ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD
Regular Meeting
April 19, 2018
MINUTES
Members & Staff Present:
Janet McEwen (Chair), Mary Allen (Member), William Bryk (Member), Bob Holmes
(Member), John Robertson (Ex-Officio), Jeanne Cahoon (Alternate), Steve MacDonald (Alternate), Carol Ogilvie (Consultant Planner), and Kristin Bixby (Assistant to Land Use Boards).
Members Absent: Chris Condon (Vice Chair), Lynne Rosansky (Member)
Others Present: None
CTO: Chair McEwen called the meeting to order at 7:01 P.M. and introduced the Board and staff. She welcomed Carol Ogilvie, Consultant Planner, on her return from Florida. She also added that she would like to add back some items onto the agenda that were discussed last week for further clarification.
I. Minutes
- Minutes from April 5, 2018.
Motion: Mr. Bryk moved to read the minutes for approval, seconded by Mr. Robertson.
Discussion: Mr. Robertson noted a misspelling of his name. As a general note, he also suggested that Ron Hagget should be appointed to the CIP Committee as community member. Information was added on Line 38 in order to complete a sentence. Mr. Robertson noted that there needed to be a change in the spelling of Mr. Beihl’s name.
Motion: Mr. Holmes moved the motion/seconded by Mr. Bryk for approval of the minutes.
Vote: By a voice vote, the April 5, 2018 minutes were approved as revised.
II. Master Plan Update
Chair McEwen asks Ms. Bixby to present her findings from the recent master plan survey. Some themes that emerged were: most people surveyed live in single-family homes; the most common age-range of household members was 40-64; most surveyed were retired or chose not to work; 16 of the surveyed own home businesses; most surveyed visit Downtown businesses either daily of weekly; “protection of natural resources” was valued as most important and “expansion of the commercial zone” was valued as least important.
The Board members had a brief discussion on home businesses and state registration.
III. 2018 Planning Board Goals
Chair McEwen wanted to reiterate the goals discussed at the previous meeting and make sure Board members that were not present could have some input. Chair McEwen noted that a good goal regarding the Master Plan process is to access Census data as well as data for Town businesses that are registered with the State.
Ms. Cahoon and Ms. Bixby discussed the differences on American Community Survey data vs. the official Census data released by decade.
Chair McEwen said that the Board needs to review RSAs from 2017 to 2018 so they can be reflected appropriately in all zoning documents. She noted that the visioning process had been started for Master Plan, and this will have to be the first chapter that is finished, since the Town’s vision should be reflected in all subsequent chapters.
Chair McEwen added that Mary Pinkham Langer is the Town’s contact for site visits and excavation law review, and that Bob Edwards had asked for her to speak about current use with the Board. There was a brief discussion on whether residents can have less than 10 acres of land in current use. Mr. Holmes added that training on invasive species identification ties into a possible workshop with Mary Pinkham Langer. Create a list of what we are looking for during site walks.
The Board needs to look to see schedules for review of the open excavation sites in Town to make sure everything has been properly reviewed in compliance with the State.
In regards to the economic development Master Plan chapter, housing options, accessibility, and safe passageways to school should all be discussed.
Mr. Holmes added that the Master Plan currently states that the Town needs to do a study for cell service. Cell phone towers should be mapped out and analysis should be done on which areas that currently don’t have coverage are the targeted areas for future coverage.
The Board discussed alternative energy options. Mr. MacDonald updated the Board that the Town solar initiative didn’t pass, and he thought the tax incentive aspect killed it. Peterborough and Hancock have done a lot with solar, and their zoning ordinances may be a good starting point for ideas.
Mr. Holmes asked how the Town could make small business zoning easier, and what initiatives could be put in place so it would become easier for developers to build tiny houses. Furthermore, he was curious on how the Board may need to accommodate the zoning ordinance for that situation. He asked what the current Town rules say about land use, how long tiny houses or similar mobile homes or RVs can stay on a piece of property.
The Board set a three-month goal to finish the Master Plan Vision Chapter. Chair McEwen noted that the Board has a lot of information already. In fact, there is an existing draft of the chapter, but certain Board members didn’t like it and the Board was tasked with collecting more data. The Board was under the impression that the draft chapter was never voted on, but previous minutes should be analyzed to confirm that notion.
The Board agreed that, depending on when representatives from the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs are available, a good date for the even would by May 17th. Mr. Holmes suggested to combine this training with the ZBA.
IV. Shook, et. Al Lot Line Adjustment & Annexation
Chair McEwen brought new members up to speed on the Shook property, which was a case brought before the Board earlier this year. The case was brought to the Board’s attention because a few years back, the property in question was merged together, but the owners are now saying that the merge should not have taken place.
Chair McEwen added that at that initial hearing where the properties were merged, all of owners signed off on what we are doing. Therefore, the Board approved what was in front of them. Carol Ogilvie, Consultant Planner, added that the lot merge cannot be revoked now because the ownership has changed. So if the owners now feel like a subdivision is necessary, they will have to apply for a subdivision.
Bob Edwards, who was the ex-officio to the Planning Board at the time that this was brought to the Board’s attention, had recently made a suggestion after talking with Town Counsel. He felt that the Town should change the taxes back to the owners that owned the separate lots before the merge, since there was no new deed filed with the Hillsborough Registry of Deeds showing the change in ownership. The Planning Board’s decision to this suggestion is that that solution would not be something that the Planning Board would decide, but instead the decision of the Town’s Tax Collector. Carol Ogilvie added that the Town can’t change tax map numbers [for taxation purposes] without changing the lots as well.
Chair McEwen volunteered to call Bob Edwards to tell him what the Board discussed.
V. DES Opinion on Stone Church Parking Lot
There was further discussion on letter that was sent from DES back to an applicant that came before the Planning Board back in March. This discussion was simply used to update new Board members about the issue.
The Planning Board will not do anything regarding this case until the applicant comes back. They will either have to adjust plans with DES with the lots on record with the Hillsborough Registry of Deeds or have to come back to the Board to finalize the lot lines to show what they wanted as the acreage in the initial plan.
VI. Correspondence – Southwest Region Planning Commission
ESRI Nesletter. NHSEA link.
VII. Additional Business:
Ms. Bixby gave updates from the Planning Office. It was agreed upon that this would be a regular occurrence. Included in this week’s updates was an overview of a workshop she attended in Keene that talked about brownfields and place-making, as well as a meeting she had with CAI to get more background on the GIS services they are providing the Town of Antrim.
Carol Ogilvie, Consultant Planner, said she would like to set up future Planning Board meetings where the first meeting of the month is reserved for applications, and the second meeting, whenever applicable, could be used as a workshop for Planning Board members or a community workshop. For the second meeting in May, she could compile census data and use that meeting as a workshop to comb through it with the Board. The Board agreed that the proposed meeting schedule would be a good idea, and that in the past it was too difficult for a workshop to be held on the same night as an application. We should make it a goal to start this process unless something else comes up. See how it goes.
Chair McEwen had a note regarding the tentatively scheduled July 5th meeting: every other year it has been cancelled since it falls too close to a holiday. The Board will be cancelling it again this year.
Adjournment:
Motion: Mr. Holmes made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Bryk.
Discussion: There was no discussion.
Vote: By a voice vote, all Board members agreed.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:32 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Kristin Bixby
Assistant to Land Use Boards
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