5/19/1998 MASHPEE COMMONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes

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At this point Mr. Storrs offered some background on the establishment of the original Blue Ribbon Committee, which proved I IV to be very successful, resulting in a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. At the suggestion of ono of the selectmen, the current Advisory Connittee was established with the Selectmen being in control, along with Planning Board participation, for the purpose of addressing a new zoning Bylaw which would enable the Master Plan to go forward. To date, the outcome of this Committee has been the desire to not create a new zoning Bylaw, but rather having requested M LP to simplify the Plan and reduce the number of units. All of which has been done. This Committee has suggested proposed changes to the existing Commercial center Bylaw which are dimensional changes only. Also, at the Committee' s request and specifically at the. Town Planners request, amendments to the open Space Incentive Development Bylaw have been proposed, rather than creating a new Bylaw. The proposed changes under this Bylaw are considered to be minor clarification of certain issues, dimensional and roadway changes, and park areas) . At this point Mr. Chace suggested moving forward into the permitting process, which would lead into the environmental impact studies, in order to amend the existing Zoning Bylaws and t o provide impact data to the mashpee citizens. Mr. Storrs made reference to the Residential Market Study provided by MCLP, which .had been requested ested by this Committee. The committee determined the numbers provided to be too high. An additional Five Thousand ($5, 000 . 00) Dollars was spent in order to have the Town' s consultant provide a study that came in significantly lower. Mr. Storrs stated that the apartments that have been brought on lime are above the high numbers within their Study, which is . proof that their numbers are correct. Mr. Storrs did acknowledge a certain level of distrust towards MLP does exist. Mr. Whritenour suggested discussing the mission of the Committee further, acknowledging that MLP has raised some very key points. He agreed the purpose of the current committee was to study amend current zoning Bylaws, as well as impacts. Mr. Whritenour agreed the direction of the Committee has changed from the original major zoning change complete with an impact analysis. To the credit of Mashpee Commons, the process has evolved into a very different type of zoning change. AS the major zoning change is no longer being considered, Mr. whriten ur questioned whether or not it would be prudent to proceed with a major impact study prior to such a minor zoning change. He suggested that perhaps it is time to proceed with the regulatory process. -4-