HANSON PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of Deer Hill Subdivision
Continued Public Hearing of
April 7, 2004
I. CALL TO ORDER - 8:00 p.m.
Members Present: Philip Lindquist, Chairman
Gerard LeBlanc, Vice Chairman
David Nagle, Clerk
Joan DiLillo, Member
Gordon Coyle, Member
Others Present: Town Planner Noreen O’Toole
Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson
Chairman Philip Lindquist noted that since the last hearing session the Board had received a March 26, 2004 letter from the applicant’s engineering firm, John Cavanaro Consulting of Cohasset, along with revised plans, soil logs, stormwater calculations and a response to design review comments; an April 5, 2004 memo from Water Superintendent Glen Doherty; an April 5, 2004 memo from Police Lieutenant Richard Gredler; an April 6, 2004 memo from Conservation Agent Tricia Cassady; an April 6, 2004 memo from Fire Chief Allen Hoyt; an April 6, 2004 letter from Highway Surveyor Richard Harris; an April 7, 2004 memo from Building Inspector Michael Kennedy; and an April 7, 2004 Site Plan Review from Land Planning, Inc.
Water Superintendent Glen Doherty stated in his memo that there is no application on file for water service and that the applicant has not come in to request fire protection for the project either.
Lt. Gredler said that the Police Department’s only public safety concern is with drainage. He noted that there is currently a water sheeting problem in the area during a normal rain. No drainage from the proposed subdivision, he said, should be allowed to cross Whitman Street.
Conservation Agent Tricia Cassady advised that an appeal had been filed by A.W. Perry to the Department of Environmental Protection. Several of Perry’s concerns, she said, were Planning Board drainage issues. The DEP has advised, she said, that, since the Order of Conditions for the subdivision was a local order, the appeal should be withdrawn and a request for determination of applicability filed with the commission. An appeal for a local order of conditions, she said, would need to be filed with Superior Court and not the DEP.
Fire Chief Allen Hoyt said that he had no concerns at the present time and all of the concerns outlined in his last memo have been addressed.
Highway Surveyor Richard Harris noted that the current plans do not include the grated cross drain that he recommended in his March 2, 2004 letter. He included material depicting the grated cross drain that he said would eliminate the present sheeting of surface water that occurs at this location.
Building Inspector Michael Kennedy suggested that no fences, hedges or signage be set within 20 feet of Whitman Street as that section of roadway is extremely well traveled.
Brendan Sullivan of Cavanaro Consulting, the applicant’s engineer, advised the board that he met on site with Steven Wry of Land Planning, Inc., the Board’s consultant on the project, on April 5, 2004 to discuss the concerns detailed in Land Planning’s initial review of the project.
He referred the Board to the sections of Land Planning’s latest review which are related to the site inspection. The report indicates that it was determined that Whitman Street at the intersection of the proposed subdivision is super-elevated rather than crowned in the center of the road which results in water flowing across the roadway. The existing driveway to the project site is also not crowned.
The installation of the proposed crowned roadway and new catch basins located at the intersection with Whitman Street, the report stated, will result in an improvement in the roadway conditions of Whitman Street. To prevent water related problems within the roadway, he said, it was Land Planning’s recommendation that subdrains be provided along both sides of the road for the full length of roadway excluding the cul-de-sac. Another solution to the problem, Sullivan said, would be to place a double grate on either side of the road. Most of the drainage, he said, will be funneled to a detention pond at the rear of the site.
Sullivan advised that he had changed the vertical roadway alignment with longer vertical curves to improve sight distance. He noted that the 5% grade waiver request has been removed and the proposed intersection street grade has been changed to 3%. The vertical granite curbing waiver has also been removed, he said. He said that the applicant had also met with the Downeys and was granted a 20 foot grading easement in return for landscape improvements to their property for screening. The number of waiver requests still remaining, he said, are the length of a dead end street, the street sideline rounding, the distance from the way line to drain outlets, the cover over drain lines, and a reverse curve.
In conclusion, Sullivan noted that at the time of the inspection, the isolated wetland area on Lot 4 was full and overflowing. The runoff which spills from this area flows overland to the abutting property boundary at a stone wall. Runoff appears to seep through this wall and flows down gradient on land of A.W. Perry, and eventually into an apparent wetland area located on that property. Land Planning, he said, does not recommend that the detention basin be allowed to drain into this area but recommends instead the design of a method of handling stormwater runoff that does not affect the existing isolated wetland area.
Whitman Street resident Cynthia Fish said that a lot of water doesn’t make it into the drain that was put in when Route 58 was widened. She said that water was cascading onto her property for three days after the recent rainstorm. Brendan Sullivan said that he believed most of her water problem was coming from the Edison easement.
Vice Chairman Gerard LeBlanc said that the hearing should be continued as a lot of problems including drainage were still unresolved. He said the plan should indicate the impact on drainage from the construction of houses within the development. Brendan Sullivan said the plan will show contours.
Chairman Philip Lindquist recommended a 3/8 crown in the road and David Nagle noted that the Board favors a landscaped island at the cul-de-sac with slopping granite curbing.
Peter Palmieri of Merrill Associates of Hanover, who indicated he was representing abutter A.W. Perry, said that his client was looking at the possibility of an extension of the cul-de-sac. Perry’s 11 acre parcel, he said, could yield an additional 9 to 10 lots. Brendan Sullivan said the plan would necessitate the purchase of Lot 4.
At the conclusion of the hearing session is was agreed that a meeting would be held prior to the next meeting to include both the applicant’s and the Board’s engineers, the applicant, Board Chairman Philip Lindquist and Highway Surveyor Richard Harris to discuss the drainage issues related to the proposed subdivision.
Motion to continue the public hearing for Deer Hill to Wednesday, May 19, 2004 @ 8:00 p.m.: David Nagle
Second: Joan DiLillo
Vote: 5-0
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