The Raynham Channel
Welcome to Raynham Community Access & Media (RAYCAM), where we engage, learn, and create community access media. We are dedicated to providing a platform for all voices to be heard and shared. Join us in creating a vibrant and inclusive media community.
The Raynham Channel
Planning Board 3/20/2025
(Episode Description is AI generated and may be errors in accuracy)
Witness the fascinating dynamics of small-town governance as a local planning board navigates development applications, community concerns, and contentious state mandates.
The meeting begins with routine business before examining a continuance request for the Grieco Ford site plan on Paramount Drive. After rescheduling due to pending engineering reviews, the board efficiently handles an abbreviated site plan for a commercial building addition at 1555 New State Highway.
But the heart of this episode emerges when discussion turns to the controversial Massachusetts zoning requirements. Board members speak candidly about their skepticism toward state housing mandates, noting their town already exceeds the affordable housing threshold percentage. Their strategic consideration of placing multi-family zoning overlays on existing commercial properties reveals the creative tension between compliance and protecting community character. The board prepares for significant public interest at their upcoming hearing on the matter, anticipating the need for a larger venue.
This raw, unfiltered look at municipal governance highlights how local officials balance technical requirements, community interests, and regulatory pressures. Whether you're interested in housing policy, local government, or community development, this episode offers valuable insights into how the decisions shaping our neighborhoods are made.
Want to learn more about how planning decisions affect your community? Subscribe to our podcast and join the conversation about local governance and development.
https://www.raynhaminfo.com/
Copyright RAYCAM INC. 2024
Okay, okay, raising the planning board. 6 o'clock meeting, march 20th 2025. I'd like anyone to sign off the schedule. Is there any meetings? All right, call the meeting to order. The meeting's available on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 34. First thing on the agenda well, first of all, I'm Chris Gallagher. I'm the chairman, to my right is Matt Andrade, to his vice chairman, to his right is Anthony and Coley and to my left is Burt Fountain and to his left is Brian Oldfield. First thing on the agenda is minutes of February 6th and March 6th. Did you have a chance to review them? I did.
Speaker 2:I make a motion that we waive the reading and approve the minutes of February 6th and March 6th.
Speaker 1:Is there a second Second? Any discussion Hearing? None all in favor. Aye, okay. The next thing on the agenda was zero paramount drive Greco Ford. I have a letter from Michael Shaughnessy Esquire. As you know, zenith Consultant Engineers responded to peer reviewer's comments last night. Given the likelihood that the peer reviewer will not have a response in time for tonight's meeting, I would like to request a two-week continuance April 2nd no, actually April 3rd, I think to allow the peer reviewer to evaluate responses and issue the letter. So the Thursday night.
Speaker 3:our next meeting is actually April 3rd, mr Jimmett. You might take into consideration that's going to be a jam-packed meeting and we're going to do a lot of discussion on the zoning article. I don't know if we can move that to the second meeting in April.
Speaker 4:What's our time tag?
Speaker 3:It's April 17th that would be the date right Second meeting on the 17th.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can ask for a number of?
Speaker 1:I don't think. I looked at the comments and I think they're probably going to be ready to go for approval on the 17th. I would think. I mean their engineers are actually here. Do you think that would be the case? Yeah, that's what we're hoping for.
Speaker 4:We were hoping for actually, you know, for that date, but there were a lot of comments, but some of them were even like spelling errors. Yeah, and that's on me, so it was it didn't. The substance of what we did design-wise is exactly what we had submitted. Yeah, substance of what we did design lies is exactly what we did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a little later, we're allowed to make sure that right now, the problem. I like it when they have stuff like that yeah, would you have any issue with it going to?
Speaker 4:17. I don't. I personally have no problem with that. I can't speak for the client, but it is what it is. If you guys are too busy, it is what it is. That's up to you, we understand.
Speaker 1:What Bob's talking about is we have that 3A going insanity that Morgan Haley, who needs to be going out for him, is trying to destroy every city and town here, he's telling us how to build them.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm happy to explain that.
Speaker 1:I'll entertain a motion to continue Recco 4, carroll-paramount Drive to April 17th at at 6 April 17th, 6 o'clock, we have the public hearing.
Speaker 3:That's going to get sick.
Speaker 1:Goodbye this table 17 April, so I'm sorry or we'll just take a motion to continue Greco's site plan hearing until april 17th 6 o'clock and discuss it. Okay, so move second. Second anyone want any discussion on discussion?
Speaker 2:should be subject to receiving a extension of time to act.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm free with that. So that's the motion. We'll be continuing to the 17th at 6 o'clock, and also that they need to give us an extension on time to act, which you can probably do it today. Second on that second, any more discussion all in favor aye next thing on the agenda 605, 605. We've got a minute.
Speaker 5:Looks like it's 605. 1555, New State.
Speaker 1:Highway site plan special permit. This is the first hearing on this book.
Speaker 3:It is. We designated this as a abbreviated site plan approval process.
Speaker 1:So this is the first hearing, okay, uh, okay, you can read that all right.
Speaker 2:The rainham planning board will hold a public hearing on thursday, march 20th 2025, at 6 0, 5 pm at rainham veterans memorial town hall, 558 south main street, on application for site plan approval abbreviated by special permit to allow a two-story building addition to the easterly and southerly portions of the existing building.
Speaker 2:The addition will have seven service bays and an area for part storage, all at 1555 New State Highway Assessors. Map 16, blocks 61B and 61Cham Mast. An application is submitted by Niles Zager, Lakeville Mast, on behalf of Paradise Realty Trust, Rainham Mast. A copy of the application and the plan are available for viewing at the Town Clerk's Office and Planning Board Office, 550 South Main Street, Rainham, during usual scheduled business hours. Any person wishing to be heard or interested in the submittal should appear at the time of place okay, this came in as an abbreviated site plan.
Speaker 1:First came in and bought by afraid he sent it around and I looked at it. It was additions. But it's not really changing drainage. It's where it's, just the pavement is. I didn't think it warranted a full review. So had it come in as a rebate site plan, does anyone on the board have any discussion on it? If that's the case, I'll have the applicant as representative get up and present their plans. Kid is representative.
Speaker 4:Their plans we have any copies that we could look at yet. So yes, we had submitted copies to the board as I was preparing for this meeting. First of all, my name is Bob Forks, consulting engineers. I. We had a contour mislabeled but there was a typographical error. That was supposed to be 55, and it was labeled 45. So I sent a new PDF set of plans over to Maureen today and she asked for two iPod. So I have these and you these like these very, very exactly. So the only difference between that and what we have already submitted was literally that. So really yeah.
Speaker 1:The sheet we really want to look at is the addition site plan and the shaded area is on the east and the south side of the building shows the shaded area and that's where it says limit of saw cut. That's the limit of your addition. So it's basically on existing pavement and you just saw that in the old purple foundation.
Speaker 4:I colored it up here. So this is. This is the existing building I outlined in purple in the addition I outlined in green. So, yeah, all we're doing is we're bumping up the building. It's approximately 4,300 square foot addition, as you, mr Chairman, it's. All of this addition is over existing pavement, so there's no increase in runoff or anything, so stormwater isn't impacted and the only thing that is impacted is some utilities that run through the under where the new building is proposed, so that it was shown the relocation of those utilities. Simple as that, real quick. Just so the board is aware. This is the existing plan. The addition is going, that is, going right back here on the side, these two sides, and there were there are wetlands on the one of the two properties, as it was written, and they're back here you're up talking is still adequate what's required.
Speaker 1:I don't have dealership. Usually have triple the D name, yeah, so many.
Speaker 4:This is if you look at the existing conditions plan. We actually surveyed all the existing locations, most of them display spaces, so, uh, any that the increase uh warranted, I believe, five new spaces, and what they're planning to do is just taking five of the displaced spaces and making them customer spaces or employee spaces, whatever they need. Maybe there's no new entrance, but it's just nothing.
Speaker 1:No, it's exactly the same, just just to be on the service area yeah, I mean I reviewed it when it came in and the other orange and abbreviated site plan when it came in and other orange and abbreviated site plans. There's no big deal. If any of the board has any questions, matt anything any changes to the walkways that go around the perimeter no, well, yeah, so the the service area.
Speaker 4:So there's going to be overhead doors that you have to get, uh, the constant and out of, so there's not going to be a way around the building. Okay, nothing around the rest of the building is going to be touched, got it Okay?
Speaker 1:Anthony no. No that's fine, of course, nothing Right? No, I already walked up for them with the sewer and water. They've got to move it out. Exactly, you walked it them with the silver and water. They gotta move it out. Walk that, and just. You found it all right, right?
Speaker 3:yes, yeah, that's, they're just gonna relocate it.
Speaker 1:Okay, if nobody has any issues. Anyone in the public have any issues or discussions? We ran through the line. There's no other issues. This is pretty straightforward. I'd entertain a motion to approve this special permit. Can we take two votes for that? One for the special permit, one for the site audit? I guess we could just take one for approval and a special permit on this site, or I guess you could just take one but special permit approval.
Speaker 3:As long as you have it part of the record that it's for both special permit and site plan, I'd say just do one vote okay, in that case, any further discussion.
Speaker 1:I'd entertain a motion then to approve this site plan and special permit. Second it discussion. All in favor, aye thank you very much.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they don't go that easy.
Speaker 3:Thank you, guys. Had to be one of the easiest ones I've ever been in great.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys it came seen pretty good, no, do you?
Speaker 4:have anything from the Serafin answer?
Speaker 1:No, Old business, new business. There was a 140 Broadway the previous year that had cooled all that free together a everybody had a chance to look at this together because that's just like standing cookie cutter conditions.
Speaker 3:I was just individually email me. If you have any other conditions I can look at the plan, but I don't think it worked that much because it was a first straight forward site plan okay if anyone has any conditions, then if they want to change they could email a bot, right.
Speaker 1:But when?
Speaker 3:when is this ready to go? That'll be on our next meeting, the third. Okay, so the price will buy right to the third.
Speaker 1:If anyone has an email, do you have?
Speaker 3:any plan for today to update just a couple of things. So don't run lot releases. They'll probably be on. April 17th. Agenda letter the letter to the gentleman in law.
Speaker 3:Two for the fence removal we received a letter from the attorney. I'm not sure if I went over this with the last meeting, but the attorney, his attorney, responded back to our attorney saying that he would have the fence at least down and out of the way by May 1st. He was given a 30-day time period to move the fence or relocated. He reached out and asked for more time because that time frame was in the middle of winter and he couldn't get contractors there and ground was frozen and a couple of other arguments. So I reached out to the cemetery Commission. They were okay with moving it to May 1st to have at least the easement recreated, not so much having the fence up, as long as the fence is out of their way so they can access the cemetery to do their spring cleaning. At the same time.
Speaker 3:We're waiting for bond calculations, the reduced bond calculation for phase one and the new bond calculation for phase two. Because the engineer was out of town in florida the last couple of weeks. He was not able to meet with sid to do a walk through and discuss the uh model work. That's necessary to be completed so that's going to happen, probably next week. So be completed so that's going to happen, probably next week. So we'll have that for you for your review, for a lot release consideration at the private second meeting.
Speaker 3:The other thing I wanted to bring your attention, which I alluded to earlier we we may have to relocate the next meeting, based on some feedback, to a bigger facility, a bigger venue. Town Administrator really thinks we're going to have lots of people in the public hearing for this 3A zoning, so I'll keep you posted on that. I'm not sure if he thinks we're going to get more than 50 people and I could be able to do that in this room. And I also encourage you to spend some time and read the bylaw. If you have any questions, call me. We're going to have a lot of questions to answer and we're going to need to know how to answer them at that public hearing.
Speaker 1:Okay, just quickly on both things. My brother's the engineer on Delrond. He's actually a family's daughter in there down in lauderdale, but uh, you know I'm not going to participate in anything, but I simply recommend, administratively I think that they should do a land taking and just take that easement instead of going through this crap and having the fence go back up. It's the cleanest way to do it. The town owns the property and that's it. But this has been a couple of years before the applicant even came in. I mean, when mike and tasha came last time. It's been a couple years of inviting them in. He just came in. So the may 1st thing. Who knows if that's going to happen. Right, so you would kind I want to get block releases before you see what happens you can actually push it out to me first, that is, if you wanted to affect.
Speaker 1:If you don't have a couple level up to me and then a bond, calculations may not be before the second meeting, april, which will push us to the big person, and the other thing in the bond that you should take into consideration is what would be the cost for the land taking for all this stuff to ensure that this gets done, just based on two years of lack of performance you know?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's good to be. It's a good suggestion. I'm not sure if the land taking would create an unperforming lot.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure we have a bylaw that we made back when we were doing land takings for sewer pump stations and the bylaw is if there's a land taking that takes frontage area into that, the lot's still conforming. So you can do a land taking that won't affect the zoning at all. And even if they have a sideline setback approach and it doesn't affect any of them as a bylaw 15 years ago. But just to ensure that there's money to do it, if, like you, just how we're ensuring finishing the road, finish in that part of the project and that's part of it, so maybe 30 grand is a land taken, you need just one appraisal and you do an article for a town meeting. It's pretty simple. But you don't get multiple appraisals, you just pick one appraisal, you do the article, you give notice to the people that get in the land taken. You'd have to have two appraisals actually and then you cut the check and pick it up at the top of the book. It's pretty simple. I've done it a couple times but that's the thought on that. And the other is the 3A zoning. I've been reading through it. If you don't do it, they don't give you certain grants and money and for the most part. We don't qualify for any of that stuff anyway. You know, mass works grants for highway we don't qualify for mass works grants. Housing like affordable housing assistance, we don't build houses a lot of the stuff we don't need. So I'm absolutely on for it. But that's what I think we should read up on. I know we can do it.
Speaker 1:I think that Milton case is a crucial case and the Milton case basically said if they say no, it's unenforceable. That's what came down from the Milton case last year. But middle boroughs are sitting up for a little bit. Middle boroughs are the last. There's a few towns, middle boroughs, saying look, we're managing our affordable housing and all this. Rainham, we're probably one of the only towns around that's over that 10%. So we got way more apartments. Now we have two huge apartment complexes plus all the other apartments in town. So I can say we have more than adequate affordable housing and apartment rentals and it isn't even affordable. I mean, they're not saying you got to make them affordable. They think in their head you're going to put all these apartments in and not charge much. You're going to charge what the market rate is, how much you can get, but it's just. It's a crappy thing to do in each town.
Speaker 3:Just I think some of the lawmakers need to go but more than some wipe out the slate.
Speaker 1:You know it was a dream of swamp, but yeah, that's going to be a lot of discussion. So we should do all of us should do some homework on it. So we come in on pretty much what the things about and you put three a. There's a lot of literature on it. There's a lot of kind of state guidelines there. There's a lot of like question answer type things. But it's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 5:Is CERF going to be in attendance for this? I would have thought they would want to be in attendance. What about town council?
Speaker 3:I would imagine town council and town administrator and probably some of the select board members would be here.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it would be. I mean, it would be advised that they be here.
Speaker 5:I mean, I think to Chris's point, it's largely state mandated. You know, it's not like it's largely state mandated, it's not like it's our decision. We're just here to recommend parcels that seemingly meet the criteria. I mean to Chris's point I don't think that the 3A has a shot of getting past this town meeting Regardless. I mean, you could put a parcel over a street, I I still think that you would say no. I just think that at least we have to pick parcels that are, the least you know, detrimental.
Speaker 1:We could pick Chestnut Farm. It just says pick parcels, it doesn't say pick vacant parcels.
Speaker 5:No, it's over Wal-Mart's. The parcels that they're proposing are over the two wall mines. Yeah, well, yeah, which is like the highest barrier to entry? Well, I thought it was yeah, you couldn't you couldn't do. Um serpent said you couldn't put it over pre-existing housing, which I originally proposed to put it over the 40 B Lockwood and then the 40 B on Broadway. But they said you couldn't do that we can put it over other existing structures. So that's where it slid out, into the Walmart's that's a good way to do it.
Speaker 1:I mean, if it's going to be done, it's it's gonna be done. I agree that Tom meeting is probably not gonna pass it. No, I don't think there's much recourse and I think they kind of stuff it down our throat, giving us like a month or two to make a decision and by denying it, that gives plenty of time to take a nice long look at it. What are they going to do? Come down and get the zoning police on you, but you're in zoning jail. But that will be a trick. Do you think we need a police man or anything? You don't think I'll control it, but I would start early looking at the senior center, because we've done that before on big projects, and see if we can schedule now, because I can't think of anywhere else to set up like that right in the middle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think we'll try to keep it happen. I'll get some guys from time administrator beginning next week okay, any other discussion on any plans to be signed?
Speaker 1:no, they're on, no more. It's been kind of slow, okay. Well, I don't see really anything else. Anyone have anything else? Um, I guess I'd have a entertain a motion to adjourn, so move, seconded, no fail.