ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of the March 18, 2004 meeting
Members present:
Bob Bethel Spencer Garrett Mike Oldershaw Members absent:
Fred Anderson Scott Burnside DanValley Ed Rowehl
Public attendees:
Bob Edwards
Mr. Oldershaw served as Chairman pro tem in the absence of Chairman Rowehl and Vice Chairman Burnside. He opened the meeting by appointing alternate member Mr. Vasques to sit for Mr. Valley who was absent. The first order of business was to approve the minutes of the March 4, 2004 meeting. There were some minor corrections but the members disagreed with a correction requested by Mr. Burnside on a question regarding the slopes on the proposed Knapton subdivision on Pierce Lake Road. Mr. Bethel moved to table the approval of the minutes until Mr. Burnside was present. The motion was seconded by Mr. Garrett and passed.
Mr. Oldershaw introduced Mr. Robert Edwards, President of Granite Bank, who had expressed an interest in serving as an alternate member on the Board. Mr. Oldershaw indicated that Mr. Edwards had served on a number of other boards and committees in the years he had lived in Antrim. Mr. Edwards felt that he would like to serve on the Board because of the increased activity in the growth of Antrim and he would like to play a role in the development of the town. Mr. Garrett made a motion that the selectmen be requested to appoint Mr. Edwards as an alternate member of the Board. Mr. Vasques seconded the motion, which was passed.
The secretary presented a letter from Sonja McKinlay regarding the status of the property designated as Map 8B, lot 39. It is her contention that the site is not an active excavation site and has not been for some time. The members discussed whether or not the file should be closed on this property as far as classifying it as an excavation site or should the site be inspected to see if it had been properly reclaimed before making such a decision. Mr. Vasques felt that one member of the Board could visit the site and report back to the Board as to whether or not the site had been reclaimed or recommend a site review by all Board members. Mr. Oldershaw felt that all the members should do the initial inspection. It was decided that in view of the number of absent members, the matter should be carried over for discussion
to the next Board meeting to determine a course of action.
The secretary pointed out that the notification sent to Mr. Lamoureux for property designated as Map 2, lot 62 was returned as undeliverable because the forwarding address had expired. Research indicated the property had bee sold to Richard Carlson. No one on the Board was familiar with the property and if it was or had been an excavation site. The question before the Board was whether or not to inspect the site and how to do so. It was concluded to handle this site in the same manner as the Mckinlay site and present it to the Board at their next meeting.
The members reviewed a list of information that would be required from excavation site operators to regulate the sites in accordance with RSA 155:E. It was decided to use this list as a guide but be prepared to modify it as the Board gained experience in regulating excavation sites. They also reviewed a list of all existing and previously existing sites to be used as a guide towards bringing all sites into compliance.
The secretary presented the members with the draft of a new earth removal ordinance to replace the ordinance adopted by the Planning Board on October 15, 1992. The draft was based on a review of the existing Antrim ordinance, an ordinance for earth removal adopted by the Town of Farmington, a draft of a similar ordinance developed by Mr. Beblowski, a former Board member and the Handbook on Earth Excavations prepared by the Southwest Regional Planning Commission. The members were asked to review the document for discussion at the April 1, 2004 meeting. In the meantime the secretary will ask Ms. Mary Pinkham-Langer of the NH Dept. of Revenue Services to review the document to see if it satisfies the requirements of RSA 155:E.
A letter from the NH Attorney General’s office was presented which ruled that septic system designers are not permitted to delineate wetlands for subdivision purposes and local board approvals. The secretary was instructed to send a copy of the letter to Town counsel to get his opinion.
Information was distributed regarding the voting results of zoning ordinances in the Towns of Antrim, Henniker and Hillsborough and notification of a public hearing in the Town of Mt. Vernon for an AT&T Wireless PCS.
The secretary indicated that more information would be available on the Capital Improvement Plan by the next meeting. He suggested that he meet with the various department heads to get their inputs and present the information to the Board. If the Board was not satisfied with the report they could ask the department heads to appear. Mr. Oldershaw felt that a better course of action would be to have the department heads appear before the Board.
The secretary presented a proposed addition to the definitions in the ordinance for a “change of use”. After some discussion, the secretary was instructed to research the matter in light of RSA’s 674:16 and 674:19 and report back. The secretary reported that as yet he had not heard from Town counsel regarding the prevailing restrictive clause in the ordinance, which controls where cluster housing may be situated.
Mr. Bethel asked about the status of road maps which are to be provided to Emergency Management and the status of the installation of the generator system. Mr. Oldershaw will look into these matters. Following some discussion of the inconsistency in the determination of lakefront frontage, the secretary will revise the Shoreland Protection District ordinance to conform to the requirements for shore frontage in the Lakefront Residential District. The secretary was also asked to clarify the definitions for “basement” and “stories” and to develop an ordinance to control the proliferation of storage trailers. He was also instructed to ask the building inspector if the apartments in the old Seven Falcons building should be sprinkled since they are in what is considered to be a commercial building.
Mr. Bethel moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Garrett seconded the motion, which was passed. Mr. Oldershaw adjourned the meeting at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul L. Vasques, Secretary
Antrim Planning Board
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