Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
May 14, 2018
Town Hall Inspectors’ Office
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Otis Town Hall Inspectors’ Room. The meeting is recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Michael Ernst, Jim Kauffman, Rona Knight, Jen Daily, Hal Kobrin, Terry Cook, Mike Parsons, Thomas Crowe, Wayne Moon, Sabino Caracciolo, Ahmed Akil
Approval of Minutes: The April 9, 2018 Planning Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written. Hal made the motion to accept and Jim seconded. Rona initiated questions for discussion and was asked to hold them until we discussed the Recreational Marijuana Workshop.
Form A ANR for Map 16 Lots 44-1 and 44-2: TJ Crowe would like to split a ten foot non-buildable non-conforming lot to ensure snowmobilers always have use of this right of way. Michael recused himself from this discussion. Since the strip is non-conforming and is not a building lot, Hal noted that these type of splits are usually incorporated into another existing building lot and not kept as a separate entity. Hal is not certain we can do this so he would like to check with Town Counsel. Rona moved we check with Town Counsel, Jen seconded the motion and all except Michael (recused) passed the motion. Discussion is tabled until the June 11th Planning Board meeting.
Form A ANR for Map 11 Lot 65: Cathy Carpenter wants to split out a conforming lot for a guest house for family next door to her remaining property. Mark Parsons represented her interests. The lot split conforms to the zoning requirements, the remaining property also conforms. Jen moved we approve the ANR, Hal seconded, and it was unanimously approved. Three copies were signed and kept for our files plus the mylar was signed.
BRPC Recreational Marijuana Workshop: Hal handed out information from the workshop to all board members including: Guidelines for Municipalities, DLS Excise Option, proposed town bylaws for other towns, Ipswitch Pharmaceutical Community Outreach, and an RMD. BerkshirePlanning.org has more information on this subject, especially under Data and Information Services, =>Community Planning, =>Initiatives, =>Marijuana Legislation. There are eleven tiers of marijuana cultivators and requirements are very specific by tier. Retail can generate 10-11% of gross revenue for a town, growing and manufacturing up to 3%. There are heavy security requirements including lighting, cameras on a 24/7 basis, required monitoring of cameras, and unmarked vehicles. The state does not consider Recreational marijuana as agriculture, but rather as industry. The town can decide to go completely dry or limit the number of businesses in town.
Jen moved the meeting be adjourned, Jim seconded, and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:48 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Planning Board Clerk
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the Form A ANR for Thomas Crowe will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Form A ANR for Cathy Carpenter will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of email correspondence from Wayne Moon will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Guidance for Municipalities will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the DLS bulletin for Local Option Excise Tax on Retail Marijuana Sales will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of various town bylaws for marijuana will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of a warrant article for marijuana legislation will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Ipswitch Pharmaceutical Associates community outreach and a description of their program will be filed with these meeting minutes.