Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. In accordance with the provisions of Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, Section 20, notice is hereby given that the zoning board of appeals is meeting tonight, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, here at 700 p.m. in the town hall meeting room of 124. Members of the public are welcome to attend this in person at 1 Liberty Lane, Northfor Mass, or by the remote Zoom connection provided. Please note that the in-person meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the remote connection. Thank you. We have a very limited board tonight. We have three members at large and one

associate amendment. All right. So, we have a quorum. You do? Yeah. And you have a light agenda. We have a very light agenda. Yeah. Um, somebody want to make a motion to Sure. for Five Weights Pawn Drive. Regarding Five Whites Pawn Drive, the the applicant has submitted an application to withdraw their application without prejudice. I'll make a motion that we accept that application and withdraw the application without prejudice. Do we do we have to close the hearing or just withdraw it? Close. I think we have to close it. Yeah, it should close the hearing.

I'll make a motion that we close the hearing for Whitespawn Drive and also a subsequent motion um that we would accept the applicant's application to withdraw without prejudice. Do I hear a second? I second that motion. All in favor say I. I. I. So moved. Uh we have no appointments. We have a minutes. We have minutes. That's right. We do have minutes. I read through them. Yeah. Did um get to look at you? Yeah. Somebody want to make a motion to accept the minutes? Yes. As written.

I'll make a motion that we accept the the meeting minutes as drafted from for the meeting of November 19th, 2025. Second. I'll second it. All in favor say I. I. I. So moved. All right. We have uh we have to sign. Yep. I think uh that's it. I think I already did that. You I already signed it. Yeah. No, you're uh No, I think you Oh, I have to abstain from that. You recuse yourself, right? Oh, that's right. You Yeah, sorry. Um I've signed it on. You signed it. Josephine needs to sign it. Yeah. Oh, she already signed. Yeah. Okay, cool. And then Chris is signing it Monday. Monday.

Okay. And then we got all the Joe is supposed to be here. So, Oh, Joe's supposed All right. Who's All right. Do we have anything from the town planning uh side of life that you would like to mention while we have some time here? Yeah, sure. Seeing how the rest of our meeting is done. So, [laughter] just in time. I was 5 minutes late. I missed all the action. I did it right tonight. Way to go, y'all. I don't know. There's a new town administrator. Mhm. So, well, yeah, he's subject to negotiating the contract. They made a selection. Yes. So, Rob Gity, where

he's a North resident of past. I don't know if he still is, is he? Oh, yeah. No, he's still uh he still resides in town. He will have to resign, but he was on the advisory committee just recently. Town administrator anywhere else? No. Government? He's has other government. Uh he works for college now, right? Yeah. Works for Northeastern presently. Um he was a select board member years ago. Personnel bylaw committee. I guess there was one years ago. I think there Oh, he was actually on this board as well. Mhm. Former ZBA member. Oh, really?

Yeah. A while ago. For punishment. He's [laughter] been here. He's been here a while. Yeah, I mean he's definitely been around in town a long time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he has. But um what else? He wants more. [laughter] I don't understand. He's got no He's got no hobbies. But how about DPW? Do we have He did say he doesn't have any hobbies, [laughter] right? He did. Ironically, he said he had no hobbies. Yeah, this was going to be his hobby. Super Citizen as a hobby. Yeah. Well, so uh what is up with We do not

have a DPW anymore. Oh, there was um so on the Monday night select board agenda, it was to ratify a contract for a DPW director, but during the day, he had emailed and said that he was withdrawing his name and he's not leaving his current position. So, uh the position has been readvertised. So he got a better offer from his old job and the um

Sounds like Yeah. So we're back out. So no, we don't have anybody in terms of permanent. So it's just interim. So we have an interim DPW director. Interim town administrator. The town administrator has we do have a selection involved. So at least that's a we'll move forward. Yeah. That but if that contract doesn't go then we're back on the drawing table for that one too. And then once Rich retires, we're going to get a new planner every 2 years. He doesn't retire for another 17 years, they told me. Oh, thank God. I'm not ready. He's not like I I have retirement fear at this point where I'm just like, nobody else. [laughter]

So, yeah, we're back back out. Okay. What else is happening in the town? Anything? Uh, we have any projects? We might have a new local inspector. New local. Okay. Local inspector Hington. Hopkins. Okay. He knows that. I I don't know where the person from, but uh and then uh we got some things coming for 2026. Have we have we heard anything on any of the [clears throat] projects that we've kind of been wondering if they're coming about yet? like down on Yes. On Pawnsville. Pondville. Yeah.

It's still uh the one larger project is still moving forward. Moving forward, but as a through the MBTA overlay district, not as a Okay. Not as a 40B. Okay. Um last time I spoke, they thought they might be be able to do the plan in uh submit in the beginning of this year. Well, not sorry, not this year, next year. 2026. What's that? That part surprises you. You surprised they're not going to get more units through MBTA as they are 40B. No, they're not going to get more units, but through the MBTA they can the affordable is is only 10%. So they're not writing off 15% of the units.

Yeah. And it's a big difference [clears throat] though. Think about carrying that date restriction in perpetuity. Oh yeah. No, it's it's a big difference. Um, but the thing they it's still a buildable district, so they'd rather do they won't pass the cap. Well, no, that's not their goal. They their goal and the town's goal are not always Yeah. What's the um And then the one abuing it. Yes. The one in the back corner or not corner. It's kind of like in the middle of the call. Uh the owner still needs to get his uh his new location design and permit so he can relocate his business. Okay.

So that's going to take a little bit of time. So that's that's really there's a building available on the corner. [laughter] I heard that there could be some movement on that too. Oh, really? But it's probably not public. Building on the corner. The the red one. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Transit. That's not big enough for any any word any word um from Ian on up here any movement on the bors on the BS because you've already that's already been approved.

Yeah. So, and working with the planning board on making some changes to the B1 zone and create some flexibility in terms of doing mixed use. So, if those things move forward cuz you really like to try to do mixed use. Yeah. What kind of mixed juice? Yeah, commercial retail over here like where Bork's restaurant was. So instead of doing it instead of tearing down the building and doing all residential, it would be mixed. Yeah. Kind of like Franklin Center. It should be commercial. Yeah. So we should we should allow that down by the horse and carriage as well. I don't understand why we don't allow mixed use down there because

impossible to ten it though. Nobody wants those units. Think about the one on wall in Walpole. Uh that apartment building that is uh right by the train station. No, the one that Why don't I know the name? The one right right across from um Why don't I know the names of anything? They have a parking lot across the street. There's always kind of across from Gilmore Street. Yeah, East Street. Yeah, they've never they can't tenant that building, right? The the commercial the commercial spacing. The commercial spacing. I was going to say all the residential

the residential is doing great but the commercial and and it every single time we can't tenant it if you co if you put the building and the bu and the uh you can't colllocate they have to not be together in order for it to work. It's not like they can be on the same site but if it's in the same building it well that's kind of what he was thinking about there. Yeah, but if you put commercial to the front res to the back it works. So what he what he said was that to try to do you know because it's a you know for mixed use through 40B is pretty limited limited okay so that's the yeah that's why I didn't go even without affordability straight mixed use building we don't have space available here downtown

yeah but we need six stories for it to pencil after that because once you hit three you're going to you know why you're going to have three stories you have two stories of residential and a story of commercial and then underneath there's already a garage so that would become commercial as well and then there's a barn out back which would become I'm just saying yeah still a barn there's still there they didn't tear that down that's at the other end of where the house I think there's a landscaper in there actually yeah so in terms of that's where he's at what about um did the town buy the land over um by pawn street that for oh the refusal one.

Yeah. Before he beat the process. I haven't heard any more off the I'm just curious if Sue mentioned anything. I haven't heard anything on that one either. I ask her to see where that's at by the parcel to build affordable housing to prevent it from becoming affordable housing. Yeah, it's like a three lot. Yeah. 12 acres. [laughter] Which one is this? 12 by the solar. Anything on the rail trail? Yeah. Well, yes. I saw a sign in Lyn farm. What is that? Where? Lyn farm. Um, by the lazy loopers where the fellas fly the helicopters. What was the sign you saw?

Said something about how there's going to be a paved road. Oh. In the middle of this. And it said right away. And I was like, sounds like a rail trail and someone's pissed. And yeah, I do remember that. I seen that. [laughter] IS IT RIGHT? Is it real tracks over there? I No, I know because I hate all that. There's no There's no tracks. Where the lazy loopers are and everything. I don't know what that road what they're even talking about. I don't know. Maybe it's a foot path or driving path. A foot path all the way from Bob. I think they kind of like there's a bunch of pests through there.

Yeah, they put two and two thoughts together, but it didn't equal the the actual real thing that's happening, you know? I mean, yeah, I thought I was like, this sign seems like a misfire, but it also seemed like a rail trail. The lazy loopers was the worst one to ever hit. Oh my gosh. There was more gopher holes and whoop-dedos because the bike riders would the motorcycers would and it so when you're mowing it I I hate to tell you about the knotweed situation that is happening on a forest level now in that field. [laughter] Can we get back to the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, is he We could Joe coming or I Yeah. What are we waiting for? Um, well, he's gonna say we really need to wait, honestly.

All right. So, what is the rail trail? The rail trail doesn't go through Lind. No. No. So, where does the rail trail go? It goes It goes along the bon goes to Retham, then goes keeps going down to Planeville and North Adorn to the Does it use a rail right away? Yeah, it's a railro right away. Yeah. Great. But it's been I mean I built I built Paul Dazzel's house on the rail trail in Rethm. So it's we we took that back from the MBTA probably 15 years ago. So there's no way to make the connection now cuz after that was actually Bob Bullock's house and then uh another one they all became on the rail.

Yeah. So it goes so it crosses Pine, it goes down and it's going to it's going to have to go off by uh goes off by that landscaper there. Yeah. Um no the kid the kid that does all the driven um driven. Oh, the guy that does the hydro seed and he has all the compost at the stage. Oh. Oh, yeah. What's his name? John. John. Um, yeah. That's about the end. That's about the end of it because Yeah, it goes along. What's the name of the road in Ranthm? I don't know. Winter Street. Winter Street. No, no, no. Where the Norfolk equipment is. That Oh, um Oh, 1a.

No, no, no. The Oh, the little spur road. Yeah, the road going there. The name that is uh All right. Well, let's whatever that name is of that road, it's it's it's separated there. So, it's separated from the rightway from the roadway be separated path runs parallel to 1A and then will be same thing up Shire separated out then it veers off to the uh school. Yeah. state school and then gets its way over to Yeah. the right complex, right? You can get from Island Light and Power across the back of Eagle Book and end up right at the State School. So that's the that's where the trail is going to go. Yeah.

Yeah. Because the section that you're talking about got got developed. So you couldn't It is. Yeah. I mean I I think I was the last one to get from the MBTA to get permission to build on that. Yeah. So that was that right away and that took a lot. So it had to switch over, right? So, in terms of that, they're going to start should be starting to design next year going forward. So, there'll be more more to come on that. But, yeah, that's uh that's kind of the wrap up for 2025. 2025. Thank you, Rich. Do I hear a motion to uh adjourn? I'll make a motion that we uh adjourn the meeting from December 17th, 2025 at 7:20 and enjoy the holidays.

Do I hear a second? I'll second that. [clears throat] Sorry. All in favor? I I Excellent. Thank you. Thank you.