Lyme Planning Board Minutes
November 30, 2006
Board Members & Staff: Present: Jack Elliott, Vice-Chair; Dick Jones, Selectboard Representative; John Billings, Member; Dan Brand, Member; Don Dwight, Alternate; Simon Carr, Alternate; Stephanie Clark, Alternate; Ben Kilham, Alternate; and Victoria Davis, Planning & zoning Administrator Absent: Freda Swan, Chair
Public: Fire Chief Michael Hinsley, Dave Roby, Don Metz, Melinda Ashley, Rob Meyer, Bill Ploog, Karen Keane, David Keane, Scott Veracka, and Bridget Veracka
Jack Elliott called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm at the Fire Station. He appointed Stephanie Clark to sit as a member in place of Freda Swan.
Item 1: Approval of Minutes: Dick Jones made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 9, 2006 meeting. Dan Brand seconded the motion, and unanimous approval followed.
Item 2: Public Hearing for Fire Pond Construction at property of Don Metz & Melinda Ashley, 114 Franklin Hill Road, Tax Map 408, Lot 70.2; Building Permit #06-200: Chief Hinsley displayed a map of the town and pointed out dry hydrant and pond locations. He stated they do not have adequate water sources for fire protection on Baker Hill Road, Acorn Hill Road, or Franklin Hill Road. There is a pond on the Brand property on Franklin Hill Road, but it would be expensive to utilize it as it is above the road. The Department is striving for adequate coverage without having to shuttle water. He added they have been looking for sites on Franklin Hill Road for five years, and Don Metz and Melinda Ashley have recently agreed to allow the siting of a fire pond and 6-inch dry hydrant on
their property.
Jack Elliott reviewed the section 4.20 of the Subdivision Regulations to determine adequacy of the fire pond. Don Metz described the pond and site as follows: approximately 1/5 acre or 70’x170’ pond with a 12’ depth, 240,000 gallon capacity, and a 440’ long and 12’ wide access drive with 50’ radius turn-around. He stated he is willing to sign a standard fire pond access easement. He added this facility would be the closest water source for six houses. Dan Brand made a motion to accept the proposal as a fire pond. John Billings seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Item 3: Informal Meeting with Karen & David Keane for Lot Line Adjustment of Tax Map 408, Lots 75.1 and 75.2 at 56 & 59 Franklin Hill Road: Karen Keane presented a sketch of their property. She stated they would like to alter the boundary between their two lots. Both lots are substantially covered by conservation easements held by the town with reserved building envelopes. The building envelope on lot 75.2 was required and approved by the Planning Board to protect the agricultural soils during an earlier subdivision approval. The Keanes are considering removing the building envelope on lot 75.2 and making the entire lot a conservation lot. This lot might also be reconfigured in a lot line adjustment so it would be a nonconforming lot with less than the required road
frontage, but this would not matter if it were a conservation lot. David Roby suggested the Keanes could also consider the lot size averaging method to do the lot line adjustment. At some point they may sell the lot to the Treadwells who own lot 75.3. Jack Elliott pointed out that if the Treadwells wish to move the approved building envelope within lot 75.3 (which also is mostly conservation easement with a Board approved building envelope) or onto lot 75.2 (which might be completely conserved at that point), they are required by State law to go to town meeting for approval to take land out of conservation easement even if they are putting the same or more area back into conservation easement.
Dick Jones stated there are two steps: 1. A lot line adjustment application, and 2. go to town meeting for approval on conservation easement adjustment if needed. He added that any warrant articles for town meeting should be given to Carole Bont in the Selectboard office by mid-January at the latest. Karen Keane will discuss her options with the Treadwells and come in to the Planning & Zoning office to consider a lot line adjustment application.
Item 4: Telecommunications Ordinance Amendment Discussion: The Communication Committee had been invited to participate in this discussion, but no members were able to attend. The Board reviewed an amended draft which included changes suggested by Frank Bowles of the Communication Committee, Planning Board, Town Counsel, Jae Whitelaw, and Victoria Davis. After much discussion and changes, Dick Jones made a motion to take the proposed amendment to public hearing. Stephanie Clark seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Item 5: Informal Meeting to Discuss David Mather Property Change in Use at 7 Britton Lane, Tax Map 201, Lot 81: The Mathers are in Florida so Scott and Bridget Veracka appeared to discuss the possible purchase of the Mather’s Tuckaway Timber building to a garage. The Veracka’s currently operate a garage on Pleasant Street (Route 10) in a leased building. Bridget Veracka stated if they purchase the Mather property, they would have more adequate space and a safer access to their facility, and they could increase their used car sales. Dick Jones pointed out in preparing their site plan review application, they should pay particular attention to amount of traffic generated by their business, appearance of business, and management of toxic materials such as oil and
grease. In response to Jack Elliott, Bridget Veracka stated they would have a sign about equivalent to the Tuckaway Timber sign. Don Dwight added neighbors had been concerned about dust in an earlier application on Britton Lane. David Roby stated this could be viewed as creating two garages in Lyme since the existing leased space is set up as a garage. Ben Kilham responded that is irrelevant and it is the creation of another business which is replacing an existing business. Scott Veracka stated they would not be adding to the building or constructing any new buildings, and they will not need to expand the parking area.
Item 6: Zoning Ordinance Amendment Discussion: The draft of zoning amendment proposals is attached. Discussion of each amendment is as follows:
#1 Flood Zone Ordinance: There was no public comment. Dick Jones made a motion to take the amendment to public hearing. John Billings seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
#2 Definition of Lot: David Roby expressed deep concern about amending the definition of “lot” to eliminate all merging of parcels. He felt strongly that this would be a far-reaching mistake. He stated the doctrine of merger in Lyme is over 30 years old and it has been in the zoning ordinance from the beginning. He added that there has been no legal challenge of this doctrine. He does not believe the court cases cited by Town Counsel are relevant to this issue. He stated if this amendment is passed, a 600 acre lot he knows of could be divided into five lots. He added that this amendment could be called the “forest fragmentation amendment.” David Roby suggested people who bought land after the zoning ordinance had
been adopted and were not aware of the merger requirement might be granted the ability to unmerge.
Dick Jones stated Town Counsel had determined the merging of conforming lots is illegal, but there is not problem in merging nonconforming lots. Ben Kilham added it is not a problem to subdivide conforming lots as it is not an onerous task. Stephanie Clark stated we cannot go back and undo what was done, we can only give the opportunity to unmerge and inform the public of the tax implications. She said there are many court cases which touch on this topic but they are very factually driven. They are also inconsistent so it is not fair to say there would be no chance in court to challenge the current merging rule. David Roby said he would like to work with Stephanie Clark to come up with another alternative to this amendment. The Board determined they could review another proposal at a
meeting immediately after the December 14, 2006 public hearing for zoning amendments.
#3 Ridgeline & Hillside District – Dan Karnes, former Planning Board Alternate will make corrections to a map for this amendment over the weekend. There was no public comment. Dick Jones made a motion to take the amendment to town meeting. Dan Brand seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
#4 Telecommunications Facilities in Conservation Districts – Dave Roby questioned allowing facilities in the Steep Slopes Conservation District. Dick Jones made a motion to take the amendment as written to public hearing. John Billings seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
#5 Switchback Definition – There was no public comment. John Billings made a motion to take the amendment to public hearing. Dick Jones seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
#6 Eliminate Locally Important Agriculture Soils from Agricultural Soils Conservation District – Dave Roby stated he is confident farmers use these soils, and they are aesthetically pleasing to the Lyme residents. He felt the town would want to maintain its rural character by protecting these soils. Bill Ploog suggested the area of soils to be eliminated from the district should be considered as well as the potential impact. Ben Kilham stated some of these soils had been eliminated in the past from the district, but years later, they were put back in. He added Mike Dannehy of the Soils Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service) had recommended which soils could be removed. The Board suggested a map should be prepared to evaluate
the issue further. They will discuss this at a meeting immediately following the December 14th public hearing to see if they can resolve the conflict and send an amendment to a January public hearing.
#7 Sewage Disposal System Replacement & Reducing Restrictions – There was no public discussion. Dick Jones made a motion to send the amendment to public hearing. John Billings seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Item 7: Community Attitude Survey Results Discussion: Simon Carr had e-mailed the numerical results of the survey to the Board members. He pointed out that there is an error to question #24 which he will correct. He has 80 pages of “odd comments” which respondents provided after several numerical questions and 187 pages of responses to the open-ended questions. The Board suggested a few copies of the results could be available in the town offices, the library, and on the Town’s web site. The numerical results will be sent to the Upper Valley-Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission for review and suggestions for public presentation.
John Billings made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm. Dan Brand seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Submitted by,
Victoria Davis
Planning & Zoning Administrator
Tentative Meeting Agenda for December 14, 2006 at the FIRE STATION:
7:30 Public Hearing for Zoning Amendments
8:30 Discussion of additional zoning amendment proposals for 2nd hearing
Tentative Meeting Agenda for January 11, 2007 at the FIRE STATION:
7:30 Public Hearing for Zoning Amendments
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