by Christopher Young
Norfolk's newly-opened Freeman-Kennedy School hosted its first-ever Town Meeting Thursday night in the school's cafeteria, with over 100 town residents in attendance.
A total of 25 articles were discussed and voted on during the course of the three-hour meeting, with most of the measured approved by the attendees.
Town administrators were pleased to announce that the town had around $1.1 million in its "free cash" account (surplus), which allowed the town, in its first vote of the night, to approve $2,235 for fire-department training and $33,847 to fund the salary of an Shared Technology Director in the school system. Also approved were $36,566 toward repairs of fire department emergency radios; salaries and expenses totaling $20,000 toward the town library, which would allow it to reopen on Sundays and thereby meet state certification requirements; and earmark $26,000 to fund the rising costs of veterans services in the town, which is required by the state. The total amount of free cash spent toward the departmental budgets was nearly $99,000, but all expenditures were approved unanimously.
Article 4 saw the unanimous approval of the transfer of $500,000 in free cash to the Stabilization Fund, which is the considered one of the town's primary savings accounts. Board of Selectmen chairman James Lehan stressed to town residents that it was "critical to put this money aside,"and was a "smart financial decision," since Norfolk had not paid into this fund for over 10 years, the account held over $700,000 in free cash, and "it would be poor fiscal management if we just use it for spending."
Also passing unanimously were separate motions in Article 5, which included vehicle and facilities maintenance for town-owned buildings, public-safety upgrades, and also authorized the town's treasurer to borrow funds and appropriate the proceeds toward the purchase of four DPW vehicles, three police SUVs, and a vehicle for the town assessor. Estimated costs for these eight vehicles are expected to approach $287,000.
Town Meeting unanimously approved in Article 6 the licensing authority of the town to grant a full liquor license to Norfolk Food Mart on Rockwood Road, which would replace the store's existing Wine and Malt license.
Much discussion emanated from Article 7, which was intended to shift responsibility for hunting on private land to the hunter, rather than the landowner. In the past, hunters were allowed to hunt on private land if signage were not posted prohibiting it; the measure voted on Thursday would require a property owner who wanted to grant permission for a hunter to hunt on his or her property to file notification with the local police department. It would also require all hunters to register with the police department each day that they intended to hunt to determine if hunting were in fact allowed on the properties where they wished to hunt. After spirited debate, residents approved Article 7 by a 56-42 majority vote.
Two articles that would make it easier for developers to build affordable housing passed easily, but Article 10, which was submitted by the Zoning Bylaw Study Committee to increase the number of bedrooms allowed per lot by developers in the town's B-1 (downtown) business district, generated vociferous debate. The article would have allowed an amendment to the Residential Density of the Norfolk Zoning Bylaws, changing Section 1.4.a.11 to read: "Residential dwelling units, except for assisted living facilities, shall not have more than two bedrooms per unit, and shall not exceed the ratio of 20 units per acre nor 32 bedrooms for any single lot except for special permit." Amending the section would have allowed developers to increase the number of bedrooms allowed per lot to thereby increase the number of units on their lots in the B-1 business district. While the town's advisory committee and planning board endorsed the measure because it could create an incentive for developers in the area, many residents believed it could create too much development, and voted down the amendment by a 47-38 vote.
Article 13 also provided a lively back-and-forth, as the town had hoped to amend the schedule of minimum off-street parking requirements, requiring builders to provide a minimum of just one parking space per dwelling unit (separate from single-family dwellings). The advisory board contended that the lower amount of required parking for this new category would have given builders more flexibility in how they utilized parking spaces, i.e., fewer space allotted to parking meant more space devoted to structures. Most of the residents who spoke about this measure insisted that one spot per dwelling unit was not realistic, even though Selectman Robert Garrity insisted that "downtown residents [who would live] near the train station and businesses probably don't need two cars." Garrity later presented a motion to amend the article to reconsider voting for 1.5 vehicles per unit instead of one, but the article still went down to defeat by a 40-34 vote.
A proposal to amend the town's zoning map to add a seven-acre parcel of land across the tracks from the downtown train station to the B-1 -- Outside the Business Core district also elicited strong opinions in a 45-minute debate. The land, which is currently a residence, is the focal point of "a [local] person interested in doing some development," and that though it currently houses a single-family residence, it was "unlikely to stay that way." Jeff Palumbo, chairman of the town's planning board that backs the proposal, insisted that the amendment would spur on the land "the embodiment of smart growth," and that it was "a particularly attractive property for development." While it was noted that the land was probably "ideal for housing but not for retail [development]" because of its landlocked layout, many residents felt that there was already too much undeveloped vacancy in the nearby downtown area, and one opponent noted, "We shouldn't be changing zoning for one resident." The measure, which would have required a two-thirds majority to pass, ultimately received 49 yes votes against 30 no votes, but the 49 yeas were three votes short of the majority needed to pass the amendment in Article 16.
Also approved were funds designated toward preserving and restoring the historic Tramp House and the Pondville Cemetery Crypt, as well as studying the town's future recreational needs, which have been determined to be growing at unprecedented levels and will likely require additional athletic and recreational facilities being built.