PLANNING BOARD
Walpole,
NH 03608
MINUTES: Regular Meeting Tuesday, March
9, 2010 - 7pm Town Hall
Presiding: Jeff Miller, Ch. Members Present: Bob Miller, V-Ch., Ben Daviss,
Dave DeCoste, Henry Fletcher, Sheldon Sawyer, Sel., Eric Merklein, Alternates: Donn Lounsbury, Jeff White, Steve Dalessio. Recording: Pamela Aslinger, Sec./alt.
These minutes
are unapproved and will be reviewed at the April 13, 2010 meeting for errors,
corrections and omissions. There were 15
persons in the audience.
I. Meeting opened 7:20pm
A. Roll call, all members were present, no alternates
designated.
B. Minutes
- Mr. DeCoste made a motion to approve the minutes as
presented and seconded by Mr. Daviss. Vote called, all were in favor, motion
carried.
II. New Business Preliminary
Discussions/Application Submittals
A. Gretchen
Young, P.E. Appledore Engineering, Inc. presented
the board with an application for a Minor
2 Lot subdivision, special exception recommendation and site plan review
located on Rte. 12 N. 564 Main St. Map 12 Lot 19 known as the Keefe
parcel. It’s to be divided into Lot 1 of
1.26 acres and Lot 2 of 6.45 acres with existing house. The parcel is in the commercial and rural
agricultural zones. Both lots have
required frontage. Lot 2 is being purchased
by The Hutton Company, Inc., TN in order to construct an 80 x 100 ft. building
for a Family Dollar retail store. Mr.
Taylor Hurd was present representing the Hutton
Company. Ms. Young handed out miniature
versions of the site map for the board members and described various aspects of
the project. The infiltration drainage
pond for the site is located in the rural agricultural zone therefore it
requires a special exception for a commercial use in the RA zone. They will be applying to the zoning board at
the 3/17/10 meeting. Proposal has 32
parking spaces meeting the requirement.
The utilities are all on site with the sewer line being connected to the
municipal system via directional drilling under Rte. 12. They are proposing an on site well locating
it in the rear with the required 75ft. protective radius. There will be a propane tank for fuel. Stormwater will
drain into an underground system, the infiltration pond will be used for
overflow only based on the 100 year storm requirements and will they will apply
for a shoreland protection permit.
Mr.
Daviss asked if they owned the entire parcel, answer
was no they will own Lot 1 with the store.
Mr. DeCoste asked how far the pond will be
from the road, answer was 351 ft. to the back of the pond. Width of the lot is 155 ft. Ms. Young stated she has a site plan and
subdivision application to submit. Sec.
Aslinger asked if they had applied to the zoning board already for the special
exception? They will apply at the Wed.
3/17/10 meeting the public hearing will be held at the 4/21/10 meeting after
the planning board’s hearing on the special exception recommendation,
subdivision and site plan review. Ch.
Miller said the planning board would need to consider any action on the
subdivision and site plan review contingent upon the zoning board’s action at
their 4/21/10 meeting because it takes place after the planning board meeting
and hearing to be held on 4/13/10. The
planning board can hold a public hearing on the special exception recommendation
and if agreeable the subdivision and site plan review. Sec. Aslinger advised against having all
three public hearings bunched together and having potential planning board
action take place ahead of the zoning board’s decision on the special
exception. Ch. Miller and Mr. Sawyer did
not think it would be a problem.
Ms.
Young offered drawings of preliminary building design and elevations of a
typical Family Dollar store noting that the regulations do not specify building
design but they are aware of the board’s preference to have the store relate to
other stores and styles in the Town. She
asked if the board could make suggestions.
Ch. Miller said the building seems to be a block box with signage. Mr. Merklein asked
if other designs or concepts could be presented something that would match
Walpole’s existing style and not just a box?
He suggested as did Mr. Daviss something like
Pinnacle View or Walpole Savings Bank. Mr. Hurd said
they would do the best they can with the budget they have for the building
design.
Mr.
Schupack asked if the site was in the well source
protection area, answer was no, but it is in the aquifer.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 pg. 2
Mr.
Dalessio complained that the side setbacks were
exactly 20 feet thinking there wasn’t room for error. It’s a fairly large project squeezed into a
very small lot. Ms. Young said they were
mindful of the yard requirements when placing the project and took into
consideration budgetary needs of Hutton Inc. for the project. She said the landscaping and fencing help to
buffer the site. Ch. Miller asked about
the driveway cuts, had they applied for a State permit, did they consider that
the two existing cuts may be reduced in order for Lot 1 to have it’s own
access? He suggested they speak to the
State prior to the site plan application hearing. He is concerned about Lot 2 loosing its
access Rte. 12 is a limited access road.
By subdividing the land it may change the site plan substantially. Ms. Young said they had been to the State
preliminarily and they plan to contact them after tonight’s meeting.
Ms. Aslinger asked if they
met the 30% undeveloped land requirement?
Ms. Young stated they did meet the requirement and said she also had
some waiver requests to read through.
`Mr. Hurd
mentioned that the store would create approximately 6 jobs and a good long-term
tax base. He talked about the need to
sprinkler the building for fire protection but notes they have never had to
install sprinklers due to the type of metal and block construction and the size
of the building falls under the National Fire Protection Code guidelines. Mr. Sawyer asked Mr. Herb Hurlburtt
the fire inspector to speak. Mr. Hurlburtt said they would have to prove to him that all
life safety issues for the building can be met without installing a sprinkler
system, it’s the lives of the people in the building and firefighters at risk
he is concerned with, the building can be reconstructed, but not lives
lost. Mr. Hurd
said it would be all steel construction with few combustible materials. Mr. Hurd did a
quick budget study to bring water in from the water main at Tractor Supply, it
ran $80,000.00 and they have not budgeted for that because they do not have to
sprinkle the building and never have sprinkled their buildings. He said that’s more than the entire profit on
the job and the rent is already set.
Mr.
Sawyer asked if the land was in current use?
Answer was yes. Mr. Sawyer said
there is a 10% tax to remove it from current use, to be aware of the expense. Mr. Hurd asked for
clarification whether the board was going to require sprinkling? Ch. Miller thought if the building meets the
national and/or State safety standards, it would need to be taken into
consideration by the board under the site plan review. Mr. Hurd said the
town regulations refer back to the National code so that’s another reason they
did not budget the cost into the project.
Mr.
Merklein asked if they had considered using drainage
gardens? Ms. Young said while they did
not design a rain garden, they have provided that all runoff will go into the
landscaped areas and all the catch basins will collect potential pollutants
such as sand and will be maintained yearly.
Mr. Merklein asked if they considered using
porous pavement. Ms. Young said due to
extra cost and the small site area it wouldn’t be as productive as on a larger
site such as Tractor Supply. She said
that the main benefit of porous pavement is full site infiltration. She has designed the store site to be fully
infiltrated so they have achieved the same result without the expense of porous
pavement. Mr. Daviss
asked if the utilities could be buried.
Ms. Young said they did not budget for underground utilities but they
could go back to the client to see if it is something they would
re-consider.
Ms.
Young read the waiver requests that include Section VII-B 4 & 6 plans to
show structures within 200ft as non-applicable and Section VII-D 1a. Interior parking lot standards, all parking
is perimeter so is non-applicable. The
requests made for state and local permits should not be included as waiver
request upon application submission they should be applied for with a
pending/contingent status.
Ch.
Miller asked about the daily traffic estimation. Ms. Young said there is a traffic report
included in the application packet. The
weekday total is 458, 40 trips in and out peak hour. Mr. Bob Miller asked about hours of
operation. Answer was 9-9 7 days per
week. Ms. Young submitted the
application materials, fees and abutter list. Ch.
Miller called for a motion to place the application on the April 13th
agenda and schedule the public hearing for the same meeting on the 2 Lot
subdivision, special exception recommendation and site plan review. It was so moved and seconded, all were in
favor motion carried.
Mr. Daviss
suggested the board consider adding verbage to the
site plan review regulations to better define building design standards, that
other developers have expressed the need for specific guidance and
specifications. Mr. Sawyer cautioned
against setting in stone specifications that may not be in keeping with future
innovative ideas that allowing flexibility might better serve the Town. Agreeing Mr. Daviss
mentioned that the Master Plan suggests and addresses many design issues for
the commercial district they should be taken into consideration. He stressed the potential for one store
leading to several more. Mr.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 3
Sawyer thought the shortened depth of the commercial
zone on the west side of Rte. 12 and limited building size (40K) is prohibitive
and should be reconsidered at some point.
II. B. Tom Duffield of Duffield Engineering and Consulting presented preliminary plans
for a multi-use development for Avanru Development
located on Rte. 12 NE, the remainder of 504 Main St. LLC parcel south of
Tractor Supply site. Mr. Duffield described the project on 11.5 acres and mentioned
Tractor Supply’s plans to construct the 50 ft. Right of Way (ROW) and make
improvements to the water and sewer lines.
The remainder parcel of 11.5 acres has 547 ft. of frontage on Rte.
12. He referred to a map showing the
site. He said there is a mutual
agreement between the two properties regarding the 50 ft. ROW regarding cost
sharing and maintenance of the public ROW even though it is not a town road but
privately maintained. He said the water
and sewer is adequate for their proposal of dividing the parcel into 3 lots
with frontages met by making irregularly shaped lots or using the ROW as
frontage. Because the ROW will be built
to Class V standards even though it is privately maintained it would allow them
to meet the frontage requirements and therefore configure the lots more
uniformly for the uses proposed. He
introduced Mr. Jack Franks to discuss the proposal according to the drawings
provided.
Mr.
Franks has lived with his wife Lisa Bierweiler in
Walpole for 6 years and they have three children. He has served on the school board and coached
baseball where he has had many discussions with citizens about the need for
other amenities in Walpole. This has led
to his conceptual plans to potentially develop the site into condominium
elderly housing, medical/dental offices, family style restaurant and a more competitively
priced grocery store. His family shops
in Keene so he did an analysis and found on two items alone they were spending
$1200.00. He spoke with the current
grocery provider and found they have no intentions of changing so he thought
some competition might be worthwhile. In
speaking with other families and long time business owners they’ve suggested
other amenities the community might need as his plan reflects those
discussions. He feels the community
would benefit by the increase in the tax base, creation of jobs and provide
housing for retirees who want to downsize but stay in town. His plan shows a large-scale townhouse
50-55+community on the back parcel behind the proposed Tractor Supply
building. The second parcel would be for
a retail area/family restaurant and medical office building and outdoor
pavilion picnic area. The front parcel
along Rte. 12 would be for a mid size supermarket specializing in local or
organic produce and competitively priced goods.
He’s spent about 2 years researching his ideas and the last year negotiating
the site. He hopes others will see the
benefit of a project that will serve the community, not impact the school
system, provide jobs and lower the cost of groceries while creating other
family friendly amenities.
Ch.
Miller called for board comments. Mr. Daviss saluted Mr. Franks for the thought he put into his
mixed-use conceptual plan. He asked if
he had spoken with any potential tenants?
He said he had but rather not name them.
He said one of the three potential tenants was very interested. Mr. Daviss asked
about the size of the buildings proposed.
Mr. Franks answered that the supermarket was 40,000 sq. ft., the retail
space 25,000 sq. ft. and the housing would be built in 16 unit pods on an as
purchased basis to total about 33,000 sq. ft. or 48,000 sq. ft. including
carports. He was thinking of adding an
indoor pool workout gym facility instead of having to drive into Keene for that
much needed activity. A gym pass could
be part of the purchase price of a unit.
He was thinking of adding a fresh bakery
and coffee shop.
Ch.
Miller pointed out that while they are in the conceptual phase there are a few
serious conflicts with what is allowed in the zoning ordinance. The first being frontage, frontage is defined
in the ordinance as on a town maintained road of Class V or better. While the ROW may be built to Class V
standard it is not likely to be a town road accepted by a town vote. The only alternative would be to have the Selectboard lay out the road and have the town vote on
whether to accept it as a town road. The
housing units are restricted by definition of a multifamily unit as being one
building on one lot, it shall not be more than 3 stories and there are density
limitations as well. Mr. Sawyer asked
about the residential overlay district.
Ch. Miller said one of the requirements is for it to be on no less than
10 acres of land. Mr. Franks said the
housing is designed to be one continuous building with foyers between the
sections to be used as utility and elevator areas and the sprinkling
system. Ch. Miller asked if they were
apartments? Answer was no, to be sold as
condominiums. Ch. Miller said the town
does not allow condominiums because a condominium is a single-family dwelling
and the town allows one single or two-family home per lot or one multi-family
building per lot. Mr. Duffield said then the definition of multi-family is not
multi-family ownership? Ch. Miller
answered “correct”. Mr. Franks said then
condominium projects are not allowed in Walpole, answer was “correct”.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 4
Mr. Duffield
asked if the ROW could be considered a public way privately owned and
maintained? Ch. Miller said it could not
be used to meet frontage requirements for subdivision purposes because it is not
a town maintained Class V road. Mr. Duffield thought the ROW could be considered a newly
proposed road layout as part of the 3 Lot subdivision proposal. He said it’s standard procedure to design a
road to access newly created lots using the proposed road built to Class V
standards as viable frontage for the lots even before the road is accepted by
the town, which the Selectboard has the authority to
accept without a town vote. Ch. Miller
said the road has to already be a town maintained road in order to count as
frontage. Mr. Sawyer said the Selectboard has not accepted a new town road without the
vote of the entire town at a town meeting and questions whether it would
pass. Mr. Duffield
said they could work with the Rte. 12 frontage but the lots will have easements
over them. Mr. Sawyer said Pinnacle View
had to do some creative designing to achieve what they did. Ch. Miller said if the dead end ROW is
greater than 600 ft. that also is not allowed in the ordinance.
Mr.
DeCoste thought it would be better to have the lots
configured more uniformly, if the road could be accepted by the town it would
be better. Ch. Miller agreed but said
the current zoning and policy of the Selectboard
prevents the use of the ROW for frontage.
Mr. DeCoste asked if an exception could be
made? Answer was no, a variance would
not apply either. Mr. Daviss asked if the retirement housing could legally be
restricted to 55 and over? Mr. Franks
said he needed to study that further.
Ch. Miller said the senior housing overlay district had to address that
issue also and they arrived at 62 to meet guidelines.
Mr.
Bob Miller found it interesting that Mr. Franks was able to find a grocer that
would be satisfied with a 40,000 sq. ft. store, the board has been under the
assumption that 70 or 80,000 sq. ft. was needed. Mr. Franks and Mr. Duffield
agreed and have found that 40,000 sq. feet is a viable size from the grocers
they spoke with. Mr. Duffield
said the new store in Peterborough is a 40,000 sq. ft. store. Mr. Franks said there is a great interest in
a smaller down sized store because the community can support it and the grocer
can afford it more easily.
Mr.
Duffield thought the available infrastructure; capacity, commercial location
and compatibility with the Tractor Supply site are all positives. Clearly they have issues with the condominium
portion and road. They would need to
coordinate with Tractor Supply as far as the ROW, match their curb cuts and
center the road between the parcels. Ms.
Aslinger asked if the parcel is still under the ownership of 504 Main St. LLC
and do they plan on purchasing the parcel?
Answer was yes. She said so this
is very conceptual but asked if they expected the planning board to grant a
site plan review before they purchase the property? Mr. Franks said he would like to know where
they stand according to what is allowed so they can do due diligence to see if
what he is proposing fits before he invests a substantial amount of money in
the property. He hopes the board and
community sees the value of the proposal so they can work together.
Ch.
Miller thought the two main issues were the housing and frontage. Mr. Merklein asked
about having housing in the back of the property and having only one access in
and out. Ch. Miller agreed saying the
regulations allows a dead end road to be no greater than 600 ft. with a cul de sac turn around.
Mr. Duffield said the road is slightly less
than 600 feet. If they need a second
access for emergency access they could work with the State, there will be a
traffic study no doubt, they would be open to an emergency access with possibly
gates and bars. He said Mr. Franks was
in the fact finding phase doing due diligence to find out what permits he would
need and criteria to meet before finalizing any purchase including paying a
current use tax. Mr. Sawyer thought the
project had merit and seemed to address some needs he is aware of from the
citizens.
Mr.
Franks asked if the board needed any further information or what steps he
needed to take. Ch. Miller said to
address the concerns raised and return to the board with information as it
becomes available.
II. C. Other new business: Mr. Cliff Harper, of Harper Environmental approached the board with
the intention of submitting a site plan review application on the Potato Barn
project. He said they have met with Mark
Houghton and an electrician in regard to bringing temporary power to the
building and water from the caretaker’s house.
He said the application is being filed contingent on a meeting with the Selectboard Thursday 3/11 to resolve the septic system
issue. He would like to move forward
with the application because timing for construction is running out. Ch. Miller suggested rather than submitting
the application for processing and running the risk of being delayed until the
May meeting to go ahead and meet with the Selectboard
prior to formally submitting the application, he thinks there are several
complications that need to be resolved that pertain to the Selectboard’s
issues that must be taken up before
the planning board can review the application. Mr. Harper said he didn’t want to loose
another month.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 3/09/10 page 5
Mr. Sawyer said they may have some federal
requirements to meet and may need to do further investigation in order to be
fair to the applicant and town. Mr.
Harper said if they are delayed the project
may be on hold for another year because they won’t
be able to do the construction in time for a potential tenant to open a gallery
in June. Ch. Miller thought it was
unrealistic to think they could construct the road off of Rte. 12 and prepare
the space for a tenant by June. Mr.
Harper said they weren’t planning on putting in the road in phase one of the
project. Ch. Miller was concerned that
not having access of Rte. 12 changed the original intent of the board’s
consideration of the project a full reconsideration of the project may
result. He said the development of the
property counted on the access to Rte. 12 and the town actually voted on the
access in and out. Mr. Sawyer read the
Article that was voted on: “To see whether the Town will vote to advise
the Board of Selectmen to lay out a new town road off Rte 12 just south of the
old potato barn. This dead end road
would provide access to the proposed parking lot of the barn would engineered
constructed and maintained by the barns developer and would not be constructed
until the financing of the barn project be insured.”
Mr.
Harper asked if it was designed by the State DOT’s engineer assessment? Mr. Sawyer said it was his understanding at
the time the Town could have one access to Rte. 12 when they put the bypass in
and that’s the one that was approved.
Ch. Miller said the board determined because of the amount of activity
the barn project would create under the original plan it was decided to direct
the traffic out of the residential area behind the barn, so it was the main
reason the scale of the project was allowed.
Mr. Sawyer said there might be an old ROW granted just for the use of
potato storage. Mr. DeCoste
asked if the new septic system is large enough to cover the scale of their
entire project? Mr. Harper said it was
designed for 30 persons, if they go beyond that they could tie into the
municipal system possibly. Mr. Sawyer
said he hasn’t had enough time to look at all aspects of the issues regarding
the sewer connection but one area of concern is whether the grant of money to
put in the town system that was federally funded is under a strict agreement
that anyone within 100 ft. of the line regardless of when they installed a
septic system you must tie in, the bond is still in effect. That needs to be resolved before the Selectboard can make a determination. Ch. Miller strongly recommended allowing the Selectboard to do their research in order to be fair to Mr.
Harper and the town. Mr. Harper thanked
the board and will meet with the Selectboard on
Thursday as scheduled.
- Discussion: Ch. Miller called for any
other new business and recognized Mr. Hurlburtt. Mr. Hurlburtt
explained his discussions at the back of the hall with Mr. Hurd
regarding the need to sprinkle their proposed building. He said his concern isn’t necessarily the
building but it is a life safety factor for the occupants of the building and
his fire fighters. As far as he’s
concerned the protection of the building is minute compared to the persons who
respond to a fire, they are our neighbors and friends. Every developer factors in cost of
maintenance. It also provides for the
extension of the water line whether a developer does it or the town to serve a
growing area. The codes he talks about
are minimum requirements, they (Hutton) won’t go into a larger town like Keene
without meeting sprinkling requirements such as Uno’s
or Applebee’s that are 6 and 8000 sq. ft. buildings. He said the State adds a few tidbits to the
National code but since they can’t enforce it they “deed the authority having
jurisdiction” which is 99% of the time the Fire Chief who then has the
authority to make the request. He likes
the idea that development is happening in Walpole but feels the safety of
persons in the building and our firefighters is paramount to whatever costs are
incurred, whether it be $80,000.00 to bring town water to the site or the cost
of $2.00 per sq. ft. for the sprinkler system.
Ch. Miller said the report
from the Fire Chief according to the site plan regulations mainly addresses
whether there is an adequate source of water to protect the building/site. Mr. Hurlburtt said
the Keefe property is heavily watered so it shouldn’t be a problem locating a
well. In addition Tractor Supply is
bringing the 10” water lines to the bottom of Ballam
Farm with a hydrant and “t”, they will cross the road and install another
hydrant that will serve their sprinkled building, it was their idea and didn’t
blink at the cost. He thinks Mr. Hurd needs to take another look at whether they can afford
not to sprinkle the building.
- Discussion: Mr. Sawyer mentioned his concern that while the
minutes from the last meeting are written correctly he doesn’t want to place
blame associated with the Potato Barn question regarding their septic system
passing through the Selectmen’s office staff.
He thinks it was an honest miscommunication perhaps the question was not
as specific as it could have been. Ch.
Miller agreed to have it so noted.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 6
III. Planning Discussion
A. Master Plan Update - Sec. Aslinger and Ch.
Miller have spoken with Lisa Murphy, she would like to appear before the board
at the April meeting to submit a draft.
She’s had some conflict with Avatar trying to come up with current data
to fill in the charts but should have some results or an alternative. Board suggestions to the rough draft are to
be discussed at the work session 3/23/10.
Mr. Sawyer noted that it was recently discovered that the current zoning
ordinance is conflicted under some of the road names and designations due to
implementing 911, but until a housekeeping amendment can be made in 2011 the
boards will need to be aware of the areas and work under the old map and
ordinance as it’s written.
B. The
work session is scheduled for March 23, 2010, Mr. Daviss
reports that there will be a special guest, Eric Smith from SWRPC to talk about
“Creative Economy” the arts and crafts economy brings about 16 million dollars
into the State and about 500 jobs. He’ll
talk about how our area can capitalize on it and tie it in with economic
development.
C. Mr.
Sawyer attended a DOT transportation committee meeting regarding busing mostly
directed at larger municipalities such as Nashua.
IV. Communications and Miscellaneous
A. Handout - OEP Spring Planning and Zoning Conference
for Saturday May 8
B. Sec.
Aslinger announced that she is resigning as Secretary and Regina Borden will
take over her duties as of April 1st. She has been the boards back up secretary
and is the Selectboard’s recording secretary so she
is well versed in town matters. Members
thanked Mr. Aslinger for her contribution to the board over the past 5
years.
C. Ch.
Miller announced a meeting Tuesday March 16th for the SWRPC at Papagallo’s for anyone that wants to attend. Sheldon and Whitney are planning to go.
D. Eric
Merklein announced his departure from the board after
many years and wished the newly elected Peter Kinney good luck on joining the
board. He asked if he could be
considered for an alternate. Mr. Sawyer
said two persons had approached him as well for consideration, Ed Potter and
Jeff Michaud.
Mr.
Daviss asked how many alternate seats are open? Answer is two if Mr. Lounsbury
remains.
Membership will be discussed
and election of officers will take place at the April meeting.
V. Meeting
was adjourned at 8:50pm
Then next
regular meeting of the Planning board will be held on Tuesday April 13th,
2010 at 7pm in the Town Hall meeting room.
cc: PB, ZBA,
WCC, BOS, M. Houghton, C. Harper, G. Young, T. Duffield,
L. Murphy, R. Borden
posted: Town Hall, Lobby, Burdick’s Market, www.walpolenh.us, www.walpolean.com, www.walpoleplanningboard.org