Town
of
PLANNING
BOARD MEETING
March
13, 2007 7:30pm
Basement Meeting Room
MINUTES
Presiding: Robert Miller, V-Ch.
Members Present:
Sheldon Sawyer, Selectman, Henry Fletcher, Eric Merklein, Ben Daviss,
Dave DeCoste, Fred Dill, alt.
Members Absent: Jeff Miller,
Recording: Pamela Aslinger, alt. and Secretary
These minutes are unapproved and will be
reviewed at the April 10, 2007 meeting for errors, omissions and
corrections. (There were 6 additional persons
in attendance.)
I. Meeting
opened at 7:35pm
A.
Fred Dill was designated for
Jeff Miller, Pam Aslinger designated for Jeff Miller during F. Dill’s
subdivision preliminary consultation.
B.
Minutes from 2/13/07 were
approved as amended, a clarification by Mel Schupack and a comment added to the
minutes by John Hansel. The 2/27/07 work
session minutes were approved as presented.
II. V-Ch.
Bob Miller closed the meeting and opened the Public Hearing on the Site Plan
Review
amendment as shown on the agenda. Mr. B. Miller read the amendment out loud. He then read a letter into the record, received by the
Planning Board via e-mail to the Secretary on 3/12/07 from Attny. Thomas Hanna
on behalf of Walpole Properties LLC and Berkshire-Walpole LLC who own property
in the commercial district. The letter
questions the Board’s authority to enact a change in the Site Plan Review
regulations when the intent is to mandate a limitation on lot coverage he
thinks should be addressed in the zoning ordinance. He asks for the Board “to drop its effort to
impose a coverage requirement through the site plan review amendment
process”. V-Ch. Miller announced due to
receiving the letter at the 11th hour, he said he felt it was important to get
an opinion as to the Board’s actions other than from Mr. Hanna with all due
respect to his question. He said Ms.
Aslinger had contacted SWRPC and NH Local Govt. Center for their input, she
reported the NHLGC Legal Services would be responding by 3/14/07 and they
advised Town counsel be asked to give an opinion as well. V. Ch. Miller asked the Board
to table further action on the amendment until an opinion could be
presented. It was so moved and seconded. Mr. Dill asked if the Board would be
continuing the Public Hearing until the April 10, 2007 meeting in order to
avoid additional notification costs? Mr.
Sawyer withdrew his motion and moved to continue the Public Hearing and Board
action on the amendment until the April 10, 2007 meeting. The motion was seconded, vote called, motion
carried. It was requested of the
Secretary to simply re-post the notice of the continued Public Hearing for the
April meeting. Sec. Aslinger said she
would inform the members by e-mail once the NHLGC responds. She said there are two RSA’s pertaining to
wording requirements both in the Zoning Ordinance and Site Plan Review
Regulations, the Zoning Ordinance (674:16) addresses “percentage of a lot that
may be occupied and other open spaces” but Site Plan Review (674:44) may also
“provide for open space and green spaces of adequate proportions.” She noted it
is ambiguous but the Board should not attempt to zone through the site plan
review regulations.
III. Public
Hearing was adjourned until the April 10, 2007 meeting. Meeting was re-opened.
IV. Board
delayed action on the Site Plan Review amendment until the April 10, 2007
meeting.
V. Unfinished
Business
A. Jeff
Michaud 2 lot minor subdivision approved at the Feb. 13, 2007 meeting. Sec. Aslinger
reported
the Board approved the subdivision plan without obtaining the State Subdivision
Approval required on lots under 5 acres.
She said she notified Mr. Michaud on 2/14/07 who agreed to apply for the
approval and not to record the plan until approval had been granted. She spoke with him earlier today he is
waiting for the frost to melt before his engineer can perform the
Walpole Planning Board Minutes
3/17/07 page 2
test
pit. He said he was not planning to
build on the site this year, but would keep the Board informed as to the
outcome of the State Subdivision approval.
Comment: Mr. Hansel asked to make a comment, although it was
“out of order”. V-Ch. Miller did not
object. Mr. Hansel asked for the Board
during the Site Plan Review amendment process to review the “Statement of
Purpose” as outlined in the Site Plan Review regulations that expresses very
clearly what the Board’s powers are as a prelude to the Site Plan itself. He asked the minutes reflect his comment,
that the Board takes it into consideration during future deliberations on the
Site Plan amendment.
VI. New
Business: Preliminary Conceptual
Consultations
A. V-Ch. Miller
called for Mr. Fred Dill to make his
presentation of a Major 12 lot subdivision located on Hooper Rd. Map 8 Lot 15
in the Rural Agricultural and Residential A districts. Mr. Dill recused himself Ms. Aslinger was
designated as alternate for J. Miller.
Mr. Dill presented
preliminary map/plans for the Board to review.
The plans showed 12 new lots, with the existing farmhouse and pond shown
as a pre-existing lot. Lots 1-11 range
from 1.45 acres to 3.34 acres with Lot 12 as 13.59 acres. Lot 12 and 4 have
frontage on Wentworth Rd. Lot 11 and 10
are accessed by a ROW off Hooper Road but have the required frontage on Old
Keene Rd. The remaining lots are
accessed and have frontage on Hooper Rd.
Test pits have been dug on all lots.
It was noted south of Hooper Rd. is Rural Agricultural zoning district,
north is in the Residential A district. (Sec. note: 3/15 Mr. Dibernardo questions the zoning
designation, according to his GPS findings and zoning map, the entire area
appears to be only in the Res. A. zone, this information will be clarified
prior to submission of the completed application.) All lots conform to the zoning requirements
as shown, no new roads. Mr. Dill said he
hadn’t applied to the State for subdivision approval pending any problems the
Board may see on the preliminary plans.
He said it has been logged recently, he suggested members drive by to
get a better idea. Mr. DeCoste asked
about Lot 9 if the acreage of 1.47 included the ROW, it does. Mr. Dill explained the steep terrain on the
lots abutting Old Keene Rd. was a factor in designing the shared driveway/ROW
on lots 11 and 10 adding it was aesthetically more pleasing. Mr. Sawyer asked if Mr. Dill would consider
“like in the old days” putting in a Bandstand on Lot 12? He said the Boston Pops would come up on
Sundays so the Bellow’s could be entertained.
He pointed out where the old Bandstand had been in about lot 6 and
7. He said people used to come up on the
train. Mr. Dill questioned whether it
might have been across the street in the big house? Mr. Miller noted the frontage measurement was
missing from lot 4. Joe DiBernardo said
the plans were preliminary and missing some information, he said it is 200
ft. Mr. Miller said it was obvious the
number of lots were “maximized”. Mr.
Dill pointed out not so, the big lot with an added road would have allowed for
5 or 6 more lots. He added the lots of
more than 2 acres are larger than the Town’s requirement, saying he might have
been able to get an additional couple of lots by reducing the acreage
requirement. Mr. Miller noted Lot 12 has
the minimum 200 ft. of frontage thereby is not re-subdividable. Mr. Dill said Lot 12 could be expanded to 5
or 6 lots by putting in a new Town road.
He said he didn’t think the Town was accepting new roads nor was he
willing to go to that expense. He said
he thought Lot 12 was more desirable as a larger lot. Mr. Miller inquired about the old wagon
missing from the lot he enjoyed seeing it.
Mr. Dill said he thought it had been plowed into the woods it was
falling apart and there were a lot of bees in it. Mr. Miller said it was a pleasant view for
the area. Mr. Dill said when he
described the property to anyone he usually said where “the big dog was”. Mr. Miller asked about the existing farmhouse
lot and Lot 1, specifically the wetlands designation. Mr. Dill said two spots are wet on Lot 1,
also pointed out the stream on Lot 12.
Mr. Sawyer asked about a small piece of property belonging to Mr.
Jeffreys, Mr. Dill said he knew about it but is unsure of it’s status. Ms. Aslinger asked if the zoning designation
could be shown on the maps? It was
explained to members it followed Hooper Rd.
Ms. Aslinger pointed out the subdivision had the look of a higher
density development along the road with a large piece of land, Lot 12 in the
back. She asked Mr. Dill if Lot 12 would be designated a “park” for the new lot
owners. Mr. Dill said no, then it would
be called cluster development, not allowed in Walpole and cluster is a bad word
in Walpole. She said the plans did have
a “cluster” style design to it which was nice but minus the common open
space. He said he was for cluster
housing but thought is was a lost cause.
Mr. Sawyer agreed saying there could have been a lot more open space
incorporated into the design if it was allowed.
Ms. Aslinger asked if the large lot connected to any other conservation
land possibly creating a corridor? Mr.
Dill said he didn’t think it did. Mr.
Sawyer pointed out the Lazzaro property off Old Keene Rd. and also below Wilson
Rd. the Phsherrer property is in conservation.
Mr. Merklein asked Mr. Dill if
Walpole Planning Board Minutes
3/27/07 page 3
he would consider putting Lot
12 into a conservation area. Mr. Dill
said he has a problem with the conservation land in Walpole, being neglected,
never logged, no walking trails, he would rather not contribute to their land
practices. Mr. Merklein asked about
keeping it as open space. Mr. Sawyer
offered he had spoken with the Conservation Commission, they are willing to
have a forester go in and look over a property, he would suggest it as a
possibility. Mr. Dill said he was open
to suggestions, but not willing to put the land in the bank and have it
deteriorate. He said the Lazzaro
property couldn’t even be walked on he thought it was a waste to let it
go. Mr. Sawyer said Lazzaro had done
some recent logging. Mr. Merklein said
on his recent trip to an Alablaman tree farm,
management practices were amazing, when a tree was ready it was taken
down and another put in its place. Mr.
Dill said he knew of those types of farms and how you could see the tree rings
in the stump showing it’s age and growth patterns. Mr. Miller said he is concerned that the lot
layouts are similar to the lots towards Keene he wants to avoid the undesirable
look of that development. Mr. Sawyer
pointed out Wentworth and County Roads have similar layouts already. Mr. Dill said if you look at areas of Town
that have shared driveways, it improves the look and he has incorporated some
of that “clustering” in his design. He
said there is certainly fear about cluster housing; if you make it easier for
the builder he’ll build more, but he said, cluster housing is much more appealing
by incorporating a park area and placing the homes along a winding road. Mr. Merklein reminded the members of the
presentation OEP made regarding Village Overlay Subdivisions. Mr. Joe Dibernardo said he has done cluster
developments across the River, saying it is the best use of the land because
there is usually a percentage of the area reserved for open space and common
land. He said it is better to locate the
house sites by considering the terrain instead of frontage requirements. Mr. Dill said most people don’t want to
maintain 2 acres of land, with cluster development you can offer housing with
less land maintenance. He said Mr.
Jasse’s property lent itself to having the open land in the front with the
houses placed in the woods, this parcel doesn’t have that feature so is
somewhat limited. He said the large lot
isn’t situated where it would be convenient for the rest of the residents. Mr. Sawyer said some Towns offer a 50 foot
ROW off the frontage into a large lot in the back as an option to keep houses
from lining the streets. Ms. Aslinger
said also known as “pork chop” lots as opposed to “spaghetti lots”. She asked if the plans were complete, Mr.
Dill pointed out on the existing farmhouse lot, they moved the back line to
accommodate Lot 1’s wet area. (Sec. note:
The plans show a 12 lot subdivision and lot line adjustment on existing
lot and lot 1) He said they have not
spoken to the Town about the road, Mr. Sawyer said the Town upgraded Hooper
Road two years ago, put in culverts and resurfaced it. He would be submitting his application to the
Board for the April 10, 2007 meeting formal acceptance and Public Hearing will
be scheduled for the May meeting.
B. Dale
Woodward - Minor subdivision Hubbard Farms, Huntington Farm property - Mr. Toby Tousle
was present to discuss a 3 Lot subdivision on Map 12 Lot 54, the parcel being
voted on today which may or may not change the zone from Rural Ag. to
Industrial. He explained in order to
close on his deal, Hubbard wished to retain roughly 3 acres along the northwest
boundary to include 3 buildings as a new Lot 3, as well as retain their Lab on
the northeast corner in the Commercial Zone as new Lot 2, with the remainder of
the parcel being Lot 1. The access for
the lab and Lot 2 would be via the existing lane. He showed the area on an aerial
photo/map. No frontage if the zone
changes to Industrial is required for proposed Lot 3. He said eventually there would be some
changes to Huntington Lane to accommodate future industrial sites he’s had some
other inquiries. He pointed out the land
below the buildings approximately 10 acres would never be built on and is in
the flood plain and wellhead protection area.
V-Ch. Miller read a letter into the record from Mark Houghton,
Superintendent of the Water Department asking the Board to take into
consideration his comments on any proposals within the wellhead protection
area. The letter was dated 3/12/07 and
received by the Board 3/13/07 for tonight’s meeting. It also offered facts regarding the possible
re-zoning of the “Hubbard B Farm” and the potential for degradation of the
Town’s drinking water sources. It
mentioned the protective measures the Department with the Source Water
Protection Committee, and Land Use Boards have taken, such as adopting a
wellhead protection overlay district voted on by the Town as a zoning change in
2004 based on a 2003 report. Mr.
Houghton closed with this thought:
“Walpole is fortunate to have two aquifers to draw water from -- that’s
two more than many of our neighbors have.
Using a proactive approach to guide development on land over these
aquifers today will ensure an invaluable resource for tomorrow.”
Sec. Aslinger said she would
send him a copy of the minutes from tonight’s meeting and future agendas to
keep him informed. Mr. Dave DeCoste said
he felt strongly Mr. Houghton should be part of any review brought before the
Board involved with drinking water protection.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes March
13, 2007 page 4
Mr. Tousle reminded the Board
he had contacted Brackett Geo. Services, the same firm the Town uses, who wrote
a letter to the Board about the well-head protection zone. Mr. Tousle said they were prepared to install
monitoring systems or whatever means necessary to insure the wellheads were
protected and protect the aquafir. He
said he had spoken with Mr. Speed of the Conservation Commission. He said the proposal he was presenting
tonight is already an existing use so has no additional consequence. Mr. Hansel asked if they would be drilling
new wells, answer was the parcel would use Town water, not a private
system.
Mr. Dill asked if the zoning
change doesn’t pass, would that affect this proposal. Mr. Tousle answered if the change fails this
proposal would “go away” along with the sale of the property as it stands
today. He said they might negotiate
something different. Sec. Aslinger asked
when they would like to submit this 3 lot subdivision, she said the Board normally
takes applications at their meetings only, but if the Board would vote to
divert from that procedure, he could submit his application by March 26th for
the April 10, 2007 meeting. He said he
would like to have the proposal on for the April 10 meeting but he is not
prepared to submit the application at tonight’s meeting. A motion to allow the
applicant to submit their application to the Secretary prior to March 26th, to
be processed for the April 10, 2007 meeting was made and seconded. The motion carried. Mr. Tousle and/or Mr. Joe DiBernardo will
contact the Secretary later in the month.
C. Mr. Bob
Jasse - Joe DiBernardo presented maps
and application materials for a 3 Lot Subdivision located on Wentworth Rd. and
Graves Rd. Map 5 Lot 2-9 in the Rural
Agricultural District. Mr. DiBernardo
pointed out Lot 3 of 13.93 acres as non-developed, Lots 1 & 2 are buildable
but include conservation areas, no build zones, shown in hatch marks. Lot 1 is
13.75 acres, Lot 2, 11.01 acres. He
indicated a ROW from Wentworth Rd. across Lot 1 extending to Lot 3 and Lot
2. He noted that a cluster ordinance
would have enhanced this project. Mr.
Jasse explained the purpose of the subdivision was to create 2 more lots and
set aside the non-buildable lot. He
stated his intention is to provide for his family and to leave his options
open. He is doubtful a broad based tax
will be realized; he worries that a view tax will make it impossible to
continue with his operation. Ms.
Aslinger stated she had been assessed a view tax in Warner, NH raising her
taxes on her view property from 7000.00 to 12000.00 in one year. Mr. DeCoste objected to the complaint of a
view tax when the surrounding property has been sold for higher prices not
because of a view but because the land is valued higher. He agreed with Mr. Jasse about the need for a
broad based tax. Mr. Jasse made one
final point, he said when he bought the land he went to Cornell and UNH, they
suggested land with good air drainage.
He said the land had good air drainage and wasn’t thinking about the
view, in fact there were many trees on the property when he bought it. He said he planted 28,000 trees dug 4 acres
of ponds, put in a runway, we created a few good views, so he doesn’t think
this wound should be inflicted on him.
He said as an asset Alyson’s Apple Orchard has a definite time
limit. Mr. Fletcher noted if he owned a
piece of land and decided to cut trees down that opened up a view on an
abutting property, the abutter could be taxed for that view. Mr. Dill asked if the “not to be developed”
Lot 3 was being deeded that way, Mr. Jasse said no it is currently a
woodlot. All other lots shown on the
plans pre-exist. A motion to place the application on the April 10, 2007 meeting and
schedule the Public Hearing was made and seconded, motion carried. Fees are pending.
D. Sec. Aslinger said she receives calls throughout the
month from potential applicants and wished to keep the Board informed. By phone, Mr. Snow from Appledore Design in
Portsmouth asked about parking lot ratios and sizes in regard to a parcel
between the Ames building and Fall Mtn. Bldg. Supply which includes the Reel to
Reel Store. She answered back to him by e-mail stating parking lot sizes and
ratios are not specified in the Site Plan Regs, the Board relies on current
industry standards. She said to the
Board, the parcel is owned by Berkshire Development and may have some frontage
constraints as Meadow Lane bisects the parcel but cannot be used as
frontage. She thought they would need to
subdivide the land because Walpole only allows one building per lot. Mr. Dill thought the original developer had
an approved plan that showed two buildings on that property prior to Berkshire
and Randy Daniels, when the grocery store was built. He remembered seeing a map showing
pre-approved buildings on either side of Meadow Lane. Sec. Aslinger suggested because each part of
the Plaza has special ownership issues, the Board should review all the past
approvals and try to reconstruct who owns what.
Members agreed and asked to have the materials gathered for the next
work session so the Board would be dealing in facts on future development of
the area.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes March
13, 20007 page 5
Ms. Aslinger also received a
letter from Judith Barden of Barden Holdings, LLC or Keene, petitioning the
Board to approve a subdivision of Lot 42, Map 9 located on March Hill Rd with
the intention of selling the property to Dennis and Patricia Beaudoin abutters,
Map 9 Lots 53 and 54. Ms. Aslinger
replied in writing notifying her the Board did not approve subdivisions by
petition, explained the application process but has not heard back from
her. Mr. Fletcher noted he saw a
transfer of property in that location in the Keene Sentinel a couple a weeks
ago that may be related. Sec. Aslinger
hoped property wasn’t being transferred without subdivision.
VII.
Communications and
Miscellaneous
A. Work Session Agenda 3/27/07 - Ben Daviss said the work session generated a good
group of people interested in the Master Plan update and in deference to their
input rather than reviewing the Goal and Objectives sections, Mel Schupack was
gathering ideas for an introductory vision statement to Master Plan and Land
Use section identifying the values of the Town.
Mr. Schupack will have a draft presentation of those ideas for the March
work session. Mr. Daviss said in order
to move the update process ahead he has contacted Teresa Kissell in the Town
Office about expanding the Town’s website to include the update by way of
message boards, draft documents, meeting notices, minutes so it can speed up
and include more people in the process.
He asked if the Board would authorize her to do this. Ms. Aslinger noted the Board of Selectmen
would need to give her permission to add the extra work into her schedule. Ms. Kissell stated she is pressed for time
but would be able to incorporate additional information as time allows. Ms. Aslinger said Ms. Kissell had very kindly
added a special section for the Master Plan ahead of this request and was
willing to make the site more user friendly for the Town. Ms. Aslinger thought it was a good use of the
site and thought it would be good to have townspeople get used to using the
site not only for the Master Plan but for minutes and agendas of meetings. Mr. Dill asked if Ms. Kissell’s additional
time would be taken out of the Planning Board budget. Mr. Sawyer said Teresa would allocate her
time to the Planning Board. Mr. Daviss
said he hoped to find a volunteer to take over some of the duties as well. A
motion to make a request of the Board of Selectmen to authorize Teresa Kissell
to expand the Town website to include the Master Plan update was made,
seconded, motion carried.
B. Review agenda items for 4/10/07, as
mentioned above.
C. SWRPC - Sec. Aslinger stated Ch. J. Miller was questioning when their estimate
might be complete. Mr. Daviss said he
would contact them again. Mr. Dill asked
about using SWRPC on questions like the Tom Hanna letter, who pays for it. Answer:
Under the Town’s membership we are allowed some free information and
there is free legal assistance available at the NH Local Govt. Center as a
member of the Municipal Association. Ms.
Aslinger said while the advice is free, the lawyer on call stated we should
back up their opinion with Town Counsel however it is helpful to have initial
information to use to ask an intelligent question of Town Counsel.
D.
Other - Ms. Aslinger mentioned
her “notes” that she and Ch. Miller did meet with the
Selectmen in regard to when
they decide to include the land use boards in reviewing Town projects. She said the Selectmen were very helpful and
informative and basically agreed the land use boards should be included in Town
project reviews and have been in the past.
She said Ch. Miller stated if the Bandstand passes it may or may not be
reviewed based on what it costs under the Site Plan Review. She said rather than going into further
details at this time it is best to wait until after Town Meeting, members
agreed.
D. Other - Mr. Sawyer said for everyone’s
information at the Saturday Town meeting, the first article will be on the
Ballam Farm bond issue, it will be passed over until May 5th so they can hold
the bond hearing that wasn’t properly held.
He said the article at the May 5th meeting would be a vote by ballot.
VIII.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00pm
Next regular meeting will be held 4/10/07. A work session will be held 3/27/07 in the
basement office at 7:00pm.
cc: PB, ZBA, MP, WCC, BOS, M. Houghton, Supt.
Water
posted: by 3/19/07 Town Hall, Lobby, Burdick’s
Market