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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-25 LCPC Draft Minutes 1 Local Comprehensive Planning Committee Minutes Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at 6:00 PM Call to Order Wendy Northcross called the meeting to order at 6:11 PM. Member Present Absent Wendy Northcross – Chair X Cheryl Powell X Mark Hansen X Amanda Converse X Sue Rohrbach X Meaghan Mort X Alyssa Chase X Asia Graves X Fran Parks X Katia DaCunha X Lindsey Counsell X Jennifer Williams X Bob Twiss X Avery Revere X Also, in attendance is Planning & Development Staff Jim Kupfer, Director; Kate Maldonado, Senior Planner; and Jennifer Engelsen, Office Manager. CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM Notice of Recording The meeting will be televised live via Xfinity Channel 8 or high-definition Channel 1072. It may also be accessed via the Government Access Channel live stream on the Town of Barnstable’s website: http://streaming85.townofbarnstable.us/CablecastPublicSite/watch/1?channel=1 In accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 30A Section 20, the Committee must inquire whether anyone is taping this meeting and to please make their presence known. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of minutes from February 13, 2025 Motion made by Lindsey Counsell to approve the minutes of February 13, 2025, seconded by Mark Hansen, Amanda Converse - abstain All in favor except Amanda Converse PUBLIC COMMENT John Crow, Town Councilor Precinct 5 comments that Jennifer Williams is marked present for the meeting on February 13 th, but she was absent and asked for correction. Eric Schwab, Hyannis – issue with the quorum is deeper than just numbers. Committee is very poorly attended. As the numbers have dwindled, it is less representative of the town, specifically Hyannis. Need to fill this room with at least seven alternates before voting on the contents of this plan. He would like to see West Main Street as a neighborhood commercial district, not a highway district. Do not want to see drive-thru’ s, shelters or commercial parking. Look at the action plan for land use, do not want to look like Route 132 or Route 28. We ask that you do not overdevelop West Main Street like you are overdeveloping Main St. 2 Lisa Daluz, Pleasant Hill Lane, Hyannis – concerned about the traffic at North Street and Stevens Street with large housing project proposed on the corner. Does not feel it is right to be imposed on by this housing project with 30 to 40 units. She has concerns about the cranberry bogs in this area. Removing trees to accommodate housing is not good for the environment. Open Space did not pass in this location. No representative from Hyannis on this committee this evening, where are they? Maria Daluz Reid, resident of Hyannis – has concerns with the proposal for West Main Street. Her granddaughter was hit recently in front of Dunkin Donuts on the crosswalk. Too many cars on West Main Street, adults do not pay attention. The walkers going to both schools (BHS & BIS) will be in the mix of the traffic. She was a teacher for 35 years at Barnstable High School and it was hard for her to cross the street safely. When do children rank a little higher? Elizabeth Dawes – Traffic on West Main Street spills into other neighborhoods. Many found her neighborhood in Centerville a great cut through to avoid the congestion on West Main Street. What is affecting one village, backs up and spills into another village. Because the West Main neighborhood was not properly protected, ZBA could not withstand Wendy’s. Her son was hit in front of another Wendy’s due to the driver looking at how long the line was. We have a school campus here; Superintendent requested a special permit not be granted and the applicant still proceeded. As a business owner in Mashpee, my customers told me not to open another location in Hyannis. Keep business owners in mind, consider how your decisions affect the flavor of the neighborhood. Elna Hughes – Marstons Mills resident who once lived on Craigville Beach Rd until it became too busy. Control is needed on West Main Street. Need to bring family-owned businesses to Main Street to attract families. Laws are passed that the town cannot enforce and need cameras for speeding. Her son was hit on West Main Street in his truck as a teenager. Enforce zoning if you make it a law. Protect our children, no Wendy’s. William Hedly Smith – here as a member who is on your team. There is a disconnect from zoning changes that have made a mess. Time to rethink what is going on here. Believe’s, we have no vision for what Main Street needs to be. Something is wrong here. Councilor Betty Ludtke – son also hit by a car on Main St and Center St. Asks if committee member from Hyannis Katia DaCunha is here tonight. Attendance is very lack luster. This committee has run too long, tend to forget where you started. What was important when surveys were first taken? We need to be more forward thinking. West Main Street needs to be preserved as it is today, a nice little community. Let’s save south of Rte 28. Build four stories in Cotuit, not just Hyannis. Main Street in Hyannis has nothing for children and families. Wendy’s is going to be mobbed with the students and the crosswalks will need to be highly visible. Ken Barron – Cape Cod is being destroyed. We do not need more housing; we need to be able to provide housing with what we have. Section 8 helps contribute toward the rents. We have no more space, we are full. The water system and sewage system are burdened. Please consider the 100-year plan. Councilor Kristin Terkelsen – Commends the committee for taking the time to listen to all speakers. We should never stop listening to our residents. Input from the residents relating to this plan is crucial. Life is changing and it is changing fast. West Main Street should not look like Route 132, we need to protect what we have. Appreciates the time this group has taken to listen to concerns from our residents. Response from public comment from committee members: Mark Hansen – West Main Street, thoughtful development that compliments the local businesses, three schools and the neighborhood. Sometimes state laws overturn what a town wants when it comes to re-zoning. The Neighborhood Commercial zone should be looked at. Less traffic requires local stores and housing, multi-use zoning works. Hyannis Main Street has made great strides. Barnstable is worth investing your time, money and thoughts but being active in doing so. Fran Parks – Attended Barnstable High School and did not step foot off the property. It is inappropriate to have the kids going off property. Obesity in children is an enormous problem, going to Dunkin Donuts and Wendy’s is an issue. This is the first time this plan was done in this method. Previously done by each village. The plan is too big, looks more like a plan for Boston. Too many permits are out for apartments. We do not have the resources for this type of build-out. We are built out in Cotuit. Cheryl Powell – Expresses her sympathy to Maria Daluz Reid for the accident her granddaughter endured. Addresses Eric Schwab’s lack of quorum concern. Relates to Elna Hughes as she lived in Hyannis for many years prior to moving to Centerville. The 3 committee members accepted this position not only representing the villages we live in but trying to make a community plan for the whole Town of Barnstable. Thanks everyone for their comments. Sue Rohrbach – Feels like she got to know Hyannis well since she has lived in Centerville for over forty years, kids graduated from Barnstable High School, and she worked on Main Street for fifteen years. She thinks Hyannis is looking pretty good. She sees families, new shops, Open Streets and activities on the Village Green. The comments she heard tonight are important and they need to be addressed to the Town Council. Wendy’s is a terrible idea. Nobody is planning to build four stories everywhere. West Main Street is a busy street, with real issues with traffic. Trying to put forth a plan that will work for the whole community. Does not want Barnstable to look like Chatham or Boston. Hyannis has both urban and rural qualities. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION  Discuss comments for the Draft Local Comprehensive Plan Jim Kupfer thanks the committee for their efforts put forth in the process of creating this plan. Begins his presentation with a refresher on the plan to date: Existing Conditions Report Vision Statement Chapters – Land Use, Housing, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Facilities, Economic Development and Culture, Heritage & Design Future Land Use Map Draft Action Plan The full draft is before the committee, a large document indeed. We do have thoughts on how this can become a more user-friendly document for the public to consume. Kate Maldonado goes through the draft plan with changes from comments heard. Acknowledgement – add current Town Councilors along with a letter from this committee. Engagement Process – suggestion to add a comment that the engagement opportunities were coordinated in person throughout the two-year process. Natural Systems – studies from Barnstable Harbor and salt marsh restorations, language to come for your review. Update the project names for offshore wind we have done. Currently working on this with our legal department. Community Systems – Page 120, the ten largest employers, footnote 117 showing data was pulled from the 2022 Comprehensive Financial Report. Decision to spell it out like it is in the edit. Page 125, multi-family housing language to acknowledge Independence Park and other housing developments in this area. Land Use Chapter – two comments. Zoning that occurred since the last plan in chronological order and clean up the language noting when ordinance was adopted. Lindsey Counsell asks about down zoning for West Main Street in relation to the Wendy’s court case. Is the land use chapter the appropriate place for this. Jim Kupfer explains that the action plan would be where this should be added. Downtown Hyannis Zone – adding in the language “through redevelopment and preservation”. Page 156 edit to achieve goals of community. Villages – Hyannis to expand on the neighborhoods. Marstons Mills add language to connectivity via sidewalks to the Stop & Shop center. Jim talks about a study going on now to look at Rte 132 from the police station to the airport rotary. Housing – List AMI costs and a data point that was incorrect, delete 52 single family homes. Natural Resources – add language on Cape Cod Commission freshwater study. Infrastructure – add language to define what complete streets is. Page 217, add language for status of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. A suggestion to change urban center to downtown Hyannis. Facilities – add language for trades at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. Historic structures include adding additional town acquired buildings. Economic Development – language change that says multi-family development by right from zoning revisions in 2023. Changing language from seasonal economy to seasonal fluctuations of Cape Cod’s economy. A better definition of the Business Improvement District is added. Cultural Heritage & Design – efforts to connect downtown Hyannis to the harbor by adding language to the Walkway to the Sea. Remove Mass Air & Space Museum and add Cultural Center of Cape Cod. Shanty numbers have been amended and are consistent. Place-Based Planning to add in should instead of could for other villages. Action Plan for each chapter starting with the Land Use chapter. Lindsey asks if we are addressing build out/build out analysis in this chapter. Jim responds that the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan has done this analysis, and we could mention it in the land use or facilities chapters. Language was added regarding planting a new tree whenever a significant tree has been removed. 4 Ensuring open space in the Growth Incentive Zone. A discussion was held regarding language near the Cape Cod Mall and uses that would revitalize that area. Housing – Jim defines the Housing Production Plan and the goal of providing affordable housing and reflecting this in the action plan. Natural Resources – evaluate a mechanism for shellfish habitat protection is added after a discussion with the town’s Marine & Environmental Affairs staff. Infrastructure - Consider regulations that will place more responsibility on property owners. Lastly, parking structure opportunities were discussed. Kate reviews some outstanding coordination items for clarification for the introduction, chapters, targeted action plan along with adding photos, hyperlinks and chapter labels for identification. Jim finished the discussion with the format for the plan. Shows the plan as it is presented today and then offers a proposed look with a shift in moving more interesting topics up front. Cheryl Powell prefers the original format, which makes more sense. Amanda Converse thinks the public needs to read the background before the action piece, so they know how we got here. They can skip ahead to the action plan if they choose so. The committee’s decision is to stay with the original and get it out to the public. The next step will be scheduling community meetings to share the draft plan with the public for their comment. Wendy Northcross suggests offering childcare for parents to attend public meetings. Mark Hansen suggests sending home flyers about the public meetings through the schools. Fran Parks suggests contacting the civic associations for them to make note of public meetings in their newsletters. Bob Schulte, Centerville resident, suggests meeting at the Barnstable High School Performing Arts space. Elna Hughes asks for additional links for maps added to the document for online access. CORRESPONDENCE – an email from Chris Gregory was received asking to make sure we are taking into consideration working parents and families when we are reaching out to the public for input. MATTERS NOT REASONABLY ANTICIPATED BY THE CHAIR - None ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Fran Parks to adjourn, seconded by Lindsey Counsell, all in favor, aye. The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Engelsen Office Manager