Measures sought to provide ‘responsible development’

By Jonathan Cook
Turley Publications Reporter

WARREN – Planning Board members are preparing to speak to the voters at the upcoming Town Meeting regarding the board’s proposal to adopt a Site Plan Review process.
“This is for new construction,” emphasized Planning Board Chairman William Ramsey. “This is what you’ve asked for in your Master Plan. This is for you.”
The board has more time to prepare, now that the annual meeting has been postponed by the Selectmen to Tuesday, June 9.
“[This town] has a large land base,” Town Planner Bill Scanlon said. “There’s a capacity for a great deal of additional development. The town is nowhere near being built out. On a normal application, the Planning Board does not have a way to obtain clear information.”
But what is normal for this town is not normal for most where a Site Plan Review is already in place, namely Brookfield, Sturbridge, West Brookfield, Palmer and North Brookfield, among many others.
“As the town grows, it’s important to oversee new development to ensure it deals a positive benefit to the town,” Scanlon said.
Dealing is the operative concept behind this plan, since the most likely and soonest form of development is expected to come from a possible casino here or nearby. A casino in this town would have obvious consequences. On the other hand, a casino in Palmer, for instance, would also likely impact growth in this town because it may lure a developer to build a major project for the large number of workers who will immigrate for jobs.
“If a casino goes in Palmer, the gentleman that bought Wright’s is talking about redeveloping not only the Wright’s mill, but talking about putting housing on the hillside – a lot of housing,” said Planning Board member Peter Krawczyk. “Those are the kind of concerns that need to be addressed. This gives the neighborhood a chance to come in. The special permit [already in place] covers some of it, but this really lays everything on the table. If there’s a concern, now the developer is going to be responsible for paying for the engineer to fix the problem. Right now the town would have pick up the tab for this.”
A Site Plan Review “creates a process for local oversight of large developments to identify and mitigate impacts on the town,” Scanlon said. “It addresses things like the layout, scale, appearance and safety of traffic. Where it applies, applicants will submit a site plan to the planning board for approval before applying for a building permit.”
The purpose isn’t only to protect the town, but to protect the developer, as well, according to Scanlon.
“And to provide certainly to developers that they can proceed with the project with the town’s approval,” he said.
Scanlon notes that “in almost all cases the board will approve an application with conditions” that protect the town.
Krawczyk likes the fact that the review process includes other town boards and offices in order to draw on, for example, the expertise of the fire department concerning safety issues.
“When we do a review, it will be going to several boards in the town,” he said. “They’ll have a time period to review it. If they see something that we didn’t see, it gives them a chance to point out issues before it happens.”
Currently, the board does invite other town offices to give their input, according to Ramsey, but not as many developments currently require the board to utilize a review process.
According to Ramsey, approval of the process doesn’t make any of the details permanent.
“You have to be flexible to adjust things as you go along,” he said.
For example, other towns have a requirement that a grade of eight degrees on a residential property triggers the site plan review process. But, given the hilly nature of this town, the board is proposing allowing a grade of 30 degrees before the review process needs to be followed.
There are many details that could not be included in one newspaper story, but a fact sheet on the proposal is available at the Planning Board office. Board member Steven Moorhouse says the aim of the proposal amounts to nothing more than “responsible development.”
A public hearing on the matter will be held Thursday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m.