During the July 20 meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board, the resumption of work on a forthcoming new Master Plan was discussed. Prior to January 2020, the board had engaged the services of Grant King, director of Comprehensive Planning and Housing for the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD). King met with a number of boards and committees, at which time he not only gleaned the interests of those groups with respect to issues of an aging population, transportation needs and access to services, but also outlined the process of developing a new Master Plan for the community.
In spite of concerns that a mass pandemic was coming, King continued to develop outlines for the town to consider and how to go about engaging greater public participation in the process. By March, everything came to a halt in terms of public meetings.
By now the Planning Board was ready to find out just what the next steps should be to breathe new life into this critical project. For King’s part, a YouTube video had been developed to give the board members a sense of what was possible using the internet platform, and a draft of a new Master Plan had also been created with internet permissions granted only to the board members.
Chairman Tom Tucker expressed concern that imagery in the video only focused on the village area. “There’s nothing north of 195,” he said. Planning Board Administrator Mary Crain said she would discuss that with King as well as member Janice Robbins’ concerns that the YouTube platform could display paid messaging not appropriate for the image of the town. There was discussion that a video could be developed in house and made accessible via ORCTV as opposed to YouTube.
Tucker also expressed his concern that while some 20 people throughout the town had expressed interest in being on a committee formed to develop a new Master Plan, nothing had been done since January. “I’m tired of waiting for SRPEDD,” he said. Crain said that King was ready to put a press release out and that she would contact all who had previously shown an interest in the project to ascertain their current level of commitment. Crain also said she would create a meeting schedule for the project.
Zoning-bylaw modifications have also been pushed out and will not be part of the upcoming Town Meeting, Tucker said. Crain told the board that work on streamlining the flow of the document had been completed by their consultant, but changes to zoning bylaws had not been part of the project. Dovetailing into this topic was the drafting of a solar bylaw that the board has been working on. Member Robbins said the essence of the document was complete but fees remained undecided at this time. That bylaw will continue in development and remain on the Planning Board’s agenda while language is completed. “There is a long way to go on this, too much for a remote meeting,” stated Tucker. “There’ll be one heck of a public hearing; a lot of people will want to weigh-in.”
A new grant application for funds from the Massachusetts Department of Public Transportation Shared Use Shared Spaces program in the amount of $300,000 was also discussed. Speaking on behalf of Highway Surveyor Barry Denham was Town Administrator Mike Lorenco, who said that a grant had been applied for last week and if approved would be used to construct a sidewalk from the intersection of the bike path on Mattapoisett Neck Road to Route 6. Approximately 10 feet on the east side of the roadway would be impacted with rock and tree removal, he noted.
In a follow up with Denham, he said that the DOT was looking for projects that could begin immediately. “They want to stimulate the construction industry, but it’s hard to be fast with the bidding process.” He said the 27,000-foot sidewalk would link to the new sidewalk on Route 6 and was ripe for this type of grant, given that Old Hammondtown School is a mile away. Denham also said that, unlike other state-funded construction projects, this one would not incur costs to the town. “Fuss and O’Neill did the engineering work pro bono,” he said. If the grant comes through, they will also do the design drawings, he added.
Earlier in the evening, the board heard from Bill Madden of G.A.F. Engineering regarding a Form A-Not-Required application filed by G. DaSilva and David Nicolosi for property located on Chapel Road. Madden said this was one of several lots that would eventually be developed as home sites. The request was unanimously approved.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for August 3 at 7:00 pm. Remote access details will be available at mattapoisett.net.
Mattapoisett Planning Board
By Marilou Newell