Lyme Planning Board Minutes
April 26, 2007
Board Members & Staff: Present: Jack Elliott, Chair; Stephanie Clark, Vice-Chair; John Billings, Member; Michelle Balch, Member; Dick Jones, Selectboard Representative; David Roby, Alternate; Don Dwight, Alternate; and Victoria Davis, Planning & Zoning Administrator Absent: Ben Kilham, Alternate
Public: Lee Larson, Trustee for the First Baptist Church; Lisa Hayes; Rod Finley, Pathways Consulting; Bob & Denby Coyle; Scott Nichols; Lloyd Nichols; Chris Stowe; Dan Smith, Attorney; Will Pushee; Jamie Graham; Jim Poage; Dan O’Brien; Wayne Pike; Tami Dowd; Jackie Glass; Earl & Beverly Strout; Beverly & Norman Wakely; Laurie Wadsworth; Frank Bowles; Chris Fleisher, Valley News Reporter; Gerry Clancy; Dan Brand; Tony & Sue Ryan; Cynthia Bognolo; Nancy Dwight; Jack Taylor; Greg Hanlon; and Bryan Roth
Jack Elliott called the meeting to order at the Fire Station at 7:00 pm.
Item 1: Boundary Line Agreement Review Between First Baptist Calvinistic Society (Tax Map 420 Lot 26 at 550 Dorchester Road) and Brian Rich, Trustee (Tax Map 420 Lot 24 at 552 Dorchester Road); Application #07-01: Lee Larson explained he and Brian Rich did deed and old survey research as well as a field visit with a GPS to determine the accurate boundaries of the property. The town tax maps show the boundary between the two properties at the first iron pin along the southeast boundary of the church property. Lee Larson explained that there is an iron pin in that location due to a slight change in angle of the property line, but the true property southeast corner of the church property and northeast corner of the Rich property is the second iron pin. He stated they found old blazes to
mark the southern boundary of the church property beginning at the second iron pin and no blazes were found for a property boundary beginning at the first iron pin. The church deed states there are 80 acres. The tax map currently shows there are only 60 acres. Lee Larson stated that moving the line reflects the appropriate acreage of 80 acres. Neither the Church representatives nor the Riches felt a survey was warranted.
Dick Jones made a motion to approve the Boundary Line Agreement. Stephanie Clark seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed. Jack Elliott signed the agreement form which will be sent to the Grafton Registry of Deeds by the town office staff.
Item 2: Approval of Minutes: Stephanie Clark made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 19, 2007 meeting. Michelle Balch seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Item 3: Voluntary Merger Review for Lisa & Ken Hayes (Tax Map 401 Lots 76 & 77, 75 River Road); Application #07-04: Lisa Hayes stated that she owned both lots and would like to merge them. Dick Jones made a motion to approve the merger. John Billings seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed. Jack Elliott signed the merger form which will be sent to the Grafton Registry of Deed by the town office staff.
Item 4: Site Plan Review & Conditional Use Permit Hearing for Bob Coyle (Tax Map 201 Lot 73, 5 Main Street): Jack Elliott announced that he had signed a petition in favor of the proposal, and he recused himself from the hearing and left the meeting. Stephanie Clark made a motion to appoint Don Dwight to sit for Jack Elliott. Michelle Balch seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed. Stephanie Clark announced that she had also signed a petition in favor of the proposal. She stated she would step down if asked. Dan Smith requested that she step down. Stephanie Clark left the meeting. Don Dwight made a motion for David Roby to sit in Stephanie Clark’s place. Michelle Balch seconded the motion, John Billings recused himself and the
remaining agreed with the motion. Don Dwight made a motion to appoint John Billings as Chair for the hearing. Michelle Balch seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
Victoria Davis distributed copies of a letter to the Planning Board from the Chief of Police to Board members and the public. Bob Coyle presented his plan to convert the Nichols Hardware Store into a restaurant/market/ pizza place/wine & beer bar on the first floor of the building. There would be 40 seats and the hours would be 11:00 am – 10 pm. The post office and bank would remain on the first floor and additional space of approximately 4,000 square feet would be rented out to one or two tenants for retail or office space. The basement would only be accessory to other uses. The second floor would be used for two office spaces, and the third floor would continue to be used as a residential apartment. He explained that he had taken a plan with about 40 parking spaces to the
ZBA who determined there needed to be more parking spaces for the intended use, and they denied his application for a joint parking special exception under section 7.26. He has revised the plan with the help of Pathways Consulting to show a potential for 65 spaces. He stated there could be additional parking if he removed the barn, but since abutter Will Pushee had expressed concern about vehicle lights, the barn is proposed to remain. He added that he would be willing to work with Will Pushee to share the costs of an easement over the State owned Park & Ride. Will Pushee is currently trying to obtain an easement to access his father’s house behind the Nichols Hardware Store.
John Billings asked Dick Jones to go through the review process with the review checklist provided by Victoria Davis. Rod Finley pointed out that water service is shown going into the building and provides water from a community well. He also pointed out catch basins noted on the map. Dick Jones asked about drainage for the back parking. Rod Finley stated he hoped this area would not be required to be developed for parking though it is shown as several parking spaces on the submitted plan. Bob Coyle stated he met with NH Department of Transportation (DOT) personnel today to review the new plan submitted to the Board. DOT has not completed their review. The septic system design has not been approved by the State yet. It was noted that the “retail” space on the
first floor should be marked “retail/office” space as the tenant is unknown and office space has less parking requirement.
Dan Smith stated the application is incomplete for at least two reasons: 1. the trees shown on the plan are only existing and no landscaping proposed; and 2. a survey is needed to tie the boundary lines to the building to show its exact location. A waiver for the survey had been requested. Dan Smith added that the lot is crammed with parking, the spaces may not meet the size requirements, and they do not seem to scale out as noted on the plan.
Bob Coyle responded that due to testimony from Will Pushee, he did not want to block the view from the Pushee property. He stated he would be happy to landscape the property further. He also felt it is easy to take a measure from the building to the property lines without the need of a survey. He added that although the parking spaces are 9’x18’ instead of the required 9’x20’ specified in Appendix A of the Site Plan Review Regulations, the aisle between the rows of spaces exceeds the requirement by four feet. He stated it is up to NH DOT to determine parking needs. Dick Jones responded that DOT deals with access, and it is up to the Town to determine the parking needs.
Dick Jones continued with the review noting that loading areas for the restaurant, a dumpster area, and snow storage are not shown. Bob Coyle stated he would have snow removed from the site. Dick Jones responded the snow had to be located on the property until it was hauled away, so there still needed to be a snow storage area. Dick Jones also expressed concern that a survey should be required. David Roby concurred stating it is important to know the lot boundaries to ensure the parking is on the lot. John Billings inquired about the surfacing of the parking. Bob Coyle responded that it is a mix of paved and unpaved though he hopes to pave the entire lot over time. Rod Finley stated that the proposed parking is within the existing parking areas. Dick Jones questioned the
property line with the State land. Bob Coyle responded the property line is in line with the edge of the Nichols Hardware Building, and they are not proposing parking to exceed that line. Dick Jones recalled the line between the two properties being called into question, and he felt if one line is inaccurate; the others could be as well. John Billings stated he did not find the parking spaces on the plan to scale to the measurements shown on the plan. Rod Finley stated the parallel spaces are 8’x24’ and the others are 9’x18’. Dick Jones noted the discrepancy with the parking space size guidelines in Appendix A of the Site Plan Review Regulations. David Roby stated he felt the NH DOT review is critical to a complete application.
Dick Jones made a motion to deem the application incomplete. David Roby seconded the motion. Don Dwight stated he would like to discuss waivers before a vote is taken. Dick Jones withdrew his motion and David Roby withdrew his second to the motion. Don Dwight stated the snow storage, dumpster and loading could be drawn in as the applicant indicated he knew where they would be. He made a motion to waive the survey. Michelle Balch seconded the motion. David Roby stated he believed it would be a mistake not to require a survey to ensure parking would be on-site. Don Dwight and Michelle Balch voted in favor of the motion to waive the survey. Dick Jones and David Roby voted against the motion. To break the tie, Chair John Billings voted against the motion. A survey is
required for a complete application.
Don Dwight made a motion to waive the requirement to show the snow storage, dumpster, and loading area. Michelle Balch seconded the motion. Dick Jones and David Roby voted against the motion. To break the tie, Chair John Billings voted in favor of the motion.
David Roby stated there should be NH DOT approval prior to deeming the application complete. Dick Jones made a motion to deem the application incomplete. David Roby seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed. Dick Jones made a motion to recess the meeting to May 24th at 7:00 pm. Don Dwight seconded the motion, and unanimous agreement followed.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.
Submitted by,
Victoria Davis
Planning & Zoning Administrator
Tentative Meeting Agenda for May 10, 2007:
7:00 Minor Subdivision Hearing for Cohen
8:00 Informal for Loch Lyme Lodge use
Tentative Meeting Agenda for May 24, 2007:
7:00 Site Plan Review and Conditional Use Permit Applications for Coyle
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