2026-07-21 - Planning Board

00:05Good evening. Welcome to the Town of

00:06Auburn Planning Board. My name is Glenn

00:08Feldman, the vice chairman of the

00:10planning board. Um, welcome to the

00:13meeting of uh Tuesday, July 21st, 2026.

00:16Now, call to order at 7 p.m. This

00:19meeting is being recorded and

00:20broadcasted live by local access

00:22programming.

00:25Um, I would ask if there was anyone in

00:27the audience that is recording tonight's

00:28meeting, but there is no one in the

00:30audience.

00:31Um, so please rise and join us in a

00:34salute to the flag. [clears throat]

00:38>> I aliance to the flag of the United

00:41States of America and to the

00:44stands one nation under God,

00:47indivisible, liberty and justice for

00:49all.

00:51[cough and clears throat]

00:55At this time, I would like to remind the

00:57applicants, town administration, and

00:59each of the planning board members to

01:00please refrain from asking questions in

01:03regards to all matters discussed this

01:05evening without first being granted my

01:07consent. The first item on our agenda is

01:11385 Southbridge Street, which was

01:14postponed on 714.

01:18And uh we have the gentleman joining us,

01:21Mi Mr. Landon, I believe your name is.

01:24>> Yes, it is. Glad to be with you.

01:26>> How are you, sir?

01:27>> I'm fine, thank you. Thanks for having

01:29me.

01:29>> Thank you for joining us.

01:35Uh, I will entertain a motion to open

01:37the, uh, public hearing.

01:39>> Make a motion.

01:40>> I'll second that motion.

01:42>> All in favor?

01:44Ricky, I

01:47>> and the chair is an I.

01:50Um,

01:53this hearing is for a uh special permit

01:55to allow a temporary commercial uh

01:57activity, a circus. And Mr. Landon, if

02:00you'd like to give us a quick rundown.

02:04>> Sure. Um, circus, excuse me, Paranormal

02:07Circ is coming to the Auburn Mall uh

02:12coming up this weekend, July 24th

02:14through the 27th. and um we're going to

02:18be setting up and basically I'm just

02:19here to answer any questions that uh

02:21that you might have.

02:24>> Okay.

02:27Does anyone on the board have any

02:28questions for Mr. Landon?

02:35>> Um

02:37>> thank you Mr. Landon. One question maybe

02:40um the application states you you are

02:43expecting around 300 people right per

02:46show.

02:47>> Yeah. More more or less. Yes.

02:48>> More or less. And um the tent capacity

02:51is much higher. I think it's around 900

02:53or so. Um

02:56>> you know I think we've asked a similar

02:58question to one of the other applicants

03:00in the past. But what is is there any

03:02way you're enforcing a cap a cap there

03:04so we don't hit the limit?

03:08Well, the well the 300 is an estimate,

03:10but the the 900 roughly is a is a hard

03:14hard break because there's only so many

03:16seats inside the tent and they're all

03:17reserved seats. So, you know, we can't

03:20sell more than we have reserved seats to

03:22sell and the ticket and the tickets are

03:25all electronic tickets so people

03:26actually choose choose a seat.

03:29>> I see.

03:33Um

03:36Chris, go ahead with your question.

03:39>> Um I did notice um there was no mention

03:44of a uh with with the uh I guess it's a

03:47total of

03:481 2 3 4 5 six six shows. Um there was no

03:53mention of a police detail, only um

03:57[snorts]

03:58your security dressed

04:01appropriately for the show. Uh, no

04:03police detail, EMS or fire. Is this is

04:06this traditional throughout the country?

04:09Is this something you're working on? Um,

04:11I know we're really up against this

04:12deadline and probably not fair to you

04:14and certainly um maybe not fair to us as

04:17well, but I know you were looking for a

04:20uh application waiver uh which I think

04:23you got yesterday and the board of

04:25selectman, but I'm I'm really concerned

04:27more about the police detail, EMS, and

04:29fire.

04:34I'm sorry you cut I heard your question,

04:37but I I I got

04:42uh police, fire, and and EMS. I'll

04:45address that. So, if I don't exactly

04:47address what you were saying, please let

04:49me know because you did cut up and and

04:51break out just a little bit. Okay. So,

04:53uh, the circus has a a security plan,

04:58um, and that we will give to the city,

05:01uh, when they require it. Uh, fire

05:03safety rules are are pretty much

05:05standard nationwide. As far as who we

05:08have and who we don't have. Typically,

05:10in most venues that we go to, we do use

05:12our in-house security. We are generally

05:15inspected by fire. There are some venues

05:18where the fire department will require a

05:21fire standby unit. Um, generally one

05:23person to to be there. Um, that was not

05:26the case in this city. Uh, occasionally

05:29police departments will request uh, you

05:32know, standby based on their town, based

05:34on what we're doing. Uh, most places

05:36when they see our security plan, which

05:38we wand people, we don't allow bags in

05:40there. um we are fenced and and those

05:43types of things. Most people are pretty

05:45okay with what we have. Um as far as EMS

05:48goes, um a lot of times uh cities and

05:52towns

05:53compare us to a a carnival. And I just

05:56want to be real clear what the

05:57difference between a circus and a

05:58carnival is. In a carnival there are

06:00rides and you know the people take the

06:02risk. In a circus you come in, you sit

06:05down, it's the circus performers that

06:07take the risk. So the risk to

06:10uh attendees is actually pretty minor um

06:13in a circus. So we have a a first aid

06:15kit that's available um on hand and then

06:18we use 911 for any other kind of

06:20emergencies that might come up and

06:23that's pretty standard everywhere we go.

06:25Uh police and fire 90 to 95% of the

06:29times we handle it on our own. Um but

06:32again that does vary from from town to

06:34town.

06:35>> Okay. Thank you. I'm sure. I'm not sure

06:38if that answered your question because I

06:40didn't hear the whole thing.

06:41>> It did. Um, okay. I have one further

06:44question. Um, you were looking for

06:47uh an outdoor entertainment license,

06:49carnival license from the board of

06:50selectman scheduled for today. Was that

06:53approved?

06:55>> It was last night.

06:56>> Okay.

07:02>> Any more questions?

07:02>> That's all I have.

07:04>> Uh, you mentioned uh fence. Do do the

07:07plans we have in front of us show a

07:09fence outlining the tent?

07:12>> I'm not sure the plans you have in front

07:14of you, but I could tell you what I did

07:15submit um to the city included a fence

07:18around the very edge of it. It's a

07:20rectangular page. It's on the outside.

07:22Um there should be kind of a fence

07:24marked and then openings in the fence

07:26for emergency access and emergency exit.

07:29Uh should be listed in there.

07:31>> Yep, I see it now. I didn't realize that

07:33was the fence line.

07:35That was it.

07:40>> Anything else?

07:41>> Nope, that's it.

07:45>> Um, through the chair, I don't have

07:47anything necessarily additional

07:48questions for the applicant, but I would

07:50just state for the board's um

07:52understanding the select board was last

07:53night where they obtained that outdoor

07:55entertainment license. Um, the applicant

07:57does still need to go to the board of

07:59health for their lensure. I believe

08:00that's scheduled for tomorrow and they

08:02will need a building permit from the

08:03building department. Um, so I would just

08:05ask the applicant to reach out to staff

08:08um, if you haven't already um, to ensure

08:10those items are addressed before your

08:12event. Um, obviously the planning board

08:14is an important step, but we uh, really

08:16want to make sure those outstanding

08:17items are addressed with the other staff

08:19departments.

08:23>> Mr. Landon, have you uh, approached the

08:26uh, board of health?

08:28>> Um, yes. We actually have been going

08:31back and forth. They asked a bunch of

08:32questions yesterday that I haven't quite

08:34finished their an the answers to, but uh

08:36we've been in a lot of communication

08:38with them.

08:39>> Okay. Thank you. Does anyone else have

08:41any questions?

08:42>> One more question. Uh Miss Landon, so so

08:45to Chris's question. Uh so have you so

08:48you've had conversations with Auburn uh

08:51PD and fire department?

08:54The

08:55>> Hold on, let me pull

08:58my notes out and I could tell you

08:59exactly

09:02You give me just one second here.

09:14Okay. My notes here that we did not have

09:18any specific comments from the police

09:21department. Typically what happens is

09:22that when we apply with the with the

09:25town that they will kind of inform all

09:27the different departments. Um and we

09:31have at communications actually with the

09:35fire department as as well. Uh last time

09:39we emailed them was on July 9th which

09:42was a couple of weeks ago. So they

09:44should certainly have all of our

09:45information.

09:46>> Okay.

09:48>> Thank you. Okay.

09:50>> Is there anything else you would like to

09:51add, Mr. Landon, to the uh

09:54>> No, I'm just available to answer any

09:56questions you might have. So, you know,

09:58I'm willing to address anything you

09:59have.

10:00>> Okay. Anyone else have any questions?

10:03>> Okay. I'll contain a motion to close the

10:05public hearing.

10:07>> I'll make that motion.

10:09>> Second.

10:11Uh

10:13Ricky

10:14>> I

10:15>> I

10:17>> I Okay. Um

10:22any other any other comments before we

10:24vote,

10:26>> gentlemen?

10:28>> No.

10:29>> Okay.

10:30>> Through through the chair. Um, Rose, I

10:33think, uh, for reference,

10:35we had,

10:37um, a similar applicant

10:41on July 9th, 2024 that came in. Um, so I

10:46think if you, if you're looking for

10:47references, I think that's that's a good

10:49um, similar circus event that was uh, on

10:53our uh, the same Auburn Mall site.

10:56>> Thank you.

11:03Okay, I'll entertain a motion to approve

11:05with conditions that uh they go to the

11:10uh police and to the they get approval

11:13from the police on the board of health

11:14>> and building permit

11:15>> and a building permit. Yes. All right.

11:18>> Through the chair, if I could just

11:20caution against approval through the

11:21police department. I'm just not sure if

11:23there's any permits they need to obtain.

11:25I know for certain building and board of

11:27health, but I just don't want to include

11:29that in case um I'm not aware. And we

11:32did circulate the applications to all

11:34town departments and we didn't get any

11:35feedback from them. Um but certainly if

11:38they do need permits from the place, uh

11:40they won't be able to proceed without

11:41those.

11:42>> Okay.

11:45Do I hear a motion?

11:48>> Motion with two conditions, right?

11:50Approval from the board of health and

11:52the building department.

11:53>> Yes.

11:55Do we have a second?

11:57>> Second.

11:58>> Ricky,

11:59>> I

12:00>> I

12:01>> I and the chair is

12:04Mr. Landon. Thank you very much.

12:08>> Thank you.

12:09>> Appreciate it.

12:15>> Now, we're going to move on to uh other

12:17business. Uh we're going to look at the

12:20minutes from June 9th, June 23rd, and

12:24July 14th.

12:41I'll entertain a motion to uh approve

12:44the minutes from Do we have to do them

12:46singly or can we do them both together?

12:48>> We can take them all in one motion.

12:51>> I entertain a motion to uh accept the

12:54minutes from June 9th, June 23rd, and

12:58July 14th.

13:00>> I'll make that motion.

13:02>> Do we have a second?

13:03>> I will second that motion.

13:05>> I thank you.

13:07>> I

13:08>> I

13:08>> And uh I am an I as well. Thank you.

13:13Move on to

13:14>> uh give me one second. I can't

13:18can I approve the minutes for July 14th?

13:22I was absent.

13:26>> Um if you haven't went to the meeting, I

13:27would just recommend abstaining.

13:29>> Abstain for July 14th.

13:32>> Me too.

13:37>> All right. Now we move on to item three,

13:40communications.

13:43>> The chair, I have nothing to add. Um I

13:44just want to thank the board for um

13:46allowing us to proceed in a hybrid

13:48manner tonight. Um if you did want to

13:49have any discussion about that in the

13:51future, um certainly uh this is the

13:54appropriate place. We don't have to do

13:55it tonight, but if we wanted to revisit

13:57that, um certainly at all of your

13:59discretion. The only thing for me is I

14:01have a couple decisions to circulate um

14:04once the meeting ends.

14:06Uh I'd certainly prefer to have Mr. uh

14:11Mr. Brooks here for that uh discussion.

14:14>> Agreed.

14:15>> Because he has strong feelings about the

14:17hybrid. So

14:21>> all right. Uh no update. Rose, you're

14:25all set. Okay. I will entertain a motion

14:28to adjourn the meeting.

14:30>> I will make that motion.

14:32>> Second.

14:33>> All in favor? Ricky? I

14:35>> I

14:36>> I

14:37>> and the chair is an eye. Thank you very

14:39much.

14:43>> [music]