Minutes June 24, 2010
Regular Meeting
Planning Board Agenda for Thursday, June 24, 2010
7:00 Old/New Business 7:30 Trustees of Hingham Bathing Beach on for Hingham Farmer’s Market (HFM)
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Present: Planning Board Members, Judy Sneath, Chairman, Paul Healey, Clerk, and Gary Tondorf-Dick. Also present was Planner Katharine Lacy.
7:00 Old/New Business
1. The Board voted to approve the minutes of June 10, 2010.
2. 29 Woodlock Road, Form A
This Form A is to subdivide property into two parcels as shown on plans prepared Edward T. Eisenhaure, P.E., P.L.S., dated June 1, 2010.
It was moved, seconded and SO VOTED to endorse the Form A entitled “Plan of Land located at 29 Woodlock Road, Hingham, MA, dated June 1, 2010, prepared for Shepard Investments, LLC and prepared by Edward T. Eisenhaure, P.E., P.L.S.
3. The Board voted to encumber remaining FY 2010 consulting funds and allocate to DPW to support traffic study for Cushing and Main being undertaken by the Traffic Committee per Town Meeting Article 29.
4. The Board voted to reorganize the Board for the next year accordingly: Paul Healey, Chairman; Sarah Corey, Clerk.
7:30 Hingham Farmer’s Market (HFM) (with ZBA) Trustees of Hingham Bathing Beach
Present for the Applicant: Daniel Brewer, Attorney for the Hingham Farmer’s Market; Mark Cullings, HFM Director, and Tom Foley, Trustee of the Hingham Bathing Beach.
Attorney Brewer provided an overview of the application. The Hingham Farmer’s Market has been in operation at the Bathing Beach for the past several years. Over the past year, they have worked with the Trustees of the Bathing Beach to formalize their relationship relative to hours of operation, parking, trash pick-up and usage fees. To that end, the Trustees of the Bathing Beach developed a permit process similar to the one used by the Hingham Recreation Department to authorize the use of the Bathing Beach facilities by outside groups such as the Farmer’s Market, Rotary Club, and others. On May 5, 2010, the Trustees of the Bathing Beach issued such permit, including an Exhibit outlining “Additional Conditions for Permit Use”, to the Hingham Farmer’s Market for their continued weekly use of the parking area.
In a separate effort, Article 43 of the 2010 Hingham Town Meeting amended the Zoning By-Law to include in the table of permitted uses a new use as follows: “4.24 Farmer’s Market” to be allowed in the Official and Open Space District with a Special Permit A2.” Accordingly, the Trustees of the Hingham Bathing Beach have applied on behalf of the HFM for a Special Permit A2 with Site Plan Review, as well as a Special Permit A3 (Parking Determination). Relative to the application for Site Plan Review, they have also asked for a waiver from Site Plan Review submittal requirements c through i, which include traffic and parking plans, as well as information on soils, grading, utilities, and stormwater management.
Mr. Brewer presented a schematic site plan showing the limits of the parking field and the vendor area. Harry Sylvester of DPW had laid out the parking area with approximately 185 parking spaces, including five handicapped spaces and 22-foot aisle widths. The plan did not show a layout of parking spaces, as the lot was just being lined that night.
In terms of Site Plan Review, impacts are limited in that the use is completely temporary: no structure will be built, and the site itself will not be modified. Many of the Site Plan review criteria are already spelled out in the Permit issued by the Trustees of the Bathing Beach. Vendors arrive on site each week, park on the grassy area on the west side of the parking area; vendor stalls are arranged in a rectangular area in the southwest corner of the lot. Cars will continue to enter at the signalized intersection on Route 3A. In an effort to separate beachgoers from market customers, parking wardens will direct cars to the designated beach parking area closest to the water, or towards the Bathing Beach parking area. Vendors remove all trash and equipment from the site at the close of the market. A porta potty will be located on site and serviced weekly.
In term of the Parking Determination, Daniel Brewer provided the following calculations to justify that there is sufficient parking, using our guidelines for retail uses (5 spaces per 1000 sf).
A. Analysis Based on Allowed Retail Area
40 10’ X 10’ booths = 4,000 square feet of GFA
5 spaces/1,000 square feet of GFA = 20 spaces - (5 X 4.0)
20 spaces at 10’ X 20’ = 4,000 square feet of parking spaces
B. Analysis Based on Total Hingham Farmer’s Market Area
85’ X 125’ = 10,625 total square feet
5 spaces/1,000 square feet of GFA = 53 spaces (5 X 10.625)
53 spaces at 10’ X 20’1 = 10,625 square feet of parking spaces
Mid-way through the hearing, and following the Applicant’s presentation, Ms. Sneath stated publicly for the record that she was the Executive Director of the Hingham Downtown Association, and that the Hingham Farmer’s Market was a dues paying member of the HDA.
Board members discussed the Application, and asked a number of questions about market operations. Ms. Sneath pointed out that the informal isle leading from the parking lot onto the grass where some of the merchants parked caused confusion for customer, who might park in the aisle, or who feel that they should also be parking on the grass. She noted that she witnessed two near conflicts between customer cars pulling up onto the grass, and merchants pulling out. Mr. Cullings noted that this aisle could be cordoned off while the market was ongoing to better segregate merchants’ cars from customer cars.
Tom Patch, Hingham resident, stated his opposition to the use of the Bathing Beach by the Farmer’s Market. He stated his belief that such use violated the terms under which the Beach was deeded to the Town, and improperly introduced a commercial use onto Town property intended for passive recreation.
It was moved, seconded, and SO VOTED to approve the Site Plan for the Hingham Farmer’s Market as regulated by the terms set forth in the Permit issued by the Trustees of the Hingham Bathing Beach, and subject to the condition that the aisle leading to the merchant parking area will be clearly marked and cordoned off during market operations. It was also voted to grant a waiver from Site Plan Review submittal requirements c through i, which include traffic and parking plans, as well as information on soils, grading, utilities, and stormwater management.
In term of a Special Permit A3 (parking determination) Mr. Healey noted that the finding to be considered relative to a parking determination is that the proposed parking plan “will not result in or worsen parking and traffic problems on site or on surrounding streets or adversely affect the value of abutting property.” Board members concurred that 185 parking spaces appeared to be sufficient. It was moved, seconded and SO VOTED to grant the Special Permit A3, subject to the condition that should there be a significant change to the parking plan or the volume of customers that the Application shall return to the Board for a modification to the Special Permit.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Katharine Lacy
Town Planner