ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD MEETING
November 20, 2008 Meeting
Members & Staff Present: Diane Chauncey (Staff), Scott Burnside (Member),
Bradley Houseworth (Staff), Andrew Robblee (Chair), Steve Schacht (ExOfficio),
Sandy Snow (Member), Kathi Wasserloos (Member), CR Willeke (Alternate)
Member & Staff Absent: Joe Koziell (Member), Missy Taylor (Member)
Public Attendees: Tom Davis (citizen), Matt Henry (intern, UNH Manchester)
Public Meeting: Chair Robblee convened the public meeting at 7: 13 PM, and appointed Mr. Willeke to sit for the absent Ms. Taylor.
Approval of Planning Board Meeting Minutes: Mr. Burnside moved to approve the minutes of the November 6, 2008 Board meeting as corrected. Mr. Schacht seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved by the Board.
Public Hearings: NONE
Voluntary Lot Merger Request – Dunlap’s properties on Goodell Road, Map 232, lots 14 & 14-1: Mr. Houseworth explained the Dunlaps’ voluntary lot merger request (RSA 674:39-a) to merge two (2) lots at 16 Goodell Road, Antrim, NH 03440 in the Residential District, commonly owned by John Dunlap and Cynthia Roberts. The merged lots will include a single family home, a garage and the recently acquired triangle of land from the former 'Reilly' property (Map 232 Lot 13). Lot 14-1 is not a buildable lot and therefore it made sense to merge the two lots into one lot. Once the paperwork is signed by Chair Robblee, the lot will forever be one lot and can not be re-subdivided again. There was a short discussion on the previous Reilly/Dunlap lot line adjustment and annexation (File #2008-03PB) and the
position of the garage on Lot 14-1.
Mr. Burnside motioned to approve the application of John D. Dunlap & Cynthia L. Roberts, File #2008-07PB, for a voluntary lot line merger of properties at 16 Goodell Road (Tax Map 232, Lots 14 and 14-1), Antrim NH 03440 in the Residential District. It was seconded by Mr. Willeke.
A roll call vote of the Board members was as follows: Mr. Willeke, aye; Chair Robblee, aye: Mr. Burnside, aye; Mrs. Wasserloos, aye; Mr. Snow, aye; and, Mr. Schacht, aye. The Voluntary Lot Merger was approved unanimously. Chair Robblee signed the ‘Notice of Lot Merger’ form and Mr. Houseworth stated that the staff will register the merger with the Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds in Nashua, NH.
Tom Davis – Discuss the Re-zoning of Rt. 9 with the Planning Board:~Mr. Davis had been reading the minutes of the 10/16/08 Planning Board meeting and was interested in the Planning Board's review of the Master Plan, specifically the review of the chapter discussing Economic Development. ~Mr. Davis asked Mr. Willeke to clarify the 10/16/08 ~meeting minutes about Route 9 with respect to commercial development. ~The 10/16/08 meeting minutes stated:~" The rezoning of Route 9 was discussed. According to Mr. Willeke, the NH Department of Transportation (DOT) views Route 9 as a major east/west corridor. In
his opinion, Route 202 would be better suited for commercial development because of traffic patterns, the number of existing and approved curb cuts, and the terrain." ~ ~To clarify the 10/16/08 comment, Mr. Willeke indicated to Mr. Davis that the Board was discussing, relative to the wording in the master plan, what types of actions the town could do to promote sensible commercial development and what areas would be appropriate for commercial development. ~He indicated that he was comparing the NH 9 commercial zone with the US 202 commercial zone. Mr. Willeke indicated that he believes US 202 is a more logical area for commercial development from a highway transportation perspective compared to NH 9 due to the roadway geometry, the roadway width, the topography, and the need to preserve the capacity of NH 9 as a regional corridor. He referenced the town of Hillsborough as an example. ~Hillsborough has existing development and future development planned near US 202 rather than
NH 9.~Mr. Davis wanted to know if there were any contemplated changes for the ‘Highway Business District’ along either side of Route 9 for the 2009 Town Meeting. There was some discussion of rezoning Route 9. These are some of the points discussed:
· Definite need for more commercial lots along Rt. 9 and Rt. 202
· The work conducted by the Planning Board’s ‘Rt. 9/ Preferred Development Districts Subcommittee’ over the last two years regarding potentially rezoning the Route 9 ‘Highway Business District’ had been discussed but no conclusions came of the meetings
· With a large tract of land, curb cuts should be less restrictive
· Parallel roads, as encouraged by the Southwest Region Planning Commission's ‘Access Management’ program, should be encouraged to be developed along Rt. 202 and Rt. 9 as new commercial operations move in.
· Commercial development on Route 202 would likely increase traffic in the downtown area of Antrim, specifically the Rt. 31 and Rt. 202 intersection area.
· A limited amount of buildable land is available on both Route 9 and Route 202 due to the natural topography and surface water present.
At this point, Mr. Davis thanked the Board for their time and reiterated that he would like to be involved in future discussions of the Rezoning of the ‘Highway Business District’ along Route 9. After Mr. Davis’ departure, the Board continued to discuss commercial development in Antrim. Some points:
· The Planning Board should look at the whole picture of the Town of Antrim when deciding how to restructure/ rezone the commercial zoning districts in Town: ‘Highway Business District’ and the ‘Village Business District’.
· When planning commercial development, the Planning Board should encourage the use of "Smart Growth " principals.
· Presently, there is no ideal place for light industrial businesses on Rt. 9 or Rt. 202.
· Industrial land with versatility is needed
· The tax rate would improve if there were a greater tax base
· Comparisons were made to warehouse availabilities in Rindge and Greenfield. These commercial rentals had storage, garage space, electricity, heat, bathrooms, office potential, parking, etc.
· Possibly Antrim should consider buying a piece of land for commercial development
· The necessity for a 'mixed use' definition and permitted use in the Zoning Ordinance is clear.
The Board felt that Mr. Davis had evoked an excellent discussion of future commercial growth and the obvious need for commercial development in the Town of Antrim.
In’Ex Homes, LLC – Payment of outstanding charges for Peer Review Services: In'Ex Homes, LLC continues to owe a payment of $2,117.59 to Underwood Engineering, Inc. for completed peer reviews regarding the proposed stream crossing for a new road in the conditionally approved major subdivision off Pleasant Street (Tax Map 245, Lot 17). In addition, Mr. Marotte (In’Ex Homes, LLC developer and applicant) has informed the Planning Department staff that he would like to amend condition #16 of the June 4, 2008 Notice of Decision – Conditional Approval. The #16 condition of approval states "Pending submittal, review, and approval of a roadway performance guarantee in a form acceptable to the Town Engineer, Planning Board, and Town Counsel in the amount of $358,045.00 (See Town Engineer's 9th Review 5-29-08)." After a lengthy discussion concerning the complexities of the major subdivision, the Board decided that Mr. Houseworth (Town Planner) should draft a letter to Mr. Marotte stating the
options for the possible amendment. Mr. Houseworth stated that he believes a public hearing is required because this matter involves the Board using ‘discretionary judgment’ regarding the potential revision of a condition of approval (a Public Hearing would need notices to abutters, newspaper announcement, staff time, etc. - all of which involves cost to the applicant). The draft letter will be prepared for the December 4, 2008 Planning Board meeting.
2009 Town Meeting – Important Dates for Zoning Ordinance Enactments and Amendments: Mr. Houseworth proposed the following schedule:
· Proposed 1st PB Public Hearing for ZO Changes: 1/8/09 (2nd Thursday of January)
· Proposed 2nd PB Public Hearing for ZO Changes: 1/22/09 (4th Thursday of January)
· Deadline for Final Draft of ZO changes to Town Clerk: 2/3/09 (1st Tuesday of February)
Mr. Houseworth requested that the Board decide where the Planning Board and Staff should focus their time. After some discussion, the Board decided that priorities are:
· Finish the Master Plan
· Proposed changes to the ‘Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations’ pertaining to roads and preliminary reviews by the Town Engineer, Mr. Peter Pitsas, and the planning staff should be finalized.
· Consider revisions to the ‘Zoning Ordinance’, specifically: permitting new earth excavation sites, establishing a new small wind turbine ordinance, adding a ‘mixed use’ definition and provision in certain zoning districts, and revising existing setbacks in the commercial ‘Highway Business District.’
Master Plan – Chapter Review Session - Population & Housing
Ms. Taylor was not present to lead the discussion. Mr. Snow and Mrs. Wasserloos provided the planning staff with proposed revisions to the ‘Population and Housing’ chapter, which Ms. Taylor provided to the Board at the last meeting. Some Board members stated that there seemed to be a typo in the Age Graph of this chapter .
Review of the Proposed Changes to the ‘Antrim Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations’ handout:
Mr. Houseworth asked the Board to carefully read through the proposed changes which are from the ‘Innovative Land Use Planning Techniques (a handbook for sustainable development),’ compiled by NH Dept of Environmental Services, NH Assoc of Regional Planning Commissions, NH Office of Energy and Planning, and NH Municipal Association [pages 64 - 68]). This text (pages 1 - to 'B.' of page 9 of the handout) is intended to be added to a community's existing subdivision review regulations and to apply to all subdivision applications of both conventional and conservation design. The remainder of the handout was obtained from Peterborough' Subdivision regulations. The Board is asked to carefully consider the proposed revisions to Antrim's ‘Subdivision and Site Plan Review Regulations.’
Correspondences:
Chris Baker – Correspondence regarding the need to obtain a Use Variance from the ZBA- FYI for the Board regarding the need for Mr. Salmon to obtain a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment in order to establish a residential dwelling in an existing commercial structure on property located at 375 Keene Road (Rt. 9) in the Highway Business District (Tax Map 211, Lot 32) in Antrim.
At 8:42 pm, Mr. Schacht moved to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Mr. Burnside, and unanimously agreed upon by all. Chair Robblee adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Chauncey,
On Behalf of the Antrim Planning Board
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