April 17, 2007 Minutes

Zoning Bylaw Review Committee

Present: Joe Fabricotti, Linda Hawkes, Don Keller, Dick Nichols, Dick Skinner, Shirley Smith

The meeting was called to order at 7:08 P.M.

The meeting for next month was set for May 15^th.

The Mendon Zoning Matrix

Linda had been investigating the zoning bylaws of Blackstone and discovered that they had a way to let their residents know exactly what was permitted in which zones or districts. It is called a zoning matrix and it is quite easy to use. She said that in Blackstone, special permits are rarely allowed. If it isn’t in the matrix, it’s no. Dick Skinner took this information and adapted it to a possible application in Mendon.  The businesses or uses are alphabetically listed on the left hand side of the page; the districts are across the top of the page. A simple yes or no is under each district for that particular use.

Dick S. explained how the matrix works. It tells with one look what is permitted and what is prohibited. There is no need to search elsewhere.

This was followed by discussions of some of the various uses. Joe explained that it is an overview. The details would be in another section.

Dick S. brought up the question of whether or not accessory apartments should be permitted in the Business District. Why would you allow a house to be built in a business zone? Do you want to encourage residences in the business areas?

Shirley: If the homes are already there, they should be allowed to have an accessory apartment if they choose. Some people even like to have one attached to their businesses. I can see Dick’s point about not allowing new residences to be built in a business district because that is more valuable to the town as business property. But houses that are already there should be able to have accessory apartments, if they need them and want them.

Joe: Yes: Suppose someone wants an accessory apartment in the house next to the Mendon greenhouse?

John Vandersluis thought the matrix was easy to read.

 Joe: I like the matrix idea. Let’s work on this. Over the next few weeks, we can all go through the matrix line by line and, after we’ve settled on what we want to do, we can look at how we write the wording that supports it.

R-1 and R-2

The present zoning bylaws have one residential district but the Mendon Zoning Matrix includes two residential districts: R-1 and R-2. R-1 would consist of the heavily traveled roads and streets such as Hartford Ave. East and West, Bellingham Street, and Providence Road. R-2 would be all other residential areas. Residential properties that front on R-1 streets can do more than those that front on R-2 streets. This is still in the planning stage and details of what would be allowed where are not yet finalized.

There was some discussion of which district a home would be in if an R-2 road intersects with an R-1 road. It was agreed that it would depend on the address. Also discussion of whether all roads leading out of town should be included in R-1.

Joe thought R-1 should be kept to a few roads.

Linda wanted to know if there could be more than a 200 foot depth in R-1.

Don pointed out that the 200 foot depth automatically limits anything big from coming in.

  Dick S. and Don didn’t think home occupations should be allowed in R-2 residences, only in R-1.

John V. thought they could be allowed but more restrictive and by special permit. He gave an example of a seamstress as a home occupation that would not disrupt a neighborhood in any way.

Don: It could be a special permit that has to be renewed every two years. If there are problems with noise, late nights and neighbors complaining, we don’t renew the permit.

Linda: If a business in a residential district is by right and there are problems, there would be nothing to renew without a special permit.

Don: Refer back to the bylaw. It tells you what you can do with a home business: what kind, how many square feet, parking, how many can work there. So even if it’s by right, there are restrictions.

Agricultural District

This was also part of the matrix. Linda initiated a discussion of what constitutes an agricultural zone.

Joe: Some say this is allowed by state law.

Don: Yes, it’s on page 3 of the State Zoning Laws.

Joe: If a person wanted to have a farm, you don’t need zoning; you need land. If we zone it agricultural, and someone has 12 or 15 acres but it isn’t in the agricultural zone does that mean they can’t have a farm?

Shirley: Does the agricultural zone have to be in one place. We have large areas of farm land in different parts of town, from North Avenue to Bates Street. Also some towns have agricultural by right so that neighbors who object to animals or manure can’t stop them.

Don: You could have 5 acre agricultural zoning and designate that a house lot has to be 5 acres. So you could still have a residence. That could be an advantage because the privacy of a 5 acre lot makes it more valuable.

Shirley: There are people will pay a whole lot of money for privacy.

Linda: Would that prevent a farmer with agricultural zoned lots from cutting up his land into 2 acre lots?

Joe: You could rezone or by special permit. It’s a balance between preserving the character of the town and development.

John brought up the issue of taxing farm land at a lower rate. This would give people incentive to preserve large tracts of land. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. Large tax breaks and exemptions for timber land were also mentioned.

Accessory Apartments

Dick Nichols had been working on accessory apartments. A major source of information was the Massachusetts Smart Growth Tool Kit. He also looked at other towns. A discussion ensued as to whether or not accessory apartments could be classified as duplexes.

Don: How does an in- law or accessory apartment differ from a duplex?

Dick N: It specifically states in the bylaw that an accessory apartment is not a two family house.

Shirley: It can’t exceed the footprint of the original house. The bylaw says only 3 people are allowed. A duplex is the same on both sides. One side is duplicated on the other. An accessory apartment can even be a one room studio or one bedroom that is just a part of the main house. It doesn’t make the house look any different.

Dick N. went over a draft of the regulations he had put together. He went over a purpose and intent section. A few of the purposes mentioned were to provide older homeowners with a means of obtaining rental income so they could stay comfortably in their homes and to add moderately priced rental units to the housing stock to meet the needs of smaller, moderate income households. Some of the regulations were that only one unit may be created within a single family house or house lot; the owner must occupy one of the dwelling units; the floor area shall not be greater than 900 sq, ft. and can never be enlarged; the unit must conform to building / sanitary codes, and may not be occupied by more than 3 people or have more than 2 bedrooms.

Dick N. will continue to work on this subject.

Joe: There are a lot of big houses in town. What about when your kids come home? And when your daughter with two kids comes back? What do you do?

Don: Who’s going to enforce it?

John: And these apartments are all over town. How do you get people to come forward?

Shirley: Some towns have an amnesty program.

Joe: There will always be people who are going to do things without getting permits.

But there are also people who will want to do it right. They will want to get permits for a nice kitchen and proper plumbing.

Shirley: A lot of people don’t want to do things illegally.

40B

Shirley: If you have some affordable accessory apartments, you can forestall the 40B developers. It’s a way out from under the 40B sledgehammer.

Don: You can slow it down but you can’t stop it.

Shirley: There are towns that are doing this and have reached or come close to the 10%.

It’s not just the affordable apartments in older homes, but a combination of that along with an inclusionary requirement and affordable apartments built into new homes.

 Affordable apartments built in older homes are called Local Action Units and can be counted toward 40B requirements.  But there has to be a deed restriction that it will be affordable for a certain length of time and you can’t rent to family.  It does have to be enforced. Someone has to check up on it. I have a contact at the Department of Housing and Community Development so I can find out the answers to any questions we have.

John: people won’t go along with a deed restriction.

  Joe: It can be removed if the homeowner no longer participates in the program.

Shirley: These affordable apartments aren’t cheap. Some of the rents are quite high. There might be people who need extra money to pay their mortgages or help them stay in their homes.

Joe: I think on accessory apartments, we can do it both ways. We can let people choose. If they want affordable, they can have it. There may be those who do want to rent an apartment but don’t want family living in the same house with them.

Adult Entertainment Zoning

Linda: I’ve been looking into adult zoning laws. It looks as though if there isn’t an adult zone. It can’t be called that. You have to create an industrial zone or another zone where adult entertainment can be allowed. It has to be so many feet away from residences. There are crime issues. Then you can say no to the applicant. They can only put it in that area.

Don: If you aren’t proactive, they can come in and go anywhere as long as it’s in a business or industrial zone. He read from the state zoning law 9A on adult zoning location. “ Such zoning ordinance or by-law may state the specific improvements, amenities or locations of proposed uses for which such permit may be granted and may provide that the proposed use be a specific distance from any district designated by zoning ordinance or by-law for any residential use….”

Most thought the End Zone area would be best although some concern was expressed about the proximity of the drive-in theatre where there would be children. Joe said he would check on the case law on adult zoning.

Shirley passed out color copies of a power point presentation on Open Space Development from the Massachusetts Smart Growth Tool Kit.

John Vandersluis made a motion to adjourn. Linda Hawkes seconded the motion. All were if favor. Meeting adjourned at 9:07 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Shirley Smith