Planning Board minutes, Thursday, July 12
The meeting was called to order at 7:09pm.
Members Present: Sarah Kimball Acting Chair, David Treadwell, Betsey Harding, Frank Benesh, and John Allen, Selectman’s representative. Alternate Members Present: Dick Bennett. It was determined that all present will vote. Scott Badger, Chair, Mike Mallett, Daren Levitt, Ray Abbott, and George Howard had called to say they would not be at the meeting. Larry Siebert was not in attendance. Members of the public present: Hank Benesh, David Douglas of Thorne Surveys, Bob and Bea Davis, and Tony McManus.
The Minutes of June 14, 2012 were discussed and a motion was made by Betsey Harding and seconded by Dave Treadwell to accept the minutes as written. The motion passed unanimously.
Public comment concerning items not on the agenda:
Bob Davis spoke about a lot across from him being grandfathered regarding road frontage requirements and the owner not being able to build now because of frontage issue. Sarah Kimball and Frank Benesh both suggested bringing it to the Selectmen to resolve first. Bob Davis referred to a house recently built on Meserve Hill Road without frontage. Frank Benesh stated that if the lot has deeded access or is a class 6 road, that’s where the issues are. Bob Davis just had to upgrade a road to Town status. John Allen will talk with Bob Davis about his concerns.
Continuation of Public Hearing – Proposed Subdivision: Tax Map R17, Parcels 23 & 24 on Chesley Farm Road owned by James Porath. David Douglas represented the owner, and brought in new maps. David Douglas had written an easement for the well but it has not been recorded yet. Mary Badger has signed off on the new subdivision as required by the deed. The map now includes the locations of all the septic systems, the requested bearings, and the road name. Betsey Harding moved to approve the subdivision application conditionally until deed recordings have been added, Dave Treadwell seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Frank Benesh asked whether a digital copy of the map could have been made available. Mr. Douglas said his office probably had that capability.
Presentation of nominees by the Planning Board Chairman/Vice-Chairman Nominating Committee: Since no one from the nominating committee was present, this will be postponed until next meeting.
Continuation of State Building Code enforcement discussion:
Sarah Kimball had emailed a proposed revision of Section 16 of the Zoning Ordinance. George Howard had also emailed his draft to planning board members. Paper copies were available at the meeting. Jerry Dougherty had prepared a document for the Board of Selectmen that had been discussed at the Selectmen’s work session earlier, before the Planning Board meeting. Copies of the document, which discussed issues involved with enforcing the State Building Code and contained a rewording of Section 16 of the Zoning Ordinance, were made available to Planning Board members.
Betsey Harding felt that George Howard’s version is far more complicated than it needs to be, and she would prefer a much simpler structure. Dave Treadwell commented that Sarah Kimball’s version was simpler and easier to understand. Dave Treadwell felt that George Howard’s version does the town a disservice by not having single family homes be inspected. Sarah Kimball told the Board that the selectmen at their previous meeting also favored not separating out single-family residences, but having the State Building Code be enforced for all building in town. They felt that the votes in March supported this position. It was also noted that most of the building permit applications have been for single family residences.
The Board decided to go through Sarah Kimball’s version first and then compare the other two documents to it. Item #5 lists the exemptions to permitting. These had been taken directly from the International Residential Code with a few of the redundancies summarized. Concern was expressed regarding sheds and decks that might extend into the set-backs. This was taken care of by changing the first sentence to “Though still required to comply with the State Building Code, the following shall be exempt from permitting as long as they are in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance, including but not limited to compliance with all setback requirements:” Sidewalks and driveways were removed from the list of exceptions.
Discussion on Item #6 involved the fact the George Howard’s version spelled out the fee structure. The Board felt that by leaving the specifics of the fee structure up to selectmen, necessary changes would not require the vote of the town. No changes were made to Item #6.
A phrase from Jerry Dougherty’s version was added to the beginning of Item #7 so as to read “The Building Inspector shall act upon any application within 30 days after a completed application has been received (60 days for nonresidential applications or residential applications encompassing more than 10 dwelling units).”
Frank Benesh suggested that Item #8 need only read “Permits are valid for one year from the date of issuance.” The present language does not state how long the permit is valid. The concerns that prompted the present language would be addressed by requiring applicants who had not completed any permitted work by one year to come in for a new or extended permit.
George Howard’s draft included the duties of the Building Inspector in the Ordinance so people can vote on it. Most board members felt that the reference (in item #3 of Sarah Kimball’s draft) to the Building Inspector’s duties as spelled out in RSA 674:51-III (c) was sufficient. Job descriptions of all the other town employees are handled by the selectmen.
Because of the time Frank Benesh moved that the board stop the building code enforcement discussion at this point and continue next meeting with a review of Jerry Dougherty’s and George Howard’s versions. David Treadwell seconded the motion, and all voted in favor. Sarah Kimball will send a revised copy to everyone.
Old Business: There was no old business.
New Business:
1. John Allen asked about property deeded to the town, specifically what does the town want to do with the building rights to the Wildcat Townhouses. Frank Benesh gave a little history to board members about the original subdivision. The Town now essentially controls what happens up there. Dick Bennett would like us to see the proposal prior to selling the rights to any prospective buyer.
2. Betsey Harding had heard that someone from planning board is giving misinformation for building inspection issues. We need to make sure that we are not doing this. She is concerned that people will think the whole board is giving misinformation, not just one or two.
Adjournment: Frank Benesh moved to adjourn, David Treadwell seconded the motion, and all were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:02 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ella Cressy
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