The Rochester Planning Board approved the main pylon sign for the Rochester Crossroads commercial development on Cranberry Highway, as expected.

Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson during the January 13 meeting ordered a draft decision drawn up for approval during the February 10 meeting when the public hearing was closed and the decision ratified.

The 26-foot LED lit sign with be visible from Interstate 495, the first of several other signs slated for the project that were withdrawn without prejudice during the previous meeting.

The Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals had already granted a special permit for the signage, but the Planning Board ordered the developer to come to the Planning Board for a proper site plan review.

The project also required several waivers, for example, to display a sign that is no more than 9 square-feet in size.

There was a slight pause after Johnson called for a motion to approve, but once made, the motion passed swiftly.

Also during the meeting, Kevin Forgue of G.A.F. Engineering explained an application for an Approval Not Required on behalf of applicants Dennis and Karen Clemishaw of 99 Perry’s Lane.

The Clemishaws were seeking the removal of lot lines separating property straddling the town line between Rochester and Marion in order to create frontage on Perry’s Lane to access one of the lots with no direct access to the road.

With no significant concerns, after a brief discussion, the application was approved.

In other matters, the board approved two separate site plans pertaining to The Pines at Hathaway Pond.

Representatives from The Pines had previously engaged the board in discussion over the addition of several bulkheads to some of the units at the development, but the board requested that plans reflecting the bulkhead additions be submitted.

The board issued four conditions on the plans before approval.

Also discussed, a public forum to review the Limited Commercial District strategy is still in the works, with sickness and snow interfering with previously scheduled dates. A February 21 date has been canceled, and the forum will now be held later in March.

The Planning Board will meet with the Board of Selectmen on February 23 after their meeting to go over the strategy with them before moving forward with the public forum.

“It would be nice if we could get together and discuss things before we went anywhere,” said Johnson. “It’d be nice if the selectmen agreed with us before … or suggested some alternatives.”

The selectmen withdrew any support they had for two articles the Planning Board had on the warrant during the Fall Special Town Meeting, and Johnson alluded to avoiding a similar situation at the Annual Town Meeting in May.

Johnson intends to present the selectmen with the draft bylaw at this stage in its development before moving forward any further.

“And hopefully we’ll have a cohesive document that we can bring to a [public] forum,” said Johnson.

The Planning Board is looking at proposing two articles for the Town Meeting warrant – one that addresses the Limited Commercial District, which is roughly land surrounding the center of town, and the second will serve to add a definition of “mixed use” to the bylaw just in case the first article fails on Town Meeting floor. Johnson called it a ‘failsafe.’

Johnson also updated the board on the progress of hiring a consultant to assist the Town in codifying its zoning and general bylaws.

The chairman told board members that Town Administrator Michael McCue presented him with one estimate for the work, totaling $12,000.

“Which I can’t support right now,” said Johnson. “It seemed like a lot of words in there to justify a big price tag.”

Johnson pointed out that it was only one single estimate and he would keep the board updated as other estimates come in.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for February 24 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

National Weather Service Taunton– A winter storm will bring blizzard conditions to eastern Massachusetts, including the entire Tri-Town region this weekend.

There is a blizzard warning in effect from 7:00 pm Saturday, February 14 to 11:00 am Sunday, February 15.

Hazard types include heavy snow, poor visibility, and strong to damaging winds.         Snow accumulations are predicted at 8 to 10 inches, and snow drifts several feet deep can also be expected.

Travel will become nearly impossible and potentially life threatening due to whiteout conditions and bitterly cold wind chills.

Conditions will remain dangerous for travel well into Sunday due to blowing and drifting snow, reduced visibility, and dangerously cold wind chills. Visibility will be one-quarter of a mile or less at times.

Power outages can be expected in some locations due to very strong winds from the north at 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 75 mph.     A blizzard warning is issued when sustained winds or frequent gusts over 35 mph are expected with considerable falling and/or blowing and drifting snow. Travel must be completed by late Saturday afternoon. Those venturing outdoors may become lost or disoriented. Stay indoors.

The snow will move in Saturday evening and intensify overnight. By Sunday morning, heavy snow is likely especially along the coast with northwest winds strengthening. Temperatures will plummet during the day on Sunday. By Sunday evening, temperatures may be around zero even at the coast with wind chill values a lot lower than that.

Regardless of how much snow falls, this will likely be a dangerous storm to be out and about in due to the combination of wind and cold.

The Marion Planning Board Master Plan/Bylaw Subcommittee, which set out to formulate a new “Formula Business” Bylaw to protect the character of Marion and restrict the construction of “big box” stores, has moved beyond the rhetoric of CVS and drive-thru windows typical of one of its meetings and arrived at a place of precariousness – creating a bylaw that does not conflict with or duplicate already existing zoning bylaws.

The current draft bylaw, which continues to evolve, actually proposes three separate bylaws to address the three issues of dimensional use, formula business, and blight/nuisance.

The draft Dimensional Use Bylaw proposes adding two more columns to the existing Dimensional Requirements Table, addressing maximum lot coverage and minimum green space.

It gives ratios for all business zoning districts and proposes a ratio of 60 percent lot coverage and 20 percent green space for the general business zone.

Discussion began with the acknowledgement that this proposed bylaw might already conflict with existing zoning regulations.

Vice-Chairman of the subcommittee Norman Hills right away asked how someone came up with the ratios proposed and called the numbers “absurd.”

“Some of these numbers…” said Hills. “You could still come up with a pretty damned big building.” He suggested separating impervious surfaces like walkways and parking lots from the building lot coverage to address them as separate entities, in his words.

Subcommittee member Ted North mentioned capping the building size in Marion to not exceed maximum building dimensions of “X, Y, and Z” as the way to go.

Although this draft bylaw would have no affect on a tentatively proposed CVS for the corner of Front Street and Route 6, Hills acknowledged that CVS was the impetus for the Zoning Bylaw Subcommittee’s efforts to protect the character of the town.

“I’m not sure this solves that problem,” said Hills. “This whole concept needs to be flushed out one time so we don’t keep springing back trying to solve the same problem. We need numbers that are going to do what we want them to do. And that’s something you can’t do overnight.”

Hills said the bylaw should address minimum lot size, but was wary of how the subcommittee could avoid conflicting with current zoning bylaws.

“You twist something here and something else falls off the edge over here,” said Hills.

In a memorandum to Planning Board Chairman Steve Kokkins, Building Commissioner Scott Shippey responded to the draft bylaws the board sent to him for comment, saying right away that he found several conflicts and issues.

“The proposed ‘Maximum Lot Coverage’ and ‘Minimum Green Space Coverage’ numbers may be in conflict with other existing bylaws,” wrote Shippey. “Most of the lots in Marion are preexisting nonconforming lots and are already held to only 40% coverage … for residential districts.”

Shippey also wrote that general, marine, and limited industrial zones are already required to maintain 20 percent of the lot area as “open space.” Under the proposed bylaw, marine and limited industrial would be at 70 percent max lot coverage and 30 percent green space.

“This is a very difficult task for a proposed business to achieve in accordance with the existing bylaws and the new proposed bylaw,” stated Shippey. “The numbers do not match up and are in direct conflict with existing bylaws.”

During discussions about the draft Formula Business Bylaw, the subcommittee again acknowledged that the Town cannot exclude the so-called ‘big box’ stores from coming to Marion, but they can restrict them.

“Which we have done,” stated North. Hills replied, “Which is what we are trying to do.”

There was talk about businesses using large windows to display signs typical of a franchise, and the subcommittee debated whether restricting that is beyond the Planning Board’s purview of regulating the exterior of the building and not the interior.

North reminded the subcommittee that the bylaw seeks mainly to define a formula business and make the determination for the site plan review process.

“We restrict signage on the outside,” as well as certain elements of a formula business, said Subcommittee Chairman Rico Ferrari. “And we dumb it down, yet we have glass space that dumbs it back up because you can see it from the outside.”

After some discussion, the subcommittee determined that this matter would fall under the Town’s sign ordinance, which is Shippey’s territory.

Within the draft Formula Business Bylaw, there is language to regulate and minimize “business branding,” anything on the exterior designed to identify the structure with any particular franchise or chain store. Under the draft bylaw, businesses would have to construct buildings more “consistent with the town’s architectural composition, character, and historical context … including the preservation of the colonial and early New England styles, colors, and textures of a small rural seaside community.”

Shippey commented on this, writing: “I believe case law allows reasonable restriction but not exclusion.” He continued, “Using the guidelines Marion has set forth for ‘Big Box’ stores can ensure the continuity and characteristic s of Marion.”

The sense of urgency of past meetings to have a Formula Business Bylaw for the May Town Meeting seems to have subsided, as subcommittee members acknowledge that there might not be enough time before article submission deadlines.

“I’m not feeling the pressure … that pressure that was given with the solar bylaw…” said Ferrari. “I don’t want to fall into that pitfall of hurry, hurry, hurry.”

Hills concurred, saying, “There doesn’t seem to be a dying need for this right this second.”

Attention turned to the need to codify the Town’s Zoning Bylaws, which some members have already discussed with the town administrator who mentioned hiring a contractor to assist in the process.

After the meeting, Kokkins said the winter weather, which accounted for several cancelations and postponements of Planning Board and subcommittee meetings, was an impediment to the formula bylaw process.

“At a point when time was very critical,” added Kokkins.

The subcommittee has not scheduled its next meeting, but the Marion Planning Board will meet on Tuesday, February 17 at 5:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry