2001-04-19 Open space workshop CITY OF BEVERLY
Pnblic Meeting Minutes
Master Plan Workshop - Residential Development and Open Space Alternatives
BOARD: Master Plan Steering Committee
SUBCOMMITTEE:
DATE: April 19, 2001
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Joanne Avallon, Scott Houseman, Wendy Pearl, Larry
Ralph, John Young, Maureen Troubetaris, George Simon,
Brace Oveson, Virginia McOlynn, Donald Preston, John
Murray
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Wendy Fronteiro, Richard Dinldn, William Rodenbauglg
John Thomson, Linda Goodenough
OTHERS PRESENT: Tina Cassidy, Planning Director and Ken Buckland, The
Cecil Group
RECORDER: Jeannine Dion
Cassidy introduces herself and welcomes everyone attending the workshop. She introduces the
members of the Master Plan Steering Committee and Ken Buckland from the Cecil Group.
Buckland introduces Bill McDaniel, also from the Cecil Group.
Buckland provides an overview of the Master plan process, the Alternatives and information
pertaining to Residential Development and Open Space.
The three Alternatives:
1) Amenities and Quality of Life
The ultimate priority is maximizing and enhancing the quality of life of residents. Key here
will be achieving an understanding of how the City manages its resources in support of
this type of community vision.
2) Emphasis on Public Facilities
This alternative calls for a focus on City facility improvements aimed at better serving the
City's current residents and neighborhoods, and ensuring adequate open space and
recreational facilities to meet the demands of likely future residential development.
3) Impact on Tax Base
Taking this approach, the city would seek to capitalize on its strategic location as a
regional resource.
Buckland outlines the Open Space Goals and Residential Development Goals.
Open Space Goals
· Protect valuable open space assets.
· Complete and follow an open space plan.
· Acquire valuable open space parcels and encourage alternatives to City acquisition where
appropriate and available.
· Establish trail, connectioing open space parcels.
· Encourage public access and the protection of natural resources.
· Develop local non-zoning ordinance to increase wetland protection.
· Mzlntain and improve public access to the waterfront/river walk.
· Protect Norwood Pond.
· Encourage passive and active recreation use of City owned open space.
· Maintain and improve existing parks.
Residential Development Goals
· Revise regulations and laws to influence subdivision design.
· Adopt a conservation preservation ordinance and/or Great Estates ordinance.
· Limit single family housing production.
· Encourage multi-family housing production.
· Allow use variances in residential districts again.
· Increase minimun lot sizes and setback requirements for new developments.
· Prevent "knock-downs" in established neighborhoods.
· Require studies of developments' financial and environmental impacts on the community.
Buckland provides information regarding conservation subdivision design, which is a new way to
look at residential development. The first step is to look at the resources and then place the
houses, roads, trails, and finally, lot lines. It is a proven, successful type of development process.
The meeting breaks into small group discussion. When the meeting reconvenes, each table
reports its fadings.
Table 1
· Require developers to conform with resource protection and historical preservation.
· Development fees and linkage between development and the city needs that would help
lessen the impact on city's resources.
· Protect open space abutting public schools.
Master Plan Workshop- Residential Development and Open Space
April 19, 2001
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· Use of open space of private schools- available for youngsters in the area.
· Pilot programs with indepondent schools - reciprocity with fields, etc. so the city would
not have to build more fields.
· Encourage private institutions (Endicott College) to make conservation easements.
· Concern that the Conservation Preservation Act (CPA) might create competition between
open space and schools. The group does not want to put those two areas at odds.
· Water supply protection- water retention and conservation in new and old subdivisions.
New buildings should be "water conservation friendly."
· Rebuild the "garden city" character.
· Historic preservation (land and buildings).
· Create a desirable city center and harbor (mixed use, higher density development to
prevent open space development, increasing the tax base and providing some affordable
housing).
· Need for coordination of the boards in Beverly (Planning Board, Harbor Authority,
Conservation Commission, etc.).
· Consider a position of Land Manager for the city.
Table 2
· The group liked the conservation subdivision concept and would like to make sure that
there are resource protection guidelines utilized in that approach.
· Support of the CPA.
· Affordable housing - try to encourage multi-family use in single-family zoned areas.
· Reuse of public buildings for residential development (example: former Brown
Elementary School).
Partnering with businesses to get investment of open space.
Support the ongoing effort of prioritizing open space purchases and consider using
purchase of development rights as opposed to the ownership of the land outright.
· Connecting the open spaces with bike paths.
· Partnering with land trusts to foster open space purchases.
· Infrastructure programs to control where development occurs.
· Establishing standards for what the infrastructure can accommodate. Then try to stay to
those standards and use them as a way to control where development occurs and how
much development occurs.
· Establishing a scenic roads program (setbacks that would prohibit development on those
roads).
Table 3
· Use zoning to preserve open space (cluster or conservation).
· Provide incentives for the preservation of open space on properties 5 acres or above.
Master Plan Workshop - Residential Development and Open Space
April 19, 2001
Page 4
· Creative use of public buildings and reuse of buildings.
· Linkage fees for large-scale developments.
· Linkage of parks and recreation and open space.
· Preserve the character of each neighborhood.
· Establish Route 127 as a scenic historic roadway (which would trigger state and federal
funding).
Table 4
· Support conservation subdivision bylaws.
· Better regulations - boards need to protect the local character and open space through
better design review standards and procedures for wetlands bylaw and site plan reviews).
· Consider down zoning, cluster zoning or back lot zoning.
· Restore the balance between residential and open space.
· Maintain historic character.
· Multi-family housing and allowance of in-law apartments.
· Keep town dynamic while preserving open space.
· Enhance parks and recreationaI resources.
· Protect water supply.
Table 5
· Creating walkways and bikeways, especially at the waterfront.
· Conservation subdivision zoning.
Support of CPA - doubt about whether it will pass.
· Active recreation (landfill possible site for soccer field).
· Partnership with businesses and schools to enhance open space preservation (private
schools allow use of fields).
· Partnership with land trusts to acquire property.
· Plan for after market use of public buildings.
· Preservation of Main Street.
· Historic districts
· Create greenbelt
· Scenic ways
· Allowing multi-family units in single-family districts.
Table 6
· Bylaws need to be stricter for wetlands preservation.
· Historic preservation bylaw.
· Expand historic districts.
Master Plan Workshop - Residential Development and Open Space
April 19, 2001
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· Signage
· Scenic Highway- Route 127
· Public rights-of-way- encourage more active use of those streets by adding bike links.
· Making sure pedestrian crossways work.
· Better management and maintenance of existing conservation land.
· More waterfront access.
· Controlled and responsible development of the waterfront.
· Establish and enforce a well-written comprehensive zoning policy favoring cluster
development and which promotes trails, conservation and open space.
· Encourage the use of tax exempt land for active recreation.
· Encourage via tax incentives the reuse of industrial zoning for multi-family housing and
mixed use.
Table 7
· Educating people about issues.
· Educating people about the public water supply.
· New bylaws for Conservation Commission (stronger and more flexible).
· Greater flexibility in planning and review process.
· Protect the historic and natural resources (waterfront).
· More bikeways and trails.
· Support of the CPA.
Table 8
· Continue efforts to purchase open space.
· Continue to research grants and other financing sources to purchase open space (possibly
increase the staffing in the Planning Department and the Community Development Office).
· Charge additional fees to developers to help fund various city open space acquisition and
city infrastructure projects.
· Look into conservation subdivision plan.
· Continue to look into the Great Estates bylaw.
· Create development standards in line with historical assets and uniqueness of the city's
different areas. (eliminate the conventional strip mall look in North Beverly).
· Downtown improvements to make more residentially attractive to people.
· Have City Council pass ordinance to support the work of the Master Plan process so that
it doesn't die.
Scott Houseman provides a brief overview of the concept of the conservation subdivision design.
He provides examples of conservation subdivisions in the towns of Ipswich and Westborough.
David Gardner, Chairman of the Open Space and Recreation Committee invites the group to
Master Plan Workshop - Residential Development and Open Space
April 19, 2000
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attend two upcoming meetings. Open Space and Recreation Plan Public Hearing is scheduled to
take place on April 23, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. at the Beverly Public Library and the Open Space
Workshop is scheduled to take place on May 17, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. at the Senior Center.
Cassidy thanks all who participated in the workshop. She states the Master Plan Committee will
be meeting next month and hopes to hold a fifth workshop in the near future.
The meeting is adjourned at 9:40 p.m.