Minutes of July 10, 2007

Present were: Marilyn Richards, Chairperson; Thomas Morrissette, Vice Chair;

Louis Calabrese, Clerk, Michael Przybylowicz and Donald Anderson.

Discussion regarding new subdivision with Gary Rugani

Gary Rugani explained that he is hoping to create a subdivision with land in Wilbraham and access from the Porterwoods Subdivision in East Longmeadow. He said years ago it was approved to have right-of-ways into this property. Further, Mr. Rugani said that he went to the Town of Wilbraham once already and they told him to go to East Longmeadow and get an opinion regarding exits & entrances into Wilbraham - that Wilbraham does not have a problem with it. Ms. Richards asked if Wilbraham would have a problem if East Longmeadow is unwilling to allow him to access to the subdivision at those 2 points, would Wilbraham allow the subdivision? Mr. Rugani said that street limitation would come into play and that Wilbraham would not allow the roadway to be that long.

Mr. Przybylowicz asked how much of Fox Hedge Road is undeveloped? Mr. Morrissette said that it’s never been built up. Ms. Richards said that DPW is not in favor of connecting to Wilbraham - she feels that they have a hard enough time connecting subdivisions with other subdivisions within East Longmeadow and she is concerned about the residents saying that their quality of life is going to be impacted by more traffic. Ms. Richards also stated that is the big concern with connecting this proposed subdivision to an existing subdivision - it would create an opportunity for people to pass through and increase traffic – with no benefit to the town. Ms. Richards said that she was going by what DPW said about the issue of traffic, shared utilities, water and sewer. Mr. Rugani said that there would not be any shared utilities as the water would be available from Wilbraham and there would be individual septic systems.

Ms. Richards said another thing brought up was the maintenance of snow plowing and maybe the Board would like to talk with the DPW first rather than waste Mr. Rugani’s time by going through a public hearing - include him in the meeting with DPW. Mr. Przybylowicz asked where the house would sit on the corner lot? Mr. Rugani said all the houses will be in Wilbraham. Ms. Richards said the Board has been known to approve something with a gate and if they are talking just about public safety they could have access, have it fully paved, that would be the Boards concession, they could have access if they need it but the Boards does not want cut-through traffic. Ms. Macdonald said that Wilbraham would not allow that - that is the problem - the roadway is too long to only have one access, not an emergency access, but an access at all times. She said that Fox Hedge Road would have to be brought to up to town standards from where it ends in East Longmeadow. Ms. Richards said that Ms. Macdonald will research the easements and set up a meeting between DPW.

Request for Waiver of Site Plan Review – “What’s Cooking Kids?”, 41 & 42 Maple Street

Clerk, Louis Calabrese read a request for Waiver of Site Plan Review from Jennifer Mathews and Jodie Foster to open a children’s cooking school at 41 & 42 Maple Street. The school will be for kids ages 4 through high school with on-hands classes to create healthy cooking habits through fun. They will also offer before and after school classes and birthday parties. The hours of operations will be Monday – Friday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Saturdays, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Sundays, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm and will staff 1 to 2 employees.

Jennifer Mathews explained that they would like to have a cooking school for pre-school through high school and depending on the age of the child they would cater cooking classes an 1½ hour long to cater to their needs and abilities. She said children in pre-school and kindergarten could take classes before or after school depending on their half day schedule, older elementary and high schools kids could take classes in the afternoon and Saturdays and Sundays and also have birthday cooking parties.

Ms. Richards asked if the parties would be cooking parties with a theme? Ms. Foster said that it’s going to be an on-hands cooking party offering different themes. Ms. Richards asked about the layout of the classroom. Ms. Foster said that they have already sat down with a couple of kitchen designers and showed the board some of their ideas and the class size would be 12 to 15 people students. Ms. Richards asked if the parents stayed with the kids? Ms. Forster said for the younger children they would stay and for the older kids they leave. Mr. Przybylowicz asked what the circle represented over in the children’s area on the plan? Ms. Foster said that they are also going to have a retail area that would carry kids cooking products.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the Waiver of Site Plan conditioned upon in the future if there are any complications caused by this business at this location, the Planning Board reserves the right to revisit the site and re-consider their decision. Further, that any proposed signage will have to be presented to the Board for approval.

Request for Waiver of Site Plan Review – “Fare with Flair”, 48 Maple Street

Clerk, Louis Calabrese read a request for Waiver of Site Plan Review from Ronald DiSalvo to open a retail food assembly center 48 Maple Street.

Mr. DiSalvo explained that it is a new concept for the area and currently there are over 1,300 store fronts across the nation. He said the concept is a “make and take” retail store where customers come in and choose from a variety of prepared ingredients; follow a recipe; make the meal; package it and then take it home either to freeze it or cook it. Mr. DiSalvo said that it is a growing industry and saves people lots of time and gives them more time to spend with their families during meal times. He said that their mission is to offer the public a safe, sanitary and professional food assembly retail center. Their recipes will be appetizers, entrées, side dishes and desserts with the menu items changing weekly and monthly just to keep things new and exciting. He said that they will be selling specialty dry goods, kitchen wares, holiday gifts, seasonal supplies, table settings, centerpieces and cookbooks. He said there is no cooking involved, no stoves, no grills, no ovens and all of the cooking is done by the customer at their home.

Ms. Richards asked if the setup within the building is basically a retail set up? Mr. DiSalvo said there is no seating, just retail space - he referred to his plan to explain the layout.

Mr. Przybylowicz asked if there was any concern for cross-contamination between poultry and fish? Mr. DiSalvo said absolutely not because the refrigerators are specially designed with 4 separate drawers so the fish, chicken, beef and vegetables will all be kept in the separate drawers. Mr. Przybylowicz asked if a customer is working in a spot and handling meat and then switches to poultry or fish, how does that not get cross contaminated? Mr. DiSalvo said because their work station is sanitized and they re-wash their hands and put on a new set of gloves prior to starting a new entrée.

Mr. Morrissette asked what if somebody wanted to make roasted chicken with greens and roasted potatoes? Mr. DiSalvo said that would not be on the menu and the main items on their menu will be an entrée. For example, chicken cordon blue - they could choose the ingredients they want - everything is going to be bought wholesale and will be high-end quality items and the typical customer is someone who orders ahead of time on their web site and chooses how many meals they want for each entrée and schedules a time to come in and do the preparations.

Mr. Calabrese asked if a dumpster was going to be used? Mr. DiSalvo said that they are going to have their own dumpster that will be covered and kept on the side of the building in the back.

With no further discussion and upon motion duly made and seconded, unanimously

(5-0) voted to approve the request for Waiver of Site Plan conditioned upon, if in the future there are any complications caused by this business at this location, the Planning Board reserves the right to revisit the site and re-consider their decision – further, that any proposed signage will have to be presented to the Board for approval.

Release of subdivision bond monies for streets taken at town meeting

The Board reviewed the release of subdivision bonds for Halon Estates, Deer Run Terrace, Nottingham Drive, Balmoral Drive and Sherwood Terrace. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to approve the releases.

Miscellaneous

The Board reviewed the minutes of June 26, 2007 and upon motion duly made and seconded, voted unanimously (5-0) to approve, with edits.

Ms. Macdonald informed the Board that the building plans for the Congregate Living Facility did not have any architectural stamps on them and the building permit should have never been granted. She said that the Building Inspector is going to talk to the Selectmen about this project and other projects that were granted building permits and that there is concern about the liability to the town. She stated that it would be astronomical, especially with people who are unlicensed installing sprinkler systems and doing the electrical wiring. She said that corporate has asked the Building Inspector to hold off on shutting them down completely until they get their paperwork ready and he has given them 4 days or the project will be stopped. Ms. Richards asked if the Selectmen were involved with it and Ms. Macdonald said that the Building Inspector has told them however, they have no involvement.

Therefore, with no further business and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted (5-0) to close the meeting at 10:00 p.m.

Very truly yours,

Louis A. Calabrese, Clerk