Planning Board approves mural permit

The Norwood Planning Board met on Monday night and dealt with two noteworthy agenda items.

The first concerned the Norwood Cultural Council’s “Many Stories, One Norwood” mural that will be on the side wall of 528-534 Washington St. after its unveiling on Norwood Day.

A special permit and a minor site plan review were approved for it after a public hearing during which NCC Chair Jonathan Cardoni and Co-Chair Kristin Bassett spoke and fielded questions.

The 20-footx10-foot mural – which artist and Norwood native Tara Bilotta was selected to create –will be digitally printed on durable, billboard vinyl held in place by a frame, but that will be easy to remove and replace. That noted, Cardoni anticipated that the mural will last a handful of years, and that a call for artists will go out whenever the time comes for a new one.

Related to that, there were questions regarding whether another special permit would be required if/when the mural is changed, to which Town Planner Sarah Dixon stated that such a decision would be at the discretion of the building commissioner.

The unlit mural will be set back from Washington Street, but it will be visible. “It actually has a very good view from the new pocket park where the bell – No. 7 – has been installed,” Cardoni said of its positioning relative to the new location of the historic 1847 fire bell. “It adds to that area.”

While Cardoni shared images of the mural with the Board, he refrained from saying much about it during the hearing. “We have some things hidden within the mural representing Norwood’s history, Norwood’s present, and hopefully Norwood’s future,” was as specific as he got.

The unveiling of “Many Stories, One Norwood” will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29.

The other noteworthy agenda item concerned the ongoing discussions regarding five potential zoning amendments that will eventually be voted on by Town Meeting.

Over the past month, the draft language has been taking shape for all of them, with updates presented and discussions held at full Planning Board meetings. Because of the number of amendments and their technical nature, nearly an hour-and-a-half of Monday’s meeting was spent on them, and nearly an hour of that was spent going through parking definitions.

The draft amendment started out as a citizens' petition inspired by the 55 Lenox St. development application that resulted in litigation and for which the apparent ambiguousness of zoning bylaw regarding mechanical lifts as parking spaces – and conflicting interpretations of it – played a major part.

A subcommittee has been meeting weekly to put the draft together and, on Monday, the Board reviewed its seven new definitions (including two for mechanical parking, one for tandem parking, and another for motor vehicle storage) and an amended definition of a parking space. Additionally, the parking use table was changed to apply them.

The discussion was detailed enough that it wasn’t until near the end of it that Vice Chair Ernie Paciorkowski stepped back for a broader view. “Are we better off now with our definitions?” he asked. “Are they clearer so we’re protected against another Lenox Street kerfuffle?”

“I think this is very clear,” Dixon responded. “Specifically with mechanical parking, it creates a lot of distinction – via the table of uses –about where they would be appropriate and allowed.” She added that they “set the reasonable regulations that we are permitted to do, as a Town, on those “and noted that Building Commissioner Gary Pelletier was in agreement.

The schedule moving forward is to finalize the Parking Definitions draft language by the July 27 meeting, with the goal of holding a public hearing regarding the amendment in late August.

Regarding the Parking Waivers draft amendment, the Board reached consensus at the June 29 meeting, and so a public hearing will also be scheduled for the end of August, as well.

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Similarly, the Board also reached consensus on the definition of urgent care facilities and their uses, and so a public hearing will be scheduled for that at the end of August.

A subcommittee has also been reviewing the bylaws’ four density bonuses, which offer developers additional stories in exchange for public benefit improvements. Thus far, it has reached consensus on striking the stormwater management and heat island impact bonus and the structured parking bonus from the MBTA Communities bylaw. It also was in agreement that the Central Business District Mixed Use Overlay District bonus should be struck, while acknowledging that it should be part of an overhaul of that entire bylaw section.

The one bonus on which it has not reached consensus concerned affordable housing, and Paciorkowski – out of town and participating remotely –requested that the discussion be tabled until the next meeting, when he would be back and able to more effectively participate.

The last amendment discussion had to do with establishing zoning regulations/restrictions regarding data centers – the often huge, resource-consuming server and data storage facilities that are quickly expanding around the country. While researching how to effectively address this, Dixon also prepared a draft moratorium amendment for the Board’s preliminary review.

To access information regarding these proposed zoning amendments– including updated drafts – visit the Planning Board webpage on the Town Website at https://gvimes.link/zngamnds

To comment or to ask questions regarding any of the draft amendments, send an email to comdev@norwoodma.gov or call 781-384-9284.

The next meeting is on Monday, July 27 at 7 p.m. in the Senior Center (275 Prospect St.).