Office of Outdoor Advertising
Public Meeting
August 13, 2015
11:00 AM
Ten Park Plaza
Conference Rm 5 & 6
Boston, MA 02116
Present:
John Romano, Executive Director
Owen Kane, Esq., Counsel
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P R O C E E D I N G S
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JOHN ROMANO:
Good morning.
Thank you
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all for attending.
This is the August meeting for the
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Office of Outdoor Advertising.
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housekeeping items before we start.
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accessible to people with disabilities and individuals
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with limited English proficiency.
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request for us for assist of technology, sign
A couple of
This meeting is
If you filed a
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language, alternate formats documents, interpreter of
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translated documents, or other such services to be
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available today.
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Lydia, raise your hand.
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You can see Lydia at the front.
There you go.
We also have amplification devices
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available from Lydia for anyone who needs them.
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you need any other similar assistance to participate
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today, please let Lydia know and we will do our best
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to accommodate you.
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If
If you have not signed in the sign in
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sheets are there, the agendas there and copies of last
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month’s meeting minutes are also there.
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any questions, comments, or changes on the July 9th,
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public hearing minutes that are on the table?
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Anybody have
(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
Seeing none, we will deem
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those approved.
Two other administrative things
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before we get going with the two items on the agenda
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today.
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Chris Quinn, our esteemed lawyer who
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has been with the Board for many, many years of the
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Office, has retired as of a couple of weeks ago.
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was here at the last hearing and did not tell any of
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us until a couple of days later that that was his last
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one.
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the Outdoor Advertising Office.
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Eileen Fenton works with us very closely and she
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happens to be on vacation this week, so --
So he is off enjoying life without MassDOT or
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He
OWEN KANE:
So as you know,
They have gone really far
down --
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JOHN ROMANO:
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down in the legal department, just kidding.
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colleague Owen Kane will be here to assist me today at
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the hearing.
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you, Owen.
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We have gone very far
My
If any legal issues should arise.
Thank
One other thing a little administrative
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change.
You will see this on our website.
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forward with any surrender, we have actually created a
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surrender form that you can fill out and submit to us
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instead of trying to figure out whether you should
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send us an email or a letter, or a post card, or
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whatever.
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currently up on the web and you can use that for any
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future needs to surrender a permit.
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would make it a little easier for you and for us.
We have created a surrender form that is
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I thought that
In the coming months there will
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probably be a couple of other administrative type
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changes like that to the application.
We are looking
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at a few things.
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think will make it easier for all involved.
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Nothing severe just things that I
With that, we have our first item up.
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It is Total Outdoor Corp.
77 Kennedy Drive, Route 1,
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Malden.
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were sent from this office on 7/8 to both the Mayor
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and the City Clerk in Malden.
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office.
Two permits, 2015D020 and 2015D021.
DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
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Yes, Drew Hoffman.
Is anybody here form the
municipality?
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That was done by my
Is the applicant present?
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Letters
Are there any abutters
here today?
(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
No, seeing none.
Drew, do you want to go over what your proposal is?
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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convert the existing static sign to digital.
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not changing the height.
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square footage.
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to all the abutters.
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from that.
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Board.
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Okay.
Yes, we would like to
We are
We are not changing the
We did send out on June 8th, notices
We did not receive any feedback
We are looking for approval from the
JOHN ROMANO:
Is anybody present from
the District Office?
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(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
I did receive a comment
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from the District Office and we kind of talked about
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this leading up to the application.
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would like to see while you are not changing the shape
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size just the faces, they would like to see it put
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back a foot or two.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
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not on the layout line.
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see that.
The District
Okay.
So that we know we are
The District would like to
We would like to see that, as well.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
Understood.
Thank you.
Is there
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anybody here from Traffic Operations?
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(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
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the State Traffic Engineer, Neil Boudreaux.
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that a detailed traffic study at this location will
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not be required.
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point.
Neil said
So it is good to go from their stand
No further study from the traffic side.
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I did receive a memo from
You stated that certified notice was
sent to all of the abutters.
I have a copy of your
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letter.
I also have a copy of all the post marked
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things, the post office slips.
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getting those in ahead of time, so we are all set.
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So we appreciate you
You also stated that there were no
comments received by you.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
None.
None were received by us.
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Was there a special permit or variance was obtained
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for these?
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
Yes, special permit.
I do have a copy of those
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in my package.
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inspector Jason to give his report for this location.
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With that, I am going to ask my
JASON BEAN:
before.
Yes.
So I have spoken
We have a picture, we thought it may be over
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the line but it proved not to be.
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confirmation from the owner or the licensee as well as
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the District 4, basically stating that it was close
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but they are lead to believe it is okay.
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you will make sure it is pulled a little further off
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depending on how it is built.
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We have
As you said
So this is the current one.
It is
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going to be converted to digital, 40-feet, no change
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in height.
You can see on the aerial.
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question, it is land locked?
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JASON BEAN:
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Yup.
So do you have permission
from the church to enter?
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I do have one
DREW HOFFMAN:
Yes, on the application
there is a lease with the church.
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JASON BEAN:
Okay.
There is no problem
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with businesses.
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at this time we don’t really have any other issues
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just what we already spoke about. That’s it.
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This is a commercial property.
JOHN ROMANO:
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much, Jason.
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would like to add?
So
Great, thank you very
Drew, do you have anything else you
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
Not at this time.
Anybody else from the
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general public, audience that has anything they would
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like to add or comment on this?
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JASON BEAN:
I would actually just one
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more thing.
Just that the old permits get
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surrendered.
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form now, so that is 2011093, and 092, for the record.
You can file it with us.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
We have a new
Use that document when
we get the new ones or before?
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JASON BEAN:
It has to be surrendered,
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removed and then build the new one, I guess.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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Okay, so surrender it
first.
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JOHN ROMANO:
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JASON BEAN:
Surrender it first.
So, anytime you want to
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surrender them before you start work on it.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
You can have a sign up
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active with a surrendered permit while we are
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converting?
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JOHN ROMANO:
The timing has to be
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right.
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are going to come down.
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surrender them and then three months later you still
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have a sign up.
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So you should be surrendering them when they
So yes, you don’t want to
JASON BEAN:
You still have an ad up.
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JOHN ROMANO:
appropriate.
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So, the timing has to be
DREW HOFFMAN:
Understood.
It will be
simultaneous.
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JOHN ROMANO:
But I can’t issue you a
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new permit until the old ones are surrendered.
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are working on your own clock.
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DREW HOFFMAN:
Okay, got it.
So you
Thank
you.
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JOHN ROMANO:
Okay, great.
I just want
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to take a second.
Mark from the District Office,
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Mark, I did bring up your comment to me about having
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the sign pulled back a foot or two from the right of
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way and Mr. Hoffman has agreed to make sure that
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happens.
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MARK:
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JOHN ROMANO:
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record.
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general public?
Excellent, thank you.
I have that on the
Any other comments or questions from the
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(No response)
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JOHN ROMANO:
Seeing none, thank you
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very much.
We will take this under advisement.
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will let you know but again knowing that if the final
24
decision is to award the permit, the actual permits
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won’t be awarded until the surrender is received.
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other questions?
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DREW HOFFMAN:
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JOHN ROMANO:
No.
Great, thank you very
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much.
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55 Hampshire Road, Methuen.
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application number 2015D022 and 2015D023.
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sent out a letter on July 13, to the Mayor’s Office
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and the City Clerk’s Office of Methuen.
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Next up on the list is Lamar Central Outdoor,
There is two faces,
My office
Is the
applicant present?
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RICHARD LYNS:
Yes, good morning Mr.
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Director, Richard Lyns on behalf of Lamar Central
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Outdoor.
With me is Steve Hebert.
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Any
JOHN ROMANO:
Is there anyone here form
Methuen?
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(No response)
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PAUL DOWNING:
Resident, Paul Downing.
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JOHN ROMANO:
You are not representing
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the town?
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PAUL DOWNING:
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JOHN ROMANO:
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in a second.
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present?
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record?
Thank you.
No.
We will get to abutters
Are there abutters here
Can you state your name again for the
I’m sorry.
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PAUL DOWNING:
Paul Downing.
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2
Evergreen Ave in Methuen.
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abutter but with the light from these boards, I am
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here to make sure that is considered also.
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JOHN ROMANO:
Thank you.
Not necessarily direct
Okay.
So that is so
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noted.
As you may or may not know all of
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our digital boards as part of the permit process there
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is a requirement for how bright they can be and also
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that they are able to adjust automatically to changes
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in light outside.
So that is a requirement of the
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permittee to follow per our CMR.
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other concerns?
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PAUL DOWNING:
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JOHN ROMANO:
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very much.
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this one?
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No.
Okay, great.
Thank you
Anybody here from the district office on
Mark, any concerns with this?
MARK:
No, we reviewed it and there are
no concerns from the District.
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Do you have any
JOHN ROMANO:
Mr. Lyns, would you like
to --
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RICHARD LYNS:
Yes, thank you, Mr.
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Director.
This is proposal to construct a standard
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14x48 two-faced structure with digital format.
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would be a new build at 55 Hampshire.
This
Proposal for
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this special permit granted through the Town of
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Methuen for which a special permit was granted.
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variance was granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals
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for this proposal.
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municipality on June 12 which we believe is timely for
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this application.
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abutters or from the municipality with any concerns or
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issues.
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A
We provided notice to abutters and
We received no responses from any
I know that your office has requested
10
clarification on the location of two businesses and
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provide supplemental information to the application
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which we believe is satisfactory.
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any other issues at this time.
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may have a question or concern based upon the
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inspector’s report which we are happy to answer.
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JOHN ROMANO:
We are not aware of
I believe the Director
Great, thank you.
I
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don’t think anyone from our Traffic Operation’s
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Department has entered since the previous application.
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I do have a memo from the State Traffic Engineer Neil
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Boudreaux.
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It is their judgment that a detailed
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traffic study of this location will not be required.
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So, no further study through the traffic department.
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So you are all set on that end.
Certified mail was
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sent out to all of the abutters.
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the letter and the receipts.
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RICHARD LYNS:
4
I do have a copy of
We supplied that to your
office right after we were served it.
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JOHN ROMANO:
You did say in your
6
opening remarks that you did not receive any comments
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for or against this application.
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abutter here who did mention his concerns that were
9
noted earlier.
We do have one
You did say a special permit and
10
variance was obtained from Methuen.
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a copy of that as well.
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RICHARD LYNS:
I believe I have
And all applicable
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appeal periods have expired for those and have been
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recorded in the Applicable Registry.
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JOHN ROMANO:
Okay, with that again,
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Jason, I will ask you to give your report.
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JASON BEAN:
Sure.
Again, this
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location is 55 Hampshire Road.
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sided new construction, digital sign.
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push pin there.
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it is a little blurry but there is a big X on the
22
ground, right here.
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This will be a double
You can see the
You can’t really see it exactly but
As the applicant did say they had a
little trouble with having a second confirmed
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business, but I believe at this point they have sent
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verified W-9 to you.
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4
JOHN ROMANO:
Yes.
I have all
applicable documents that satisfy.
5
JASON BEAN:
And those were for the
6
record, REF Trucking and NRT Bus Inc.
7
initial inspection, we did get a comment regarding the
8
possible park issue.
9
tell from the audience there but there is sort of a
This is Route 93.
After our
How you can
10
discernable line here which they refer to it as
11
Spicket River.
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this would be considered a park for us where they
13
would need to be 300-feet from.
14
At this time, we haven’t found that
It does flow south down into Lawrence.
15
As I stated, at this point, unless we get some new
16
information as far as what we determined in-house and
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what we researched we couldn’t determine this to be a
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negative factor for the site.
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it to be deemed protectable park, conservation land
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but we are always open for more information.
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as our office we sort of think we did our due
22
diligence and we haven’t found anything at this point.
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That could change if something comes to
24
light.
No where have we found
This basically flows down.
As far
Here is a picture
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of it here and I believe this is what -- so the site
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is up here and this is that Spicket River.
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bike path here and I believe this is what the
4
information that we received in the office was that
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this is the park that they are describing.
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This is protected here.
This is a
We didn’t find
7
anything not just by this but by other means, we
8
didn’t find up in this area that considered a park.
9
We are going to stick with that for right now unless
10
we have something else that comes to light.
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JOHN ROMANO:
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Mr. Lyns, would you like
to add anything to this discussion.
13
RICHARD LYNS:
Mr. Director, just for
14
the record, we submitted to you today a letter from
15
our professional land surveyor engineer concerning the
16
proximity compliance with the regulations.
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position of our land surveyor that none of the
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geographical features which are identified in the regs
19
as being of concern within 300-feet of this site
20
exists.
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It is the
With respect to the communication that
22
we had you had indicated that there is the Spicket
23
River Reservoir.
24
Google maps which may incorrectly label certain
I do know that there are various
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portions of that as the reservoir.
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based upon the USGS Map, that we believe is a far
3
better authority than Google these days, indicates
4
that that is not a reservoir at all.
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It is our position
We would stand by the inspector’s
6
report as well that there are no parks or reservations
7
within 300-feet of this location and therefore this
8
site would be compliant.
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further questions.
I am happy to answer any
10
JOHN ROMANO:
11
JASON BEAN:
12
point that is what we found.
13
find some new information.
14
Thank you very much.
RICHARD LYNS:
Just further, at this
This could change if we
If I may, just for the
15
record.
16
information that was not something discovered I assume
17
from the inspection itself that is something that was
18
supplied to the office.
19
20
I know that you indicated that you got some
JOHN ROMANO:
Yes, we received a
comment.
21
RICHARD LYNS:
I guess in the interest
22
of transparency, is it possible to include for the
23
record, who provided that comment or raised the
24
concern?
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JOHN ROMANO:
I would say that it is a
2
constituent/other permittee, potential permittee but I
3
don’t feel I need to disclose any details.
4
5
RICHARD LYNS:
request for that, will you provide that?
6
7
JOHN ROMANO:
We’ll take that under
advisement.
8
9
If we decide to make a
OWEN KANE:
You can make a request for
anything you want.
10
JOHN ROMANO:
Thank you very much, Mr.
11
Lyns.
Jason, thank you for the thorough report and
12
investigation.
13
concern.
14
is a ten second static display requirement which means
15
it can’t be like a video screen, there has to be a
16
display for a full ten seconds.
17
constantly, so it is not constantly flashing lights.
18
They can’t have anything flashing, beeping, whatever.
Just a follow up on the abutters
There is a sense of brightness limit.
19
There
So it is not changing
I will state this last part, I didn’t
20
bring it up, I forgot on the first application but you
21
both understand there is a 15 hour PSA, Public Service
22
Announcement requirement on both faces for both
23
locations.
24
That is standard procedure.
Does anybody have anything else from
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the audience that they would like to make any comments
2
or concerns with this?
3
anything else you want to add before we wrap up?
Seeing none, Mr. Lyns,
4
RICHARD LYNS:
5
JOHN ROMANO:
No.
Thank you.
Okay, great.
We will
6
take this under consideration, advisement as we do
7
with all of our permits.
8
you very much.
9
record.
10
We will let you know.
Next order of business is for the
Does anybody have any questions or comments
on the for the record part of the agenda?
11
(No response)
12
JOHN ROMANO:
13
Thank
Great, seeing none, any
other public comments or concerns before we adjourn?
14
JOSEPH MURRAY:
Good morning, my name
15
is Joseph Murray and you mentioned the application for
16
dismissal or --
17
JOHN ROMANO:
18
JOSEPH MURRAY:
19
section on there that provides the ability to
20
stipulate that you are surrendering for the purpose of
21
changing it to digital or converting it to digital?
22
Perhaps that would be the most efficient way to make
23
sure those timing gaps are addressed.
24
JOHN ROMANO:
Surrender.
Surrender.
Is there a
We could add that but
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there is plenty of room for notes at the bottom.
2
JOSEPH MURRAY:
As long as there is
3
some place to put something like that then you cover
4
your bases to stipulate that you surrender for the
5
purpose of the permit.
6
7
JOHN ROMANO:
Sounds like a good idea.
Anything else from the public?
8
(No response)
9
JOHN ROMANO:
10
adjourned.
11
your time.
Great, with that we are
Thank you all very much.
I appreciate
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
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Whereupon, the proceedings were concluded on
August 13, 2015 at 11:22 a.m.)
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C E R T I F I C A T E
I, Tammy A. Hillery, do hereby certify that the
foregoing record is a true and accurate transcription of
the proceedings in the above-captioned matter to the best
of my skill and ability.
Tammy Hillery
_________________________________________
Tammy A. Hillery
**All names not provided were spelled phonetically to
the best of my ability.
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