Town of Walpole
Walpole, NH 03608
PLANNING BOARD MEETING
August 8, 2006 7:30PM Town Hall
MINUTES
Members Present: Jeff Miller, Ch., Bob Miller, V-Ch., Eric Merklein,
Dave DeCoste, Ben Daviss, Henry Fletcher
Absent: Sheldon Sawyer, Ray Boas, alt., Fred Dill, alt.,
Dave Edkins, alt.
Recording: Pamela Aslinger, Alt., Secretary
These minutes
are unapproved and will be reviewed at the Sept. 12, 2006 meeting for errors,
omissions and corrections.
I. Meeting opened at 7:35pm.
The Board passed over approval of the July 11, 2006 minutes because
copies were not distributed for review.
The minutes will be reviewed at the Sept. 12, 2006 meeting.
II. Public Hearing for
Adoption of the Capital Improvements Program
- Ch. Miller asked if the Board felt
more comfortable requesting a Rep. from SW
Reg.
Planning Commission come in to go over the Capital Improvements Program in more
specific detail before continuing with the Public Hearing and adoption.
- Ms. Aslinger stated she thought further
delay or discussion was not necessary, the document was self-explanatory based
on facts gathered by Town departments and prepared with the expertise of the
Planning Commission. She said it had
been ready for adoption since 9/2005 and it was time to move forward on it. She
said once it was adopted the Board could begin to impose impact fees on
developers based on the information contained in the document, without the
adoption the Board is restricted on types of fees it can impose.
- It was noted that the
document contains a provision by which the Planning Board must review the CIP
annually and update the information.
Ch. Miller closed the
regular meeting and opened the Public Hearing.
(Note: one citizen was present in
the audience)
- Ch. Miller called for questions and
comments.
- Mr. Merklein said he understood from
a conference he attended, imposing impact fees on developers based on the CIP
was very precise and contained very specific criteria. He asked if the Town of Walpole, like several
other Towns in NH, were to float a bond in order to purchase prime land areas
in Town, could the CIP be used to impose fees to help the Town pay off the
bond?
- Ch. Miller and others agreed, the CIP
identifies Town services only. Fees
would be related to services that are impacted by a larger scale development.
Hearing no further comments
Ch. Miller closed the Public Hearing and reopened the regular meeting.
- Ch. Miller called for a vote to adopt
the Capital Improvements Program as prepared by the South West Regional
Planning Commission.
- Mr. DeCoste so moved,
seconded by Mr. Merklein, motion passed unanimously in favor.
III. New Business - Preliminary Discusssion
A. Virginia Foote of Wm.
Lawrence Associates representing George Fitzpatrick and Meadowsend Timberlands
regarding a Lot Line Adjustment located on the Walpole, Surry and Alstead Town
lines, involving a 2 acre parcel to be annexed to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s parcel in
Alstead. The purpose is for Mr.
Fitzpatrick to own the 2 acre ledgetop for recreational uses and views. The 2 acre piece would be taken from a 137
acre track of land owned by Meadowsend Timberlands located near Barnett Hill
Map 6 Lot 21 in Walpole. The 2 acres
would then be added to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s lot located at Map 67 Lot 10A in
Alstead by removal of the Alstead Town Line, actually taking the land from
Walpole and adding it to
Alstead.
Walpole
Planning Board Minutes 8/8/06 page 2
- The Board concurred that a
simple lot line adjustment would not be appropriate since the line being moved
is a Town Boundary. The Board agreed
that a separate lot of record for the 2 acre parcel would need to be created
thereby maintaining the Town Boundary.
- Mr. Fletcher noted that in order to
create the lot, a subdivision would be required however the new lot would not
meet the 200 feet road frontage requirement for subdivision in the Timberland
District. He said he would support a
change to the ordinance allowing subdivisions on back lands to be allowed
without road frontage and thought it was needed in the Town.
- Mr. Bob Miller asked if the transaction
could be handled through a deed conveyance.
- Members determined the
proposal would require a minor subdivision with wording added to the 2 acre lot
stating it is “unbuildable or non-buildable”.
The Board agreed that a variance would be needed to waive the 200 ft.
road frontage requirement before a subdivision could be applied for and
directed Ms. Foote to contact Myra Mansouri, Vice Chairman of the Zoning Board
for scheduling. Sec. Aslinger will forward a
copy of these minutes to Ms. Mansouri.
VI. Other Business
Miscellaneous
- Ch. Miller stated
he was concerned over the situation on Rte. 12 next to the Veterinarian
Clinic. He said it appeared to be a
commercial operation in an agricultural zone.
He said he thought a recommendation was in order, to have the owner seek
a special exception to operate. At one
point there were 12 vehicles and equipment being marketed for sale, he thought
it was inappropriate to allow it to continue.
- Mr. Fletcher said
- Mr. Merklein said the issue had been
raised at the last Zoning Board meeting, the ZBA was giving the owner an
unspecified time allowance to sell the personal items, the ZBA and Board of
Selectmen were waiting to see what resulted.
- Mr. Miller said a time limit should be
set and did not see a difference from selling personal goods versus Pinnacle
View who owns their inventory and markets it for sale. He said he realized it was not a Planning
Board decision but thought the Board should be able to comment, was it a
storage area or a junkyard?
- Mr. Daviss asked if the Town had any
firm line on storage, junkyard designations.
The answer was no, the Selectmen have jurisdiction over complaints.
A. Review of August 22, 2006 work session
item. Mr. Merklein said Ms. Carolyn Russell of
the Office of Energy and Planning will be attending the meeting beginning at 7:00 PM (not the usual 7:30PM). Mr. Merklein had previously attended a
seminar she prepared discussing conservation housing. She will be driving throughout the Town prior
to the meeting and has the Ordinances to refer to, to get a feel for the Town. Her presentation will be approximately 2
hours and will address creative alternatives to standard housing development
design. Mr. Merklein noted the increase
in building permits and the growing availability of larger tracts of land due
to Hubbard’s downsizing. The Town should
consider preservation of open space by way of creating “conservation corridors”
within future developments.
- Ch. Miller stated he has not been a big
supporter of cluster type housing design that it leads to higher density, he
prefers to see higher value single lot development with a possibility of
increasing lot sizes to discourage density, although an attempt to increase lot
sizes in the past failed to gain the support of the voters.
- Mr. Fletcher said he would like to see
fewer restrictions on the back lands, to encourage people to build well off the
roads, thereby reducing the appearance of high density development. He said he would not like to see large landowners
restricted.
- Mr. Aslinger said she thought the
timeliness of the presentation was important, it would give the Board some good
ideas to incorporate with the update of the Master Plan and regulations.
- Mr. Merklein said he had asked Ms.
Russell at the conference, on behalf of Ch. Miller’s concern, whether these new
concepts would stimulate unwanted growth.
She said it could, but to start
planning ahead of future growth rather than wait until it actually happens
without alternatives in place.
Walpole
Planning Board Meeting 8/8/06 Minutes page 3
Other - The Board discussed some
areas in Town such as the Potato Barn, former Whitcomb property along Rte. 12,
Hubbard holdings, and North Meadow Plaza, regarding future development. It was noted that the Potato Barn has a new
owner interested in repairing the building.
The Whitcomb/Hodgkin’s property on Rte. 12 appears to have an access on
Rte. 12 but it is thought that it is only a logging access. Some members had heard it was being
subdivided into 3 lots with a potential access off River Rd. A mention made of Berkshire returning to the
Board in October or November with new plans and the likelihood of a new Shaw’s
supermarket.
- Mr. Merklein asked if any of the Town
maps had been located, Sec. Aslinger said she had been through the material in
the basement and did not locate the maps.
Ch. Miller asked Mr. Merklein to contact the Planning Commission to provide
maps for us.
- Mr. Merklein asked about a provision
regarding attendance by members. He said
he wondered if it would be appropriate to remove members that miss more than
four meetings. Ch. Miller said since the Board was elected members could not be
removed, as for alternates, since they were alternates and the Board has four
it doesn’t seem to be necessary to require them to be present at every
meeting. Ms. Aslinger said the Board in Warner had added a policy to their
internal rules to provide for attendance.
It stated that any member missing more than four meetings consecutively
would be removed. She said it became
necessary when attendance had become an issue, it was designed to provide continuity,
and a way to encourage participation. Ch. Miller suggested the Board review
the membership annually and discuss if alternates are still interested in
serving.
C.
Discuss Revisions
- Mr. Daviss asked Ch. Miller if there is
any set procedure on how to update the Master Plan. Ch.
Miller said when the Master Plan was first proposed the Board held work
sessions that were poorly attended, to the point Ch. Miller dropped the
project. He said when his Dad, (Chick
Miller) had become Selectmen, his Dad re-initiated the project with an ad-hoc
group of citizens, and they are the ones who are responsible for the original
document. Ch. Miller said as far as updating the Plan it is very simply done,
involving some marginal costs of updating data, provided by SW Reg. Planning
Commission. He said the Board should
decide what sections to update, submit a request to SW Reg. Planning Commission
and budget for it in 2007.
- Sec. Aslinger asked if the lawsuits
pending had been finalized, Ch. Miller said to contact Selectman Miller for
input. She said a check for the MW Soils
engineering study had been received from Berkshire, she will see if MW’s bill
has been paid.
- Mr. DeCoste moved to
adjourn. Seconded, meeting adjourned at
8:30pm.
Cc: All Members, M. Mansouri, ZBA, Selectmen’s
Office, Town Clerk
Posted: Town Hall, Lobby, Burdick’s,
thewalpolean.com, Town website.