Building Committee acccepts sponsorship for zoning bylaws
Published on April 8th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - Town Meeting voters will be asked their opinion on May 7, regarding the addition of an educational zoning district to the town's zoning bylaws, now that the School Building Committee accepted sponsorship of the warrant articles proposing such in a unanimous vote on Wednesday night.
The district is being proposed, according to Town Planner Steve Sadwick, to assure conformance in local zoning bylaws for any schools being funded with state money. Stoneham's $39.7 million school building project, of which 63 percent of the cost will be reimbursed by the state, will consist of the rebuilding of South and Central Schools and the renovation of Robin Hood and Colonial Park Schools.
With the state's June l deadline for project documents fast approaching, the town must have, as part of the submittal package, "a letter from the Building Inspector...stating that the project meets all local zoning bylaws," Sadwick wrote in a letter to the Committee.
"The creation of an Education District is the most effective and comprehensive means of satisfying this requirement from a planning perspective," stated Sadwick.
The issue will be presented at the special Town Meeting in the form of two separate articles. The first calls for the creation of an educational district in the town with specific dimension requirements established.
According to a draft of the article which was presented to the Board, the purpose of the article is "to provide an area for instruction and recreation of children" and includes all "educational facilities owned by the Town of Stoneham and utilized by the Stoneham School Committee for educational purposes."
The second article is dependent on voters approving the former and calls for rezoning of specific school sites into the educational zone, including South School, the current Central School, Robin Hood School, Colonial Park School, Middle School and the new Central School, which will share a campus, as well as the high school.
Initially, the discussions of sites to be included in the educational zone considered only the four new elementary school sites. According to Town Counsel William Solomon, it was considered unnecessary to include the high school since its use as an educational facility was allowed in the residential zone in which it currently lies.
In addition, the current Central School site was also considered exempt from zoning change since it, too, is an allowed use as currently zoned and is not subject to state review in the building process. Further, it is anticipated that the school will most likely come off line in the future once all the elementary schools have been renovated or rebuilt. At that point, the School Committee may consider selling the building.
However, committee member Harry Paicopolos questioned the exclusion of these sites and suggested that not including all the sites in the article could result in amendments being made on the Town Hall floor.
Committee member Ron Fiore agreed stating that the four new schools, as well as the high school, "are here to stay." He further suggested that "if we're doing this, we should do all at once."
Sites that were not included in the article and are, therefore, not considered necessary for zone change, include the North School which is anticipated to come off line within the next couple of years as the new buildings are expected to house that school's programs.
The East School site was also not included, as its current use-Visiting Nurse Association's building-"wouldn't fit into the education of children" category, and is, thus, "outside the scope of the Building Committee," according to Solomon.
At the Colonial Park School, a portion of the property will not be proposed for zone change since, according to Sadwick, that site is "huge" and about half the property is wetlands which will never be used.
As in the case of other changes to the town's zoning bylaws, any request to move property into or out of this education zone will require a vote of approval from Town Meeting.
Sadwick described the Committee's support of the articles as "consistent with the commitment this community has made to the future in its neighborhood-based elementary school projects."
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!