Newton Planning Board
Minutes of Public Meeting
August 14, 2007
1. Call to Order
Chairman Kim Pettit called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. In attendance were Chairman, Kim Pettit; Vice Chairman, Ann Miles; Planning Board Members: Jim Doggett and Frank Gibbs; Alternate, Mary Allen; and Administrative Assistant Lisa Babcock. Minutes were transcribed and typed by Lisa Babcock.
Pettit appointed Alternate Allen to stand in for Planning Board Member Kim Vaillant.
Also in attendance: Circuit Rider Planner, Reuben Hull and Town Engineer, Mike Vignale of KV Partners.
2. 125 Development NH Corp, Coleman McDonough: Continuation of public hearing to consider the request for review of a proposed major non-residential site plan at Puzzle Lane, Phase II. The property is owned by 125 Development NH Corp./Coleman McDonough and is referenced as Tax Map 14/Block 1/Lot 27-3. Dennis Quintal of Civil Construction Management, Inc. spoke on behalf of Mr. McDonough.
Mr. Quintal stated that he has submitted an amended Alteration of Terrain application to the State since the developer is moving fill from Lot 4 to Lot 3. Review of the application is pending due to backlog at DES.
Mr. Quintal stated that he received the engineering comments dated July 15, 2007, submitted his response on August 1, 2007 and received the second engineering letter dated August 10, 2007 which he has not had time to address. He said that the comments seemed minor in nature and did not foresee any problems addressing them. In reference to comment # 7 on the KV letter dated August 10, Mr. Quintal stated that test pits could be taken from anywhere on the site and there should be no problems.
Mr. Quintal also mentioned that he had not received any comments from Mr. Hull but would address comments as soon as they were received.
Pettit asked Mr. Vignale to discuss any issues that he had with the project. Mr. Vignale referenced comment # 9 on the KV letter dated August 10. He stated that the proposed infiltration devices intended to control water quality would require intensive maintenance to remain effective over a long period of time. He said that filtration systems utilizing filter fabric and sand can get clogged over time and fail. Mr. Vignale recommended that the property owner be required to submit maintenance reports to the Town. Mr. Quintal suggested that the Town’s Code Enforcement Officer periodically inspect the drainage system to ensure that regular maintenance has been completed not only for this site, but for all commercial sites and other developments as well.
Allen suggested that Mr. Hull draft language regarding maintenance and inspection of drainage systems for a warrant article.
Mr. Hull stated that an annual report be created that extracts information from plans and formalizes the information in a way that the Town can track what maintenance is required, what maintenance has been completed and what has not been completed. Pettit suggested that Mr. Hull put some information together that can be discussed at the next work-session. Gibbs also stated that a standard form with a checklist of maintenance items would be useful.
In getting back to the overall comments on the project, Mr. Hull said that the only comments he had were that the ADA parking spaces needed to be lengthened, a maintenance schedule for drainage had to be developed and, just as a suggestion, the developer might want to consider using porous pavement.
Pettit said that there were still a few outstanding comments to be addressed per KV’s August 10 letter but that Mr. Quintal and Mr. Vignale could work those remaining issues out being sure to forward copies of any correspondence to the Planning Board office.
Motion by Doggett to continue the public hearing to September 11th. Second by Allen. Passed unanimously.
3. Dan Ferrara: Public hearing for consideration of a lot line adjustment at 39 Country Pond Road. The property is owned by Robert J. and Joseph W. Ferrara and is referenced as Tax Map 5 / Block 1 / Lot 1-2.
Mr. Hull said that the plans indicate that a section was previously taken out of lot 1-2. The lot lines forming this section will be removed making lot 1-2 and lot 1 more regular in shape. Pettit stated that there were old plans on file that proposed a subdivision of lot 1 and probably the section was intended as a right of way for that subdivision plan which had never been completed.
Motion by Doggett to approve the lot line adjustment. Second by Allen. Passed unanimously.
4. Town of Newton, NH: Continuation of public hearing for proposed amendments to the Subdivision Regulations and the Site Plan Review Regulations regarding application fees and procedures.
Mr. Hull said that he would present information on fees and procedures to be reviewed at the next work-session and the formal hearing should be continued to September.
Motion by Allen to continue discussion of fees and procedures to September 11th. Second by Doggett. Passed unanimously.
5. Manifests.
Motion by Allen to pay One Communications $119.60 and RPC membership dues $3,811.00 for a total of $3,930.60 from the operating budget. Second by Doggett. Passed unanimously.
Motion by Allen to pay $2,740.39 from the NPREA account per NPREA manifest dated 8/14/07. Second by Doggett. Passed unanimously.
6. Acceptance of Minutes.
Motion by Doggett to accept minutes of July 10, 2007 after changing “Seconded by Jim.” to “Second by Doggett.” Second by Allen. Passed unanimously.
7. Correspondence
(a) Letter from Marley-Ciambelli re: Subdivision at 23 Whittier Street. Mr. Ciambelli and Mr. Lavelle spoke on behalf of the Marleys. In a letter dated July 30, 2007, R. Marley, K. Marley and S. Ciambelli requested that the Planning Board allow them to sell an existing home at 23 Whittier Street releasing it from the conditionally approved 5-lot Katherine Drive subdivision, MBL 6-9-9, while leaving the remaining 4 lots for future development. However, Pettit stated that the board could not approve this request since the subdivision had never been recorded. The only condition that had not been met was to post the road bond.
Additionally, Pettit stated that the approval had expired in March 2007 as indicated on the Notice of Decision. Mr. Ciambelli provided a second letter dated August 14, 2007 requesting an extension of 1 year to meet the conditions of approval for the subdivision. Mr. Ciambelli stated that they could not post bond for the road at this time. Mr. Hull stated that the board could waive the lapse in meeting the conditions of approval since Marley and Ciambelli were still within the 1 year requirement for “active and substantial development” (subdivision regulation 6.1.11).
Pettit was concerned that the Board might be seen as being unfair since other developers had been held to the 6-month time frame and were required to re-apply when their approvals had lapsed, for example Mr. Woodhouse.
Miles stated that 2 years had lapsed for Mr. Woodhouse and he had been given notice that his approval had lapsed but Marley and Ciambelli had not been notified and only 5 months had lapsed. She suggested that all developers be notified at the 5 month point that their approvals were about to expire. Miles said that the Board should try to find a way to help the developer especially given the current market conditions. She stated that this developer had always been straight-forward with the Town. Pettit said that Notices of Decision indicate the expiration date so no other notification from the Planning Board is required.
Mr. Lavelle, surveyor for the project, said that the owners were hoping to sell the house without bonding the road, in his opinion, it is not necessary to put in the road at this time.
Mr. Hull recommended that an amended site plan be submitted for a two phase development. Phase I would extract the parcel with the existing home from the rest of the subdivision. Additionally, the existing garage would have to be removed and clear, strong language would have to be added to the plan to address the existing driveway. The existing driveway would have to be removed and a new driveway would have to be added after the proposed roadway was built. The current driveway accesses Whittier Street; the new driveway would access Katherine Drive. Phase II would subdivide the remaining parcel into 4 lots and add the road. Mr. Lavelle said he would try to put together a plan in time to be scheduled for the next public hearing.
Miles asked what the developer’s plans were in terms of starting the road. Mr. Ciambelli replied that because of the poor real estate market conditions they were not able to put the road in now, they need an extension. Miles said that the road bond should be posted closer to the actual start of construction. Miles suggested that the issue of bonding be discussed at the next work-session.
8. Maple Ave. Driveway Gibbs stated that there is a house for sale on the corner of Maple Ave. and Patriot Drive that was part of the Ferrandi subdivision. He said that the existing driveway that accesses Maple Ave. must be blocked off and a new driveway must be created that opens onto Patriot Drive.
Motion by Allen to send a letter to the owner of the subdivision that the driveway on the house to be sold must be changed in accordance to the approved plans. Second by Doggett. Passed unanimously.
In addition, Pettit requested that the secretary contact Mr. Ferrandi by phone.
9. Correspondence (continued).
(b) Board of Appeals Public Hearing Notices – Pettit noted that Mr. Pica is scheduled for a public hearing (1) to request an appeal from the Decision of the Planning Board and (2) an Application for Variance to allow expansion of the campground. Miles will attend the hearing to represent the Planning Board.
(c) Fax Dated 7/31/07 – Pettit noted that the CPFG sound mitigation issue had been remanded back to the Planning Board and said that the case would likely be heard in September.
10. Other Board Business
(a) Gavin Subdivision – recording of mylars. Engineer, Dennis Quintal, spoke on behalf of the Gavins. Mr. Quintal said that he felt that all of the conditions of approval had been met on the Gavin subdivision and wanted to discuss the issue of bonding the drainage work. The mylars had been signed, but not recorded since a bond for the drainage construction had not yet been obtained. Mr. Quintal said that since the work might not be done for a year or more, a bond should be obtained closer to the time of construction, not this far in advance. Construction costs could change between now and the time of construction rendering a bond obtained too early inadequate. Mr. Quintal further stated that the Gavins agreed that a bond to construct the swale would have to be posted before work could commence, and
they agreed to pay for the culvert pipe. He said that building permits could not be issued until this work was done. He felt that the Town was well protected as far as getting the work done and paid for.
Motion by Allen to record the Gavin subdivision mylar and issue a corrected Notice of Decision. Second by Miles. Passed unanimously.
(b) Durham Conservation Subdivision Regulations. Mr. Hull explained the process by which subdivisions are designed in Durham. In this model, the first step is to take an inventory of the natural and cultural resources on a site. These items are then prioritized and ranked, and roads and homes are placed in such a way as to preserve these resources. Mr. Hull recommended that the board explore this model further during October’s work-session.
(c) Complaint Filed with Attorney General’s Office. The Board received a copy of a complaint filed with the AG’s office by surveyor Ted Dura. In the complaint Mr. Dura states that his stamp had been used without approval in connection with the Sargent Woods project. The information has been forwarded to attorney Sharon Somers of DTC who notified Attorney Grau who represents the developer. The Board decided that no action should be taken at this time pending council’s investigation of the complaint.
The Board also discussed the possibility of having the new Town Engineer, KV Partners, take over the Sargent Woods project. Miles suggested a new perspective on the project might be helpful.
Motion by Allen to send a letter to the Sargent Woods developer, Ned Nichols, to inform him that the board is in receipt of the complaint and of the potential change in engineers. Second by Doggett. Passed unanimously.
11. Adjournment. Allen motion to adjourn at 9:00 pm. Second by Miles. Passed Unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Babcock
Administrative Assistant
Newton Planning board.
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