Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
June 11, 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, Thomas Crowe, Wayne Moon, Sabino Caracciolo, Ahmed Akil, Mike Conboy, Jack Conboy, Kathy Couch, Dave Donohue, Walter Engels, Mary Jo Engels
Michael opened the meeting by welcoming Jen Daily back after her election to the board. Then the floor was opened for Chairman nominations. Terry Cook nominated Michael as Chair, Rona seconded. No other nominations were presented, there were five votes for Michael with Michael abstaining.
Approval of Minutes: The May 14, 2018 Planning Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written. Rona made the motion to accept and Terry seconded.
Form A ANR for Map 16 Lots 44-1 and 44-2: Town Counsel was consulted for the split out of Lot 3 for TJ Crowe. His email response was distributed to all Planning members and Michael asked everyone to refer to it. It was noted an easement allows use but does not exonerate an owner from liability. TJ maintains that since the plan explicitly states Lot 3 is a non-conforming non-buildable lot, it falls into the exemption rule under state law. TJ furnished examples of exceptions that he believed proved his case. Some board members still wanted Town Counsel to review the ANR map and Michael said he would bring the map and documents up to him. The Board agreed if the split of Lot 3 was agreeable to Town Counsel, the board would sign the mylar without requiring TJ to have to come back for another meeting.
Discuss a Recreational Marijuana Farm: Bay State Canna Holdings, LLC wants to relocate their prospective wholesale recreational marijuana farm from Algerie Road to the corner of Route 8 and Dimmock Road, Map 2 Lot 100. This eleven acre property is owned by Mike and Jack Conboy and they were present and noted they were in favor. Rona presented a verbal list of what needs to be accomplished: first, the company needs a Host Agreement from the town in order for them to be able to file an application; they still must provide us with the information we have requested from them so Planning can make a recommendation to the Select Board regarding the Host Agreement. Then Planning needs to decide to include an industrial district within the town. BSCH presented expected revenue projections based upon a proposed host agreement percentage, water usage will be 97% recaptured, the building size and facility for this property were presented, and lighting will be dark skies compliant. They will still need to go through Conservation because of wetlands with this new location. They hope to have renderings and lot plans to present to Planning for next month.
Other:
D&J Development: Dave Donohue was in attendance to present revised plans for 1367 Reservoir Road, his townhouse development, based upon the feedback we gave to Matt Puntin from SK Design at the April 9th Planning Board meeting. He plans to have eight buildings, five units per building, which will put them in the 88 bedroom maximum and they should then be in compliance with the zoning bylaws for townhouses. In July, Dave and SK Design hopes to begin the formal paperwork needed to present to all boards and commissions that need to review the finalized plans. Dave also asked if a new traffic plan was needed. Planning accepted the original traffic plan from eleven years ago due to the fact that there has been no change in traffic patterns on Reservoir Road over the last eleven years.
Residential Marijuana Colorado Articles: Walter showed the Planning Board members articles on residential marijuana problems with drug cartels in Colorado.
Michael moved the meeting be adjourned, Jen seconded, and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:35 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 email response from Town Counsel will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of CoMA ANR Handbook with exemptions supplied by TJ Crowe will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the preliminary information provided by Bay State Canna Holdings will be filed with these meeting minutes. This includes Financials, Wastewater Treatment Process, and specifications on low profile lighting.
- A copy of the brochure from Aurora, Colorado Police Dept. 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.