DRAFT TO BE VOTED ON BY PLANNING BOARD AT SEPTEMBER MEETING
BERLIN PLANNING BOARD
TUESDAY AUGUST 7, 2007
Members Present: Chair Fran Cusson, Lucien Langlois, Diana Nelson, Aline Boucher, Andre Duchesne, David Morin, Ralph Collins, Julie Cooney, Ernie Allain
Members Excused: Richard Merrill, Nicole DeCosta
Members Absent: Laura Jamison, Richard Cassidy
Others present: Pamela Laflamme, City Planner; Don Bouchard, Steve LaFrance, Horizons Engineering; Roland Viens, Berlin Water Works Superintendent; Terry & Kathy Block; Romeo & Cindy Lapointe; Curt Burke Sr.; Curt Burke Jr; Tom Burke; Jackie Burke; Kristin Labonte; Richard Dufrense
Approval of July Minutes: July minutes approved. Moved by Mr. Morin, seconded by Mr. Langlois, unanimously approved.
Public Comments: There were no public comments
Lot Mergers:
MH Caron Realty Inc
Map 119 Lots 322 and 323 Map 118 Lot 146, these properties are owned by MH Caron Realty Inc. The company recently purchased Map 118, Lot 146 and wishes to merge this new property with its existing properties.
Moved by Mr. Langlois, to approve lot merger, seconded by Ms. Nelson, and all voted in favor.
Site Plan Review – Final Approval for Administratively Reviewed Plan – Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless
Ms. Laflamme reviewed the application which was technically an administrative review site plan. The application was complete with the exception of the letter from the property owner. Ms. Laflamme went over the items reviewed by Cathy Conway, P.E., who reviewed the plan for the City and the responses from Verizon Wireless. Ms. Laflamme was satisfied with the responses and stated that as the board had waived financial security on a similar co-location application in past, she would recommend the same with this application. The only condition she would recommend the board impose with its approval.
Mr. Langlois moved, seconded by Ms. Cooney, to approve the City Planner's recommendation. So moved.
Design Review – Tom & C Realty LLC, Riverside Heights Manufactured Housing Park:
Ms. Laflamme introduced Steve LaFrance from Horizons Engineer who is here this evening. Design Review is a step between conceptual consultation and final review. Design Review involves bringing the most complete plan available to date. Design Review allows public comments also this evening. The comments from both the board and the applicant are non-binding and are meant to give the board the framework for the plan and for the board to give feedback to the applicant.
Mr. LaFrance discussed the site lay out and footage off Route 16. Tom & C Realty LLC is proposing 87 units. York Land Services is the surveyor of record for the project. The first part of the plan is the three lot subdivision. There is a 60 foot wide right of way off of Cates Hill Road that will be used for access discussed later during the presentation. There is no development proposed for the two small parcels at this time, only the main parcel which will be just less than 50 acres.
The land is very challenging as there are steep grades, the PSNH easement, and several wetlands. The plans were presented in 40 scale.
Photographic examples of proposed manufactured homes were passed out to the Board. The applicant cautioned that the photos were just to give the board an idea of what the units may look like.
The park is not being presented as lots that will be available for sale; they will be lots available for rent. The unit sizes may vary from what is being presented on this plan right now. These will be true manufactured homes with chassis underneath. The applicant wishes to connect to both City water and City sewer.
NHDOT has given preliminary approval for the driveway location. There was a question about the location and the presence of a northbound passing lane near the entrance.
Mr. LaFrance explained the basics of the waterline design proposal. They have not yet provided final plans for consideration to Berlin Water Works. Mr. LaFrance also discussed the sewer connection and explained that the plans do not reflect changes that have been recently made to the connection design. He stated that he was aware of the capacity issues the City is facing at the wastewater treatment facility. He broke down the water usage for the park (if at capacity) as follows:
87 Units, assumption 3 people per unit, each person produces 75 gallons of wastewater per day, which 225 gallons per unit. 87 units X 225 gallons of wastewater per day equals 19575 gallons per day for the park. Mr. LaFrance stated he used a model from state regulations for his calculations.
Mr. LaFrance stated that his applicant will be looking for waivers related to road design. Ten percent is the maximum grade for residential streets and there is a section of road that will be designed to be ten percent. They are trying to minimize cutting and filling. One waiver they will be looking for is the length of the cul-de-sac street shown on the plan as Joseph's Way. The design length is 100 feet longer than our maximum allows for at this time. The road width is another waiver they will be seeking as they would like to have 11 foot wide travel lanes in a few sections rather than 12 foot lanes. This was explained as a traffic calming measure rather than a cost saving measure.
Another waiver they would propose is the drainage design which the City standards ask for a design for a 100 year flood event and they would rather mimic the State standard of 25 years. Mr. LaFrance stated there would be detention ponds constructed and that calculations would show that drainage will be the same pre and post development. They will also be proposing to keep all drainage on the property. One pond will be constructed near the City's pump station and there would be another 3 smaller ponds located uphill. They will also be depressing the cul-de-sacs for storage as well.
The applicant will be applying for an Alteration of Terrain permit. Mr. LaFrance explained the need for this State NHDES permit to the board.
Mr. LaFrance stated that there are approximately 4 wetlands crossings and they are trying to choose the narrowest points and keep the crossings to 90 degree angles. Jonathan Sisson of BeaverTracks LLC did the wetland delineation and mapping.
A question was asked about the most western parcel that they were proposing which did not have frontage on any City street. This will need to be discussed further.
Someone asked about the perimeter buffer, which is 30 feet all around the park development, the applicant will be trying to keep as much natural buffer as possible.
Another waiver that was discussed was a waiver for driveway width. Almost all of the sites were shown with approximately 25 foot wide curb cuts. Ms. Laflamme relayed the concerns of the Fire Chief regarding the cul-de-sac along Joseph's Way which the Fire Department feels is too far from a connecting street and would like to see something like an emergency lane of some sort to allow for quicker access to the southeastern sites.
Mr. LaFrance stated that there will be no on street parking and one of the board members asked where overflow parking would go. There was a brief discussion about parking.
A dumpster for all residents will be located at the park entrance. Ms. Cusson asked about signage.
Mr. Viens of Berlin Water Works stated that he had several questions and concerns but wanted to first know if the applicant was looking for Berlin Water Works to maintain the system and if so the entire system will have to be designed to BWW specifications. It was decided that BWW will speak with the applicant directly outside of the meeting to get further details and information.
The letter from Portland Natural Gas Transmission Systems was discussed and the applicant stated they were in touch with PNGTS and would work with them to coordinate any construction on or near the utility.
Mr. Morin stated he would like to see an access to the park from Cates Hill Road which seems unlikely as it is steep and there are wetlands located on that part of the property.
The ownership of the park and the sites was discussed. The applicant will own the land and rent the sites and the slabs. The applicant will sell people one of approximately six models of manufactured homes. There will be no single wide units; all will be on average 28X60. The applicant will purchase the homes ahead of time and have them located in the park beforehand. People will not be able to move their own trailers/manufactured homes into the park. Mr. Burke estimated that he will be making an 8-10 million dollar investment in this project.
Public Comments:
Richard DuFresne, 2049 Riverside Drive, asked about his deeded water rights to the property. He was told his rights will continue into the future and that he only has rights to certain springs. He wanted to know how his rights will be protected and he was told that they should discuss this further.
Cindy Lapointe, 2135 Riverside Drive, asked about the location of her parcel in relation to the project. She asked about the buffer and her view.
A board member asked if there would be a berm in front of the pump station to protect it from water. Horizons Engineering staff offered to meet with the wastewater treatment facility operator to review the concern and see if this is necessary or not.
Terry Block 2201 Riverside Drive, not an abutter, but he has concerns about noise as the streets will be private and therefore likely unpatrolled. There was a short conversation about how that will be handled and likely needs a bit more research. Mr. Block then stated to the Planning Board that he is concerned about future projects being located in the Rural Residential Zone and whether dense projects such as this one were appropriate in this zone.
A board member asked if this project will be marketed for seniors, Mr. Burke replied no, that there did not seem to be a market for that here. He will be looking to sell/rent to anyone who is interested and able to follow the park's standards.
Mr. Morin reiterated his concern for the access location on Route 16. Mr. LaFrance will review but cannot promise any changes.
The lot with no road frontage will be reviewed and discussed with staff.
Ms. Laflamme asked for a punch list of waivers. Mr. Bouchard will try to get that to her as soon as possible.
Driveway Permit Discussion:
Ms. Laflamme stated that the board should change the regulations rather than explaining to people how to get around the regulation. Consideration for larger driveway curbs cuts than currently allowed could be approved by the Board by special exception.
Ernie suggested the Board should visit these situations prior to making any new recommendations. In September, will do site visits to some of the appeal properties that we have reviewed recently and discuss what is appropriate for curb cuts.
Zoning Ordinance – Downtown Signage Discussion
Ms. Laflamme explained that in downtown free standing signs are not allowed. This likely is a reflection of the true compact downtown businesses that front right on the back edge of the sidewalk. However several businesses have green space and should be allowed to have freestanding signs if they can meet the 10 foot setback from the right of way.
The board agreed and asked Ms. Laflamme to email the proposed language before presenting it to the City Council.
Public Comments:
There were no public comments.
Member Comments:
There were no member comments.
Planner Comments:
Passed out NCC of community planning needs survey and asked board to complete and return to Planner.
Ms. Laflamme discussed letter from Charles Cotton regarding the property purchased by the Northern Human Services. He will come to meet with the Planning Board in September. The hope is to have a public hearing. The next meeting will be held at Thursday, September 6, 2007.
Johnson and Bedard properties – Update – NHDES has performed site inspection and have not seen any wetlands violations. Unless they see a violation, there is nothing they can cite them as there seems to be no real issues at this time. Logging operation has been inspected by Forest & Lands and there was only a minor violation found and since corrected. One of the issues is that this is in a residential area and residents are not used to this type of activity.
Route 110 – Ms. Laflamme has heard from Senator Sununu's office – City's alternative is still being reviewed and there was reason for cautious optimism.
Bureau of Prisons – had a successful meeting in Concord. All permits should be secured by the beginning of September.
Ms. Laflamme explained the State RSA's and City's regulations and the Planning Board's right to hire consultants for second opinions if there are any concerns about clarity of any applications. This should not be done unless necessary, but is an option if board has if needed.
Adjournment: Mr. Morin moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Collins and all voted in favor.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 6, 2007.
Respectfully Submitted,
Aline Boucher
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