Planning Board
Tuesday/April 20, 2004
Members Present: Barbara Freeman (Chair), William Weiler (Vice Chair), Al Bachelder, David Thayer, Ron Williams and Peter Fichter (Alternate Ex-Officio)
Barbara Freeman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Mrs. Freeman announced that Peter Fichter was the alternate ex-officio standing in for Gary Budd.
Mrs. Freeman said that she would like to have four alternate members on the Board and ask that the Board see if they can think of anyone who may be interested. She also mentioned that she would like to have Lacy Cluff, the Land Use Board Assistant, be an alternate on the Board since she is at all of the meetings already.
The Board agreed.
Mrs. Freeman said that the Board needed to discuss how they were going to deal with the work load. She said that one alternative would be to institute another meeting.
Al Bachelder said that one thing he does not want to see is the mixing of hearings with work sessions.
Ron Williams recommended starting the meeting at 6:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m.
The Board agreed to start the meetings at 6:00 p.m.
Mrs. Freeman said that she spoke to Ken McWilliams about the Board getting together socially. He said that there is nothing in the RSAs prohibiting the Board from doing this. Mrs. Freeman said that it was suggested by Al Bachelder and Bill Weiler that the Board should get together to get to know each other better.
The Board decided that they would discuss when they would like to get together at the May meeting.
The minutes from March 16, 2004 were reviewed and corrections were made.
A motion was made to accept the minutes as corrected. Seconded. All in favor.
Case: 2004-007
Conceptual Review - Richard Pietrafitta - Major Subdivision - 91 Forest Brook Rd./ Map 45 Lot 634-263 (31.60 Acres)
Mrs. Freeman announced that Richard Pietrafitta was going to present a conceptual idea of a Major Subdivision on Forest Brook Road
Mr. Bachelder recused himself because he is an abutter to Mr. Pietrafitta.
Mr. Pietrafitta introduced himself and told the Board that he currently lives in Massachusetts, but has owned this property in Newbury for over 20 years. He said he was considering subdividing 32 acres of his land.
Mr. Pietrafitta presented a plan showing lot 19 in the Forest Brook Subdivision. The plan showed how the lot currently exists.
Mr. Pietrafitta then presented a rough proposal of a subdivision. He said that he realizes that this will need some engineering and surveying, but just wanted some feedback on the rough idea.
Mrs. Freeman asked how many acres each lot was.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that each lot was between 2-3 acres with at least 200 feet of road frontage.
David Thayer asked how many lots he was creating.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that he would like to create between 8-10 lots, but was flexible.
Mr. Fichter asked what the character of the land was.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that it was relatively flat, but sloped towards the water front.
Mr. Fichter asked if there were any steep slopes.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that he was not sure of the exact grade.
Mr. Fichter asked if there were any wetlands.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that there was not.
Mrs. Freeman asked if there was any common land in the original subdivision.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that there was and showed where it was located on the plan.
Mrs. Freeman said that since he was adding more lots to the subdivision, he may want to consider extending the common land to access the lake.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that he would need to look at the deeds to see how the common land relates to his lot.
Mr. Williams asked if he knew the length of Ridgeway Road.
Mr. Pietrafitta said that he did not know the length of it, but guessed that it was about 2,500 feet.
Mr. Williams said that according to the regulations, a dead end road cannot extend more than 1,500 feet and told him that he would need another exit.
Mrs. Freeman said that Mr. Pietrafitta would have to have his surveyor and engineer following the major subdivision requirements.
Mr. Williams said that once he had a surveyor, he could determine the steep slopes, wetlands etc.
Mrs. Freeman said that she recommended having a preliminary hearing next to get public input. The preliminary application does not have to be as complete as a final hearing, but it does get noticed to the public.
Mr. Weiler told him that he also needed to familiarize himself with the Zoning Regulations.
Mr. Pietrafitta agreed to do as the Board advised and thanked the Board for their time.
Case: 2003-021
Final Hearings - Lynne M. Bell/Bell Engineering - Major Subdivisions/Annexation - Bay Point Rd. and Summer St.
The original notice read:
Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board will receive submission of 3 separate applications from Lynne M. Bell and Bell Engineering for final approval of a subdivision/annexation of land on the easterly sides of Bay Point Road and Summer Street on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 at 8:30 p.m. in the Town Office Building at 937 Route 103 in Newbury, N.H. If the applications are accepted as complete, a public hearing on the accepted applications will commence at the same meeting.
The applications are as follows:
1. Subdivide Parcel B into 7 lots for Bell Engineering.
2. Subdivide Parcel A (Tax Map 06 Lot # 196-224) into 6 new lots (Lynne M. Bell).
3. Annex 4.81 acres from Tax Map 06 Lot # 196-224 (AKA Lot # 18) to Tax Map 6 Lot # 156-213 creating a 5.60 acre lot. (Lynne M. Bell)
Copies of the plan are available for public review at the Town Office Building during regular business hours.
Mrs. Freeman read the above public notice.
Bob Stewart from RCS Designs introduced himself as the authorized agent for Lynne M. Bell and Bell Engineering.
Mrs. Freeman mentioned that Lou Caron from L.C. Engineering, consulting engineer, did not receive the plans until yesterday and extended himself greatly to provide the Board with a letter for tonight’s meeting. However, it does not look like he addressed site specific erosion control.
Mr. Stewart passed out the approval from the state.
Mrs. Freeman said that this did not replace the need for a site specific design.
Robert Scott pointed out that hay bails were added to the plan.
Mrs. Freeman said that Lou Caron still needs to review the plans to make sure the placement of the hay bails made sense and was sufficient.
Mrs. Freeman asked the Board if they would consider voting on the application making it conditional on getting the site specific erosion control and having Lou Caron review the plans.
The Board agreed that they could vote on the application with this condition.
Mrs. Freeman said that she had received an appraisal on the portion of the property that was originally going to be common land from both the Town Assessor and an independent assessor that Bob Bell hired. The Town Assessor valued the property at $8,600 and the independent assessor came up with a value of $5,000. She felt that Mr. Bell’s offer of $7,500 was reasonable and asked how the Board felt.
The Board agreed that $7,500 was a reasonable amount to offer for a buy out and accepted the donation.
Mr. Stewart said that the plans had been changed to reflect a change in the grade of Cross Road because Mr. Caron felt that the road was too flat in one area.
Mrs. Freeman said that it seemed like everything was in order to her. She said that the notice listed the applications separately, but she would like the Board to vote on them together because they have been reviewing the applications as a whole.
Mr. Fichter said that he would not vote because he was not familiar with this case.
A motion was made to approve the following Subdivisions/Annexation:
1. Subdivide Parcel B (Tax Map 06 Lot # 196-224) into 7 lots. (Bell Engineering).
2. Subdivide Parcel A (Tax Map 06 Lot # 196-224) into 6 new lots. (Lynne M. Bell)
3. Annex 4.81 acres from Tax Map 06 Lot # 196-224 (AKA Lot # 18) to Tax Map 6 Lot # 156-213 creating a 5.60 acre lot. (Lynne M. Bell)
The following conditions were voted by the board:
1. Re-locate culvert on Cross road to the low point in the roadway at station 34 + 33.
2. Final review of the erosion control plans by L.C. Engineering Company, consulting engineer, and revised as advised.
3. Bell Engineering will meet bond as specified by L.C. Engineering Company.
The motion was seconded. All were in favor.
Case: 2004-008
Final Hearing - Willow Pond, Inc - Minor Subdivision - Village Road - Map 44 Lot 316-433
Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board will receive submission of an application from Willow Pond, Inc for a final hearing for a Minor Subdivision on Village Road, Tax Map 44 Lot # 316-433, on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at 9:00 p.m. in the Town Office Building at 937 Route 103 in Newbury, N.H. If the application is accepted as complete, a public hearing on the accepted application will commence at the same meeting.
Copies of the plan are available for public review at the Town Office Building during regular business hours.
Mrs. Freeman read the above public notice.
Cal Prussman introduced himself as the authorized agent for Willow Pond, Inc.
Mr. Prussman passed out plans for the subdivision to the Board Members and held up a plan for the public to view.
The Board reviewed the application for completeness.
Mrs. Freeman asked where the driveway was going to be located.
Mr. Prussman pointed out the location of the driveway on the plan.
Mrs. Freeman said that he would need to have that driveway on the mylar before the Board could sign it. She said that he would also need to have the date of the application on the mylar.
A motion was made to accept the application as complete with the above changes. Seconded. All in favor.
Mr. Prussman presented the plan showing where the parcel was to be subdivided.
Being no questions from the Board, Mrs. Freeman opened the hearing to public input.
Scott Falvey asked him about the location of the driveway and asked if there was going to be a buffer of trees.
Mr. Prussman said that they were planning on leaving a buffer of trees so that the garage would not be very visible from the road.
Mrs. Freeman asked Mr. Prussman if the Town was planning on coming to the Board for a Site Plan Review.
Mr. Prussman said that he would be willing to do that if that was what the Board wanted.
Mrs. Freeman said that she would like him to in order to simplify this subdivision. The public would have the opportunity at that time to ask specific questions about the highway garage.
Margo Steves from Village Road in Newbury said that she was concerned about having the garage located on South Road because of the impact it will have on the traffic in that area. She said that there were a lot of children who live in that area.
Mr. Prussman said that there was not going to be an increase in traffic because the Town currently kept their gravel and winter sand there anyway. He said that the Town was already working out of that location.
Dick Wright, Selectman, said that the Town has an agreement with Walter Graf to use the existing driveway. He said that there will not be a significant increase in traffic.
William Syverstsen submitted a letter to the Board to be part of the public records (see file). He said that he did not feel that this subdivision was warranted for this particular use. He said that the Master Plan specifically asked the Town not to do something like this.
Mr. Syverstsen feels that what has been done so far can still be undone. He said that there are a lot of wetlands in that area and presented pictures to the Board (see file).
Mr. Prussman said that the wet area dried up during the summer months.
Mrs. Freeman asked Mr. Syverstsen if he paid attention to the location of the stone wall when he walked the property.
Mr. Syverstsen said that he did and the plans do not represent the current conditions.
Mr. Weiler said that when the Town comes to the Board for a Site Plan Review he would like to know where the water table is and if it fluctuates.
Mr. Wright said that the building of the garage will not impact any wetlands.
Mr. Weiler said that the location is on an aquifer which were very permeable. The Town needs to make sure that the building site is well above the water table.
Mrs. Freeman asked if the Town had enough insight from engineers saying that this was a buildable lot.
Steve Jesseman from Jessesman & Associates said that he was one of the engineers working on this project. He said that it would require a lot of work, but that it was a buildable lot.
Mrs. Freeman asked about the soils.
Mr Jesseman said that the soils would need to be compacted and the Town was well aware of that.
Mrs. Freeman closed the hearing to public comment.
Mr. Bachelder asked if the Town had considered other locations for the highway garage.
Mr. Prussman said that the Town had considered putting it at Fishersfield, but that was unacceptable to the public.
Mr. Wright said that the Town had looked into other sites as well, but they were too expensive.
Mr. Weiler asked Mr. Wright if the Town was planning on getting a permanent easement to go over Walter Graf’s land.
Mr. Wright said that the Town was planning on getting an easement.
A motion was made to approve the minor subdivision as presented with the following corrections to the mylar:
1. Show location of driveway
2. Have the date of the application in the title block
Case: 2003-019
Final Hearing - Briott, LLC - Major Subdivision - Off Southgate Road Map 44 Lot 078-083.
Notice is hereby given that the Planning Board will receive submission of an application from Briott, LLC for a final hearing for a Major Subdivision off Southgate Road, Tax Map 44 Lot # 078-083, on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at 9:30 p.m. in the Town Office Building at 937 Route 103 in Newbury, N.H. If the application is accepted as complete, a public hearing on the accepted application will commence at the same meeting.
Copies of the plan are available for public review at the Town Office Building during regular business hours.
Mrs. Freeman read the above public notice.
Mr. Williams noticed that the Map & Lot number was incorrect.
The Map & Lot number came from the preliminary application, but because it was not noticed properly, a hearing could not take place.
Steve Jesseman, from Jesseman & Associates, introduced himself as the authorized agent for Briott, LLC.
Mr. Jesseman said that he was going to ask for a continuation tonight anyway because some changes were going to be made to the plans, but would like to discuss the possibility of the Board waiving the 1,500 foot dead end road requirement.
Mrs. Freeman told him that nothing could be discussed because the hearing was not properly noticed.
A motion was made to adjourn. Seconded. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 10:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lacy L. Cluff
Land Use Board Assistant
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