Planning Board
Preliminary Meeting Minutes
Recorded by Sherry Fox
August 11, 2014
Members Present: RMarshall, JFletcher, SFox, MCharig-Bliss, PRenaud, and KO’Connell
7:06 P.M. Meeting Opened
PRenaud began reading the July 28, 2014 minutes. Several spelling, punctuation and a few replacements of words were done. No substantive changes were made. JFletcher motioned to approve the minutes as amended, MCharig-Bliss seconded. Vote unanimous in favor.
Mail Received:
· Letter from DES regarding Drinking Water Source Protection Plan Quarterly letter
· Year to Date Expenditures for the Planning Board
· Copy of NH Department of Environmental Services Application to reconstruct the boat landing at Otter Lake
Old Business:
RMarshall updated the board on the Robin Leblanc Workshop portion of the Charrette from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday morning. This is an informal workshop that is open to all residents and is to get everyone to think differently about the future of Greenfield. RMarshall is looking into using the Wensburg Room at the library or the meeting room downstairs at the Town Office for this workshop.
JFletcher noted that the Allrose Farm Site Walk minutes should be noted that they were read, edited, and accepted at the 7/14/14 meeting.
7:30 P.M. Allrose Farm Public Hearing
RMarshall passed a sign-up sheet to the audience to record attendance
RMarshall read the rules and protocol for a public hearing. He noted that the public hearing had been properly noticed with letters to the applicant, and abutters and a public notice was in the Monadnock Ledger.
RMarshall asked the applicant to inform the Board of what she is planning to do. MPerron stated that it will be a Bed & Breakfast concept that revolves around families arriving for weddings at the farm. Parties would rent most of the home, the barn and grounds for the weekend, arriving on Friday and leaving on Sunday. The facility has the ability to hold functions up to 120 people. Current renovation of the barn is in progress for it to be suitable for weddings as well as to come up to code for electrical and fire standards. She noted that people love the idea and she has events planned for September and October as well as May and June of next year. . She has received a recommendation from licensed fire engineers who came out and interviewed her on how the building was used in the past and how it will
be used in the future. The challenge now is with the assembly hall being on top of storage is a mixed use She has a copy of their complete report and will send to the planning board and building inspector as well as her electrical contractor.
The checklist was reviewed. RMarshall asked if we have sufficient information to make a decision regarding this application. JFletcher noted that though there was additional information that was needed, the Board had sufficient information to invoke jurisdiction and moved to accept the application. KO'Connell seconded the motion. Vote was unanimous in favor.
8:13 P.M. Public Portion Opened
DHedstrom asked if this was a permitted use that was allowable in the residential district. He noted that when the Greenfield Inn had wanted to do something similar in the past it was turned down as the event was not a customary home based business. Should this be approved, he was concerned about noise for abutters, increased traffic on East Road and a negative impact on property values.
AHale asked if all events would be catered. MPerron noted that all events would be catered and is handled by the renter.
DHedstrom asked if she had already had events. MPerron said yes. Last fall there were two weddings for friends and then she opened it up to the public this spring. DHedstrom asked if her plans included open tents and music? MPerron said she provides opportunities for tents. MPerron also noted that her contract with customers notes that she can stop the music at 10 p.m. to comply with the noise ordinance.
MHedstrom asked how having an event for up to 120 people could be considered an incidental use? She also commended that the event portion is not in the home. DHedstrom commented that in his opinion this is not a home based business. It is commercial and has the potential to impact the character of the residential district.
AHale did not understand a previous comment of “if the planning board does not approve that she can go ahead with events until approved”. RMarshall explained that he had been made aware of this activity this past May orJune via an e-mail from a resident and an article in the paper. At that time he had contact Ms. Perron and suggested that she meet with the Board about her activity to help her through the process to become approved. She had a Preliminary Conceptual Consultation with the Board on June 23, 2014 and a site-walk on July 10, 2014. If the Planning Board finds that this application cannot come into compliance, then we would move forward with necessary action. Our job is to encourage and help applicants through this process.
8:36 PM Public Portion closed. There being no further testimony from the public, the public portion of the meeting was closed.
8:37 PM Deliberations
MCharig-Bliss asked MPerron if this will be a B&B all of the time? MPerron said that yes, it will be open to the public all the time.
RMarshall asked the Board if this use is permitted in the Residential district? It was noted that B&B’s and Hotels are permitted uses in the General Residence District under Section III, E, 6. JFletcher asked MPerron, how many people can you house? MPerron responded up to 20 people. It was determined that due to the number of persons that could be housed, this would fall under the definition of a hotel rather than a B&B in the Zoning ordinance definitions. JFletcher made a motion that the proposed use of a hotel was a permitted use in the General Residence district. SFox seconded the motion. Vote 3 in favor. 2 abstentions. The motion carried.
RMarshall asked the board if there were any additional questions? KO’Connell asked if the innkeeper would be present for all events? MPerron said yes. He also asked if the parking lot would need more than one egress point? RMarshall noted that a parking attendant may be needed for the large events.
MCharig-Bliss asked if the Board could define the length of time for an event? RMarshall noted yes, that a time frame can be determined.
PRenaud noted that during the site walk, MPerron had said she was looking into insurance. He asked what her progress was with that? MPerron noted that she has commercial insurance for the B&B portion of the business and has special event insurance from May to October.
MCharig-Bliss asked if the barn was handicapped accessible? MPerron noted that you can enter the barn and the house with no steps and she had had a boarder recently who was in a wheelchair and did not have any problems entering the property. RMarshall noted that she may want to review handicap regulations to ensure compliance.
Discussion ensued on providing alcohol at the event and how to monitor and/or control that. MPerron noted that the renters of her property also need to have event insurance and a licensed server is part of her contract. The Board requested that she add a copy of her contract with the application.
RMarshall asked if she considered landscaping/plantings to block lights from impacting abutters property from traffic in the parking lot. MPerron noted that there is landscaping there and did not believe this would impact her neighbors. She also noted that her neighbors, the Robbins, loved the ideal of music, etc.
A check in the amount of $182 was received from MPerron to cover the costs of the application, notifications and advertisements.
MPerron was asked to provide the following information for the Board:
· Two additional copies of the application
· Copies of permit applications (NHDES septic)
· Fire Permit for use of the outdoor fire pit
· Exterior Lighting Plan
· Copy of the contract she uses with clients
· Updates of her maps to include
o any wetlands
o the location of abutters buildings
o access to the parking lot from East Road
o snow storage areas
o adequate emergency access
o location of proposed tent use
RMarshall noted that as noticed in the paper and to abutters, the AllRose Farm Country Weddings application will continue to stay on the agenda until such time as a determination has been reached. AllRose Farm has been added to the August 25, 2014 meeting at 8:15 pm.
9:40 pm Master Planning – Community Facilities Report
Postal Service: Proposed 2014 – accepted with no changes.
Fire & Rescue Services: - Proposed 2014
Changes:
· Removed from the 3rd paragraph end of last sentence: “and particularly the remote commercial establishments.”
· 4th Paragraph last sentence changed “as” to “is” registered with the state of NH and the IRS.
· Reworded 1st sentence of Paragraph 5 to read as follows: “The town has contracted the services of Emergency Communications Network (ECN) for their Code Red emergency notification service. ECN enables any emergency service within Greenfield to notify all residents who subscribe to this service, of Emergency Notifications.”
Recreation: Proposed 2014 – still in process
Changes to date:
· 1st paragraph – after residents add a period then start a new sentence with “They”
· Add “or Stephenson Memorial Library” to end of boy and girls scout event
· Remove “3) Greenfield Trails Association and change to Greenfield Community Gardens”
· Need to confirm what is available currently through Crotched Mountain.
· Add Ted’s and Carolyn’s trail to the trails listing
· Add Crotched Mountain Handicap Accessible trails to trails section
· Add Greenfield Trails Association to Recreational Opportunities Grid and note that it is a Private Membership organization
· Add sentence to the bottom of section to state: Perhaps the town should consider reinstating the Recreational Department.
JFletcher gave an update on the recycling section and RMarshall gave updated on the education portion.
10:20 pm Meeting Adjourned
JFletcher made a motion to adjourn, PRenaud seconded, voted unanimous in favor.
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