ZONING
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
Walpole, NH 03608
Minutes-----18 July 2007
PRESENT: M. Mansouri, Ch.,
L. Carignan, L. Weber , Bill Webb,
Dave Calhoun
ABSENT: J. Galloway-Leclerc , Larry Britton, Mary Therese Lester
Note: These minutes are unapproved and will be
reviewed on 15 August 2007 for errors, omissions and corrections.
The meeting was called to order at 7:35pm. Bill Webb and Dave Calhoun were designated
as voting members.
PUBLIC HEARING #1: No Public Hearing were
scheduled.
NEW BUSINESS: Red Smith, for Walpole Foundation, 11 Westminster Street. The Walpole Foundation wants to install a clock on the grass strip
outside the Walpole Savings Bank. The
Town of Walpole
owns the property. The clock is a
Newburg model with two faces. It stands
11 feet six inches high and weighs 150 pounds.
It will be illuminated at night.
The Walpole Foundation will pay for the illumination and upkeep. The words “Town of Walpole” will appear on the top of the
clock. The Selectmen have unanimously
approved the installation of the clock, and Ms. Mansouri read a letter from
them to that effect. The question asked
was whether the lettering on the top of the clock made it a sign for the
purposes of compliance with the sign ordinance.
Mr. Carignan said he did not think the clock fell within the sign
ordinance. Ms. Weber moved that the
clock be deemed to be a clock, and not a sign within the intent of the
ordinance. Mr. Webb seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Britton arrived at this point.
Bonnie Dockham, 183 Upper Walpole Road. The Dockhams would like to put a roof over
and existing deck on their house. The
deck is 8 feet wide by 18 ½ feet long and fits into an angle of the house. The deck does not extend any closer to the
road than the existing wall of the house, and the roof will only overhang the
deck by an inch or two. The edge of the
house and the deck are 36 feet from the edge of the road. The question was whether a variance was
needed for the roof. Mr. Webb noted that
the roof did not change the footprint of the building. Ms. Weber said the deck was enclosed by two
wings of the existing building. Mr. Webb
moved, seconded by Mr. Carignan, that since the
footprint of the building was not increased, the project only needs a building
permit. The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Dockham stated
that they had tabled the notion of building a garage, discussed at last month’s
meeting, until further notice. He asked
about the time limits on the building permit.
Ms. Mansouri said that the permit was good for one year, and that it
could be renewed.
Dr. Pena, 455 March Hill Road. Dr. Pena wanted to know what he would have to do in order to move his
chiropractic practice to his home on March
Hill Road, in the Rural Agricultural District, at
some point in the future. Ms. Weber said
that the provisions allowing home businesses in the Residential Districts are not
listed as permitted uses in the Rural Agricultural District. This issue has been brought to the attention
of the Planning Board, which declined to address it last year. She read the
standards for a Special Exception in the Rural Agricultural District, which
would have to go to the Planning Board for a recommendation and then to the
Zoning Board for a decision. Mr. Sheldon
Sawyer stated that the Zoning Board and Planning Board had held joint sessions
about Special Exceptions in the past.
Mr. Webb said joint sessions had been a problem, and had been given up
at Planning Board insistence. Mr.
Calhoun suggested that Dr. Pena might want to explain his plans to his abutters
before starting the process. Ms.
Mansouri said she would attend the Planning Board meeting next month and bring
up the issue of changing the Zoning Ordinance and including home business as
permitted uses in the Rural Agricultural District again. Mr. Britton said we should all go to the
Planning Board Meeting. Mr. Webb said we
must continually bring the problem to their attention. Mr. Carignan said the issue comes up more and
more frequently. Ms. Weber explained the time frames for the Special Exception
process to Dr. Pena. No action was taken
at this time.
Greg Taylor, 455 March Hill Road. A building on Mr. Taylor’s property used to be Edwards
Slaughterhouse. In 1990, Mr. Reyners had a special exception for a bakery there. Mr. Taylor purchased the property in
1999. Mr. Taylor wanted an informal
consultation as to what he or a potential buyer could do with the property if
they wanted to do something different.
Mr. Webb said that we need to know what kind of business is
proposed. The ordinance lists the
permitted uses. Anything else would need
a Special Exception. Too much time has
elapsed to be able to go back to the bakery operation. Ms. Weber said that the
board would need to hear specifics on any proposed use requiring a Special
Exception.
Mr. Taylor asked the Board’s interpretation
of the subsection about the unavailability of industrial, commercial or other
buildings for the proposed use. Ms.
Mansouri said we can’t give a categoric answer as to
specifics. All specific uses must come
before the Board. She suggested that a
purchase and sale contract could be made conditional on the Board approving the
buyer’s proposed use. Ms. Weber
explained that the ZBA is not a policy setting Board. That is done by the Planning Board. The Zoning Board may only hear matters on a
case-by case basis. The Board’s decision
applies only to the facts of the individual case, and does not set a precedent
for the next application. Mr. Sawyer
said that the Planning Board takes note of these criteria in making their
recommendation to the Zoning Board. Mr. Webb noted that it was the Planning
Board that added this section to the ordinance.
Mr. Taylor asked if the abutters of the
property express one opinion before the Board, and others in town have another
opinion, which is given more weight? Ms.
Mansouri said that the Board listens to all persons from the town. Mr. Carignan said that the standards for the
decision are contained in the document.
Ms. Weber said while we listen to everyone, the Board can only follow
the standards set out in the ordinance.
Mr. Webb said we do not give more weight to any person. No action was taken at this time.
Dick Frazer, of One Source Properties and
Permitting, LLC, for Frank W. Whitcomb
Construction Corp., Old Drewsville Road, Map 15 Lot
35. Mr. Frazer presented an application to the ZBA for a new gravel
extraction operation to be conducted on the property on Old Drewsville Road,
as follows. There is no building on the
property so it has no E911 address. Mr.
Frazer stated a copy of the application had been sent to the Conservation with
a letter to Gary Speed. The letter sent
to Mr. Speed was dated June rather than July 5th which was the
actual date it was sent. The application
addresses all the material required in the gravel extraction checklist, and is
signed by Frank Whitcomb. All local,
state and federal requirements have been met.
The proposed operation is not large enough to need a DES terrain
alteration permit. Federal storm water discharge
permits are not needed as all storm water will be contained on site. Therefore, the only permit needed is from the
ZBA. Mr. Frazer outlined the contents of
the application packet and the site plans, and went down through the checklist
and explained in detail where in the application packet or site plan each
checklist item was addressed. These are
summarized as follows. The project
involves a 1.97+/- acre site on the 229 acre parcel of land. The excavated material will be used on FWW
construction sites, in particular, to reconstruct roads in Alstead. No wells are located within 200 feet of the
proposed excavation. The contour lines
of the site plan are at 2 foot intervals as there is no great change in
elevation on the site. Jonathan Seaver of Beaver Tracks LLC was hired to delineate wetlands
on the property. It is wet out to the
other side of the cornfield to the south about 1000 feet from the excavation
site. The excavation will use already
established interior 16 foot wide gravel roads.
A berm will be constructed to match the
existing berm on the property. It will have a very gentle 3:1 slope. The impacted area will be less than 1.4
acres. The ground water table has been
found to be six feet below existing grade.
The 6 to 8 foot berm which will be constructed
to match the existing berm will provide good
screening. The issue of erosion control
has been addressed throughout the booklet and plans, as have the handling of
fuel and equipment and stump management.
Ms. Mansouri asked about where other structures are located in relation
to the project. Except for property of
Frank W. Whitcomb Construction, which is 42 feet from the proposed site, other
abutters are listed in the application as being 372 feet, 2250 feet, 1990 feet
and 1215 feet from the project, respectively.
The reclamation plan calls for the
development of a small pond. The average
depth of the whole excavation is eleven plus feet. All excavated material will be used for FWW
projects. They have a project scheduled
in Alstead for August. Plans are for
reseeding using the prescription use by everyone in the industry in accordance
with the publication Vegetating NH Sand and Gravel pits. A total of 20,000 cubic yards will be
excavated.
There will be no diminution of surrounding
property values or the character of the neighborhood. Best Management Practices are part of the
application. There will be no
deterioration of the highway as this will not be a site for third party
sales. The excavation will be at least
50 feet from Old Drewsville Road. Storm water and silt will go into the
pond. Distanceds
from existing bodies of water are not an issue.
Mr. Britton asked about the presence of prime wetland. The pond will not be created from an
established wetland. Most of the
material stripped from the site will go into the berm
and will be seeded and stabilized ASAP.
Sheet 2 shows those trees which will be removed.
Ms. Mansouri said that she would like to send
the application to Southwest Regional for their review and comment. The cost is $45 an hour, to be paid by the
applicant. There is a 3 to 4 day
turnaround for the review. Mr. Britton
said the plan was pretty well laid out.
Mr. Calhoun said that it might be beneficial to address any concerns
sooner rather than later. It was moved and seconded that we send the
application to Southwest Regional for review.
The motion was unanimously approved.
It was moved and seconded that the matter be set for hearing at the
August meeting. The motion was
unanimously approved.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Preparation of Minutes. A discussion was held about the time within which the minutes must be
prepared and posted. It was thought that
out bylaws require the Minutes to be posted within 72 hours. The 72 hour requirement is difficult, as it
translates into three calendar days, one of which is a Saturday. This has always been the standard for the
Walpole ZBA. It was thought that the
Planning Board has 96 hours before the Minutes must be posted. A quick review of the ZBA Bylays
found no mention of the 72 hour requirement.
Currently, State statute requires that minutes be posted within 144
hours, which is six calendar days. The
Legislature passed legislation this session, effective July 31st,
2007, to change this requirement to five business days. Ms. Weber will do more research to see if she
can find the source of the 72 hour requirement.
Local Government Center Q & A on The Role of Alternate Board Members. Ms. Mansouri passed out copies of a piece outlining the roles of
alternate Board members. She said it
takes the position that alternates should not participate in any way unless
they have been appointed as voting members.
Our ZBA has always functioned with the alternates asking questions and
participating in discussion, but taking no part in actual voting unless they
have been appointed voting members. This
has been done because it was thought to be useful to have the benefit of
counsel and long-term institutional memory from one of our alternates, and for
alternates new to the Board, it provides a useful
opportunity for training in how the Board works. The Board members will review the article for
further discussion at our next meeting.
DRA Mini Course on Gravel Pits and Taxation
of Earth Extraction Operations. Information was passed out on
this seminar which will be offered on October 9th from 9 to noon in Walpole. The cost is $10 per person which will be paid
by the town. All Board members and
alternates are urged to attend.
Minutes of July 20, 2007 Meeting. It was moved, seconded , and unanimously
approved that the minutes of the last meeting be approved with the notation of
a minor typographical error.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 PM. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday,
15 August, 2007 at 7:30 PM.
Respectfully
submitted,
Lucy Weber,
Secretary.
Cc: ZBA, PB, BOS, Town Clerk
Posted: Town Hall, Lobby, Burdick’s Market