Joint Planning Board Meeting with Select Board 01/11/2024

Joint Planning Board Meeting with Select Board 01/11/2024

Meeting date: 

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Minutes of the joint meeting of 1/11/24

Meeting Opened at: 7pm

Select Board Members Present: Justin Makuc, Chair, Susan Cooper and Frank Abbott

Also present: Tom Sawyer, Laura Mensi, Roger Tryon, Mort Solomon, Lauren Berhman, Margaret Abbott

Call to order 6:00pm

Joint meeting with Planning Board to review the final Master Plan recommendations:

Community Preservation Act (CPA): It is a long process and a big commitment. It can provide funding for workforce housing, historical preservation and open space. Justin initially is concerned about some of the restricted uses of these funds. Justin’s one concern is that Monterey might not have enough future relevant projects to use these funds on. If the CPA was accepted the average assessment to a home assessed at $500,000 would be approximately $75.  All agreed that this year may not be the right year to propose this additional tax.

Tom Sawyer believes that there may be conflicting responses from residents that want to see workforce housing constructed and those that want to keep areas of open space.

Housing: Justin noted that we have collected about $100,000 from the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program. Justin suggested that the Planning Board’s Master Plan recommendations goal 5.2 regarding revision of the zoning bylaws might be the first place to start as that would have the least financial impact on the town. Susan said there are options in addition to zoning allowing smaller lots for new construction such as cluster housing. It was suggested to hire a professional to review zoning and the pros and cons of making any changes to zoning. Possible town locations for workforce housing were discussed, as was the fact that the Town Administrator is working with Foresight to get a conceptual plan for the Fox Hill Rd property. It was acknowledged that developers are not banging down the door trying to build workforce housing and Roger Tryon thinks that incentivizing privately-owned long term rentals is the best solution for the housing issue.

The Planning Board will reach out to neighboring communities as well as local housing authorities to discuss what they have done to create workforce housing and who they might recommend we start with.

The challenges for local farmers’ markets were discussed.

The Boards discussed what the Open Space & Recreation Committee is working on with relation to open space and trails.

Environmental resilience: The ongoing projects such as the culvert were discussed. Dennis Lynch is working on applying for the MVP grant for phase three (Municipal Vulnerability Grant).

Dark skies bylaw: Justin noted that this could either be approached as a General Bylaw by the Select Board or a Zoning Bylaw by the Planning Board. He asked if the Planning Board has any plans to pursue this. The Planning Board agreed to look into this.

Business opportunities: Tom explained that a lot of people have ideas but thought that it might be best if a professional consultant were to come and advise.

Complete Streets: There was a lot of interest in bike lanes and walking paths. Tom thought that this might be the best avenue to accomplish this. It would be helpful to have a professional look at our roads to determine if these are viable possibilities with the limited road area we have.

The Boards discussed the possible special town meeting day and scheduling of the required hearing for the proposed solar zoning Bylaw change. The Planning Board may also need to put monies on the warrant for the overage in advertising fees. Susan asked why the Planning Board is not charging fees to cover the advertising costs.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:32pm