TOWN OF FARMINGTON
PLANNING BOARD WORKSHOP MINUTES
TUESDAY - OCTOBER 16, 2007
356 Main Street - Farmington, NH
Members Present: Chairman Charlie King, Hiram Watson, Paul Parker, David Kestner, Don MacVane,
Jim Horgan and alternate Gerry Gibson.
Absent: David Meehan - Alternate - without notification
Cindy Snowdon -Alternate - with notification
Selectmen's Rep: Joan Funk
Staff Present: Planner Daniel Merhalski
Public Present: Norman Russell, Margaret Russell, Charles Wibel and Paula Proulx.
Chairman King called the workshop to order at 6:02pm.
Business Before the Board:
Charlie informed the Board that he received an approval for a lunch wagon for Wayne Jenness in which, Dennis Roseberry (Code Enforcement Officer) signed off that all the conditions were met.
Charlie informed the Board that he received a letter from Paul Izzo regarding the expired approval for Peter Alfie and a memo from Dennis Roseberry in response to the letter. Dennis' memo stated that conditions 1 and 2 for Mr. Alfe have not been met even though Mr. Alfe felt that he had met all the conditions. A discussion was held in which it was concluded that Mr. Alfe was notified of his compliance hearing five times and never responded to any of those hearings. The Board agreed to follow-up with Mr. Izzo's letter stating that based upon review by Dennis Roseberry, the inability of
Mr. Alfe to follow through with the conditions of approval and Mr. Alfe's lack of attendance at the compliance hearings, Mr. Alfe will need to reapply and that the expired approval stands.
Charlie read a letter into the record from Charles Wibel who resigned from the Strafford Regional Planning Commission Board due to continuing schedule conflicts. Charlie will ask Ed Mullen to run an ad on the Bulletin Board for anyone interested in the position.
Dan Merhalski provided a draft summary sheet of the Space & Bulk Standards for the Board's review. Don MacVane commented that a disclaimer should be added that states that some of the zoning areas do not allow sewer/water connections due to a connection moratorium. Charlie added that another disclaimer should be added that this is a quick reference guide and not the complete Space & Bulk Standards. Dan will add the two disclaimers.
Dan informed the Board that Julie LaBranche, of the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, asked him to put together some draft changes to the zoning ordinances for the Board to consider bringing forth to the meeting for approval. The Board was in agreement that this was a good idea. Charlie commented that one change he would like to see is that in the Village Center permitted uses under 1500 square feet could be approved by administrative review unless specific issues; so that small changes of use don't have to come before the Board.
Jim Horgan motioned to recess until 6:30pm, 2nd David Kestner. Motion carried with all in favor.
Chairman King reconvened the meeting at 6:31 pm and opened the Public Hearing.
Continued Cases:
Continuation of Discussion from 09-11-2007: Re: Planning Board open discussion of sidewalks in the of Farmington.
Charlie informed the Board that he was in attendance at last night's Board of Selectman meeting in which Norman Russell expressed to the Board that he is in favor of sidewalks and that the Selectman approved a letter of support for sidewalks that Mr. Russell drafted.
Norman Russell commented that he is glad the planning board is in favor of sidewalks in and putting a higher level of requirements in the regulations and/or ordinances to promote such. He suggested that the Board use their authority to implement impact fees to deal with developers who argue that they do not want to "build sidewalks to no where." He argued that by requiring the impact fees, the money collected could be set aside for future sidewalks in the developed area when development has grown enough to warrant sidewalks. Mr. Russell commented that pedestrian ways should be required on all interior road developments and not on roads. He stated that developers would not be asked to build sidewalks on public roads but would be assessed impact fees because all residents of
Farmington benefit from sidewalks in . Mr. Russell recognized that there are different types of pedestrian ways to consider and realizes that the Board needs to consider them in setting requirements for the different zoning areas.
Paul questioned what Mr. Russell is thinking about for a value of the impact fees. Mr. Russell responded that it would be up to this Board to set that value but it should be an average of the cost of the development for the different types of sidewalks per unit not per foot. Charlie added that the would need a professional to decide on a reasonable impact fee. Paul replied that the fee should be a reasonable cost not a construction cost.
A discussion was held that once the starts imposing one type of impact fees the potential for others such as school, fire and police is much greater. Charlie stated that there are not too many s that have impact fees because of this and the amount of staff time it takes to manage them. Charlie asked how the Board members feel about impact fees. Gerry stated that he would definitely need more information before approving. Paul commented that it might be a good idea to have Bruce Mayberry come before this board and explain the pros and cons of the fees again. Joan stated that she would like to find out what other s do in regards to sidewalk requirements. David stated that he is concerned that adding impact fees for sidewalks might not be appropriate because the is not making
any real monetary commitment towards sidewalks in the budget, plus questioned where the impact fees would end. Don commented that he is concerned that the might not be able to follow through with expending the funds collected before they expire. Hiram commented that he would like to see sidewalks paid by the taxpayers rather than impact fees. Jim stated firmly he is opposed to impact fees. Dan Merhalski stated that in his experience sidewalks have been part of the regulations and he would have to look at the NH's requirements regarding impact fees. Dan agreed to do some preliminary research into impact fees and what surrounding s are doing.
Jim asked to redirect the topic back to sidewalks from impact fees. He commented that he likes sidewalks and is opposed to a striped line on the pavement to provide a pedestrian way, citing it as unsafe. Jim commented that he would like the maximum standards set for sidewalks and modifying only for aesthetics.
Charlie questioned where is a good spot to put these requirements; in the Road and Driveway Standards and/or the Zoning Ordinances. Don replied that both documents should be included and that the Board should not allow deviations and have the regulations approved by December. Paula Proulx commented that the Board should seek assistance from the Road Agent, Joel Moulton, in regards to his opinions on sidewalks and the maintenance of them.
Charlie stated that the next step is to get a draft set of requirements for the sidewalks and asked if the Board wanted to work it out tonight or delegate the work. Dan stated that he could speak with Joel Moulton and come up with a draft for the Board.
Don MacVane motioned to have Planner, Dan Merhalski, work up a draft for sidewalk requirements for the next workshop meeting, 2nd Hiram Watson.
Discussion followed in which Jim asked the Board members to also work up what they would like to see in each zoning district so that they can compare to the draft being created. Paul added that he would like to see the actual sidewalk requirements be put in the zoning ordinances and the specifications put in the regulations.
Motion carried with all in favor.
Charles Wibel suggested that the board take the sidewalk regulations to the maximum and added that most required the resident behind the sidewalk be mandated to be responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalk and the grass area between it and the road.
Paul Parker motioned for a five minute recess, 2nd Joan Funk. Motion carried with all in favor.
Meeting recessed at 8:11pm
Chairman King reconvened the meeting at 8:23pm.
New Cases:
Review of "DRAFT" Chapters 1 through 9 of the Master Plan
Dan informed the Board that included in their packets is what he believes to be the final drafts of chapter 1 through 8 and a draft of Chapter 9. He would like for the Board to verify all the edits are included and commented that all the highlighted items are ones that he will be adding. He added that he would like to have the Master Plan complete for approval by January 2008.
Chapter 1 - Hiram questioned if all the negative items should be left in the 5th paragraph. Jim responded that this is a gentler version and can be backed up by facts so it shouldn't be changed. Paul questioned if the Board wanted to use the format as 1.0 for the past, 2.0 for the present, etc. The Board agreed yes. Paul also commented that a table of contents should be included for each chapter. Don stated that those types of changes can be added later once the document is approved. Jim asked if the maps are going to be numbered and Dan replied yes. Lastly Paul asked if there is anything that states what the abbreviations/acronyms are. Dan stated he will include a list.
Chapter 2 - All set.
Chapter 3 - Pictures on 3-1 and 3-24 are on Poor Farm Road. On page 3-17 there is a dam missing. Dan will check. Charlie commented that on page 3-18 the owner of the Fire Pond Dam is William and Joyce King and that the impoundment acreage for the Ten Road School Marsh Dam needs to be verified. Don suggested changing the word "strong" to "vibrant" when discussing the hunting on page 3-32 section 12.4.
Chapter 4 - Charlie instructed Dan to fix any numbering issues that occur throughout the document like those found on page 4-15.
Chapter 5 - It was noted to change the picture on page 14 because the sign on the street says "no parking." Dan asked if the Board wants to replace the picture on page 5-2 with a graph. The Board agreed to put a picture in.
Chapter 6 - It was noted that the picture on page 3 should be of school children, the one on page 8 needs to be replaced and the one on page 12 should be more appropriate. It was also noted to change the number of miles on page 15, section 5.4.
Jim Horgan motioned to continue the meeting until 9:30pm, 2nd David Kestner. Motion carried at 8:59pm.
Chapter 7 - It was noted to change the picture on page 7-2.
Chapter 8 - It was noted to verify the road mile numbers on page 8-2.
It was mentioned that somewhere within the document was a picture of Voith, the Board previously decided to change this to a picture of Seneca Machine. It was also noted that the picture on the front might need to be changed because the Town does not have a release to use the picture of the children. Lastly, the Board was in consensus to change the 5th paragraph on page 1-2 to strike the words "for youth" from the sentence that reads "some speak of a lack of activities for youth."
Paula Proulx commented that there is some information that needs to be added to the appendix about the results of the surveys and she will forward it to Dan.
Other:
Charlie stated that David Meehan has not been present for several months now and asked how the Board would like to proceed. Don stated that he will contact David and ask him to move forward one way or another by officially resigning or attending the meetings.
Jim Horgan motioned to adjourn, 2nd Joan Funk. Motion carried with all in favor.
Chairman King adjourned the meeting at 9:25 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brandy Sanger,
Recording Secretary
APPROVED AS WRITTEN 11-06-2007
______________________________ _____________________
Charlie King, Chairman Date
Farmington Planning Board
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