counsel to find out if the public record from the Special Town Meeting can be changed to reflect that the board did not approve the proposed bylaw changes.
Earlier in the evening, three hearings for tree removals were heard with Tree Warden Roland Cote. Cote stated the reasons why certain trees located on scenic byways should be removed. The trees in question are located at 18 Crystal Spring Road, 34 River Road, and 22 Long Plain Road.
Sandy Hering, chairman of the Tree Committee, said the committee was in favor of the trees being removed, with the exception of the tree located at 18 Crystal Spring Road. She said the Tree Committee did not see the need to remove a tree that had been planted by a previous tree warden and was presently healthy and doing no harm.
Cote said it was imminent that NSTAR would heavily prune the tree, thus making it an eyesore, and that the Water Department was concerned about a water valve located nearby.
Homeowner Raymond Hanks was present and made a commitment to plant another tree in a better location to replace the one in question that would be removed.
Cote received approval to remove all the trees noted in the three applications.
In other matters, Nick Harris and engineering representatives from McKenzie Engineering Group came before the board for an informal discussion regarding a conceptual housing development off Bowman Road.
Brad McKenzie said they wanted to find out what the Town would be looking for in terms of the road and utilities for a SRD permit encompassing a 20-acre parcel and 20-lot subdivision.
The discussion included the current state of Bowman Road (an unpaved public roadway), the wet conditions of the site, and concerns of stormwater drainage problems.
McKenzie’s assertion that the site did not fall under review from Natural Heritage was questioned, and he was advised to get clarification on that point, along with checking the 2010 SRPEDD mapping of the area.
“I don’t think Bowman Road can take another house on it,” said Mathieu. “You construct a road, you have to drain that road, that land is wet, very flat, the ground has hard pan.” He continued, “You’ve got a tough thing to sell,” he told McKenzie.
“We meet all the state and local regulations,” responded McKenzie.
Mathieu countered, “You haven’t shown us anything.”
Harris said he had been through a similar situation in Freetown with a public road and five houses he wanted to build on it. He said the Town of Freetown had not approved the project, but that he had won a lawsuit in court.
“If I have enough width to rebuild Bowman Road, I should be able to do that,” said Harris.
Tucker said, “You’ll need letters from the police, Fire Department, highway, trip generation reports – you need all your ducks in a row. We’ve been burned too many times.” Tucker ended his comments by saying they could also expect the mandate of an independent peer review.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for November 17 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell
