Newton Planning Board
Minutes of WORKSESSION and public hearing
August 26, 2008
Page 1 of 7
Planning Board Minutes of August 26, 2008 Work Session
All minutes are in draft form until approved by the Planning Board. Please check subsequent minutes for approval of and/or amendments to these minutes.
1. Call to Order / Attendance: Chairperson, Ann Miles called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. In attendance were: Chairperson Ann Miles; Vice Chairman, Jim Doggett; Planning Board Member, Barbara White; and Alternate Mary Allen. Minutes were transcribed and typed by Lisa Babcock.
Also in attendance: Circuit Rider Planner, David West, and Fire Chief Bill Ingalls.
Miles appointed Allen to stand in for Pettit.
2. Timothy Hajjar/T&M Property Maintenance: Public Hearing for a Conditional Use Permit to operate a Home Based Business at 17 North Main Street.
Miles opened the public hearing for a Conditional Use Permit for Timothy Hajjar.
Mr. Hajjar addressed the Board stating that he was applying for a conditional use permit to operate a landscaping business from his home at 17 North Main Street. He stated that his property is used only to park commercial vehicles and store landscaping equipment in his barn.
Allen asked how many commercial vehicles were parked at the property. Mr. Hajjar said 3. Doggett asked if he owned the pond adjacent to his property. Mr. Hajjar replied no.
White pointed out that Mr. Hajjar had indicated on his application that he owns 3 commercial vehicles with GVWs ranging from 10,000 – 14,000 lbs and that the Zoning Ordinance prohibits vehicles in excess of 12,000 lbs. She also asked if Mr. Hajjar had any latitude since North Main Street is a state road which is engineered for heavier vehicles.
Allen asked if the vehicles are parked near the septic system or well. Mr. Hajjar said no.
Abutters Robert Bartlett and Chris Nord were present. Mr. Nord stated that Mr. Hajjar has been a good neighbor and that he does not have any problems with the business. Mr. Bartlett concurred.
Mr. Bartlett also asked if Mr. Hajjar were to move, would a new owner be able to run a business at the property. Doggett stated that the conditional use permit does not constitute a change of use. White added that if the person moves on, the business moves as well (the business does not run with the land).
Planning Board Member, Frank Gibbs arrived at 7:06 pm.
White asked if there is external lighting on the property. Mr. Hajjar said there is one light above the garage door.
Miles informed the applicant that the property must maintain a residential appearance and that the business cannot change from landscaping to another type of business.
Gibbs asked Mr. Hajjar to confirm that no work is done on site – the property is simply used to store equipment. Mr. Hajjar said yes.
Allen moved to grant a Conditional Use Permit for the Landscaping Home Based Business at 17 North Main Street as described in these minutes and on the Home Based Business Form dated 7/24/08 subject to the following conditions:
1) The owner seeks relief from the ZBA to park a vehicle in excess of 12,000 lbs GVW in a residential zone.
2) The owner seeks relief from the ZBA to park 3 commercial vehicles in a residential zone.
Second by Doggett. Motion carried unanimously.
Miles closed the public hearing for Timothy Hajjar.
3. Rosewood Builders/George's Way: Request for discussion re: Right of Way & road deed. Leo LaRochelle of Rosewood Builders and his attorney, Charlton Swasey were in attendance.
As a condition of approval for his easement plan for tax map 7, block 3, lots 14-26 & 14-27, Mr. LaRochelle was asked to provide a road deed for George's Way with reference to a Right of Way depicted on the plan entitled "Subdivision Plan for Esther's Estates (Phase III)".
Mr. LaRochelle explained that the original property owners, Mr. & Mrs. George, had designed the plan with the idea that the proposed right of way would be donated to the Sanborn Regional School District. However, after the plan was recorded, it was discovered that the school district did not want to accept ownership of the non-buildable parcel. Mr. LaRochelle said he sold the parcel (7/3/14-5) on August 1, 2007 for $1,000 to the abutter, Lawrence Stanley.
Doggett explained that when the George's presented the plan about 10 years ago, there was a condition that the school district develop the right of way into a driveway. The school board determined that the cost to do that was too much and so rejected the offer.
Chief Ingalls pointed out that the right of way would be a good egress from the middle school in the event of an emergency, but that the access way would have to be maintained all year long. Allen added that the property is very wet.
The Board determined that the right of way does not exist since the school district rejected the plan to merge parcel 7/3/14-5 with school property.
Allen moved to amend the August 12, 2008 Notice of Decision removing the stipulation that the developer provide language in the road deed describing the "trail easement" as shown on Subdivision Plan for Esther's Estates (Phase III). Second by Doggett. Motion carried unanimously.
A road deed for George's Way will still be required before the mylar for the plan can be recorded.
Allen recommended that the Planning Board send a letter to Chief Streeter to inform him that the Board had explored all options but was unable to do anything further and that he should contact the current owner of the parcel if he is still interested in pursuing an access route to the school. Mr. LaRochelle offered to accompany Chief Streeter should he decide to meet with Mr. Stanley.
4. David Storey/Walnut Farm Subdivision: Discussion regarding sign at entrance.
This item is in reference to the following comment from KV Partners (7/28/08):
"The entrance sign was not shown on the approved plans. The developer must provide documentation to the Planning Board that the approval to construct the sign has been granted or request approval from the Planning Board to install the sign."
The Board reviewed a letter from SEC & Associates dated 8/26/08 re: Subdivision Sign, a photo of the sign, and a recorded easement plan (C-35400) depicting the location of the sign.
Gibbs said, in his opinion, the sign is in a good location.
Doggett moved to approve the location of the "Walnut Farm Estates" sign placement as indicated on plan C-35400. Second by Allen. Motion carried unanimously.
5. E-mail from Nancy Wrigley dated 8/25/08 re: 2005 Warrant Article # 14, sprinkler systems.
Chief Ingalls stated that 2 Town ordinances had been passed in 2005 regarding sprinkler systems. He requested that these ordinances be included in the Zoning Ordinances.
Miles asked Mr. West to look into how best to accomplish this and said the Board would continue discussion of this item to the next work session.
6. Karen Falcone request for discussion regarding proposed structure at 11 Gale Village Road.
Ms. Falcone explained that she has a friend (Linda) who will be moving from Montana to 11 Gale Village Road. Linda, who will be renting the property, would like to build a temporary tent-like structure to house 3 horses. She is proposing a 35' x 60' structure which, because of its size, requires Planning Board approval.
Ms. Falcone asked the Board how she should proceed to obtain the proper approvals.
Allen said that a surveyed plot plan would be necessary to determine the best placement of the structure and to ensure that all setbacks would be adhered to.
Doggett also suggested that Ms. Falcone consider reducing the size of the structure to 1200 sf or less, since Planning Board approval would not be required.
7. Town of Newton, NH: Continued Public hearing for proposed amendments to the Subdivision Regulations and the Site Plan Review Regulations regarding:
a. Road Acceptance procedures/checklist.
Miles informed the Board that she and Gibbs had attended a meeting with the Board of Selectmen and the Road Agent to discuss road acceptance procedures on August 19th. Miles said that the Board of Selectmen's main concerns were:
1) Roads cannot exist in limbo for years and years, they should be accepted after 80% of the homes are built or within 4 years of construction.
2) The Town needs a procedure or mechanism to get roads accepted and deeded over.
Miles said she encouraged the BOS to contact developers and request that they finish up their roads as they did with Twombly Drive. She said the Planning Board secretary will provide engineering reports, contact information – anything the BOS needs to facilitate the road acceptance process.
Miles also suggested adding a regulation requiring developers to provide a road deed up front to be held until the road is completed and the deed can be recorded. She said this should be the case for all necessary deeds and easements.
Chief Ingalls asked if deeds or easements have been obtained for fire cisterns. Gibbs said that cisterns are easier to insure if ownership is deeded to the Town rather than just granting an easement.
Doggett pointed out that deeding a cistern to the town will take away from frontage property. West suggested merging the cistern area with the road so that frontage would continue behind the cistern.
Miles said the Board will finalize the road acceptance policy at the next work session.
Doggett moved to continue the public hearing for discussion/acceptance of road acceptance policies to September 23rd. Second by Gibbs. Motion carried unanimously.
8. Puzzle Lane – Fire Protection: Chief Ingalls informed the Board that Mr. McDonough will be required to have a fire protection engineer review the commercial building at Puzzle Lane and sign off before occupancy permits will be granted.
Chief Ingalls departed the meeting.
9. Discussion regarding ordinances:
a. SB 342 – Workforce Housing: West distributed a packet of information concerning SB 342 and briefed the Board on the new legislation. He said the legislation requires municipalities to adopt ordinances that provide for reasonable opportunities for the development of workforce (affordable) housing on a majority of its land.
West said the Board will have to present an ordinance to the voters in March in order to comply with the legislation.
b. Buffers: Attorney Ratigan had suggested in an e-mail dated 2/11/08 that the Board revise Section XIII, 1 to read "…any additional buffer that may be required by the Planning Board on any side that abuts any other zone up to but not exceeding ___ feet."
Allen moved to propose the following wording "…but not exceeding 1500 feet". Second by White. Motion carried unanimously.
c. Town Center District: West distributed a packet of examples of Village and Town Center Ordinances for the Board to review.
Doggett provided West with a Zoning map marked with Newton's original village centers. West will continue research and provide some recommendations to the Board.
d. Conservation Subdivision: West will review Durham's conservation subdivision ordinance. Miles stated that the Town is interested in incorporating the protection of historical, cultural and natural resources in the zoning ordinance. West suggested that the existing open space ordinance be revised for this purpose.
e. Zoning: Miles said an application had been sent in for the Target Block Grant to review zoning. West said the work tasks can be defined to address some of the other ordinance issues if necessary.
8. Acceptance of Minutes
Doggett moved to accept the minutes of 8/12/08. Second by White. Motion carried 4-0-1 with Allen abstaining.
9. Manifests.
Doggett moved to authorize the Chair to sign the Operating Budget manifest, dated 8/26/08, in the amount $130.00. Second by Gibbs. Motion carried unanimously.
Doggett moved to authorize the Chair to sign the NPREA manifest, dated 8/26/08, in the amount $117.40. Second by Gibbs. Motion carried unanimously.
10. Discussion re: Utilities: White said that after the 8/12 public hearing, she had reconsidered her position on the Board's vote not to allow the Katherine Drive developer to change to above ground utilities. She said if the Board's goal is to have the development completed, perhaps they should allow the change to above ground utilities. She said that others had been required to install underground utilities, but that each case is different.
Miles said she felt that installing the underground utilities was a hardship for the developer.
Gibbs said the Board is not responsible for bad economic times or bad business decisions. He said it would set a bad precedent to allow one developer to change his plans. Gibbs said other developers would probably come forward saying that underground utilities were a hardship for them too.
West suggested that the Board consider changing the ordinance to clearly state when underground utilities are or are not required.
11. Discussion re: Letter from Ann Miles Builders, dated 8/19/08: Miles stepped down for this discussion. Vice Chair Doggett took control of the meeting.
Miles had submitted a letter to the Planning Board requesting 10 of the available 55 and over elderly housing units for the Jacob's Village Elderly Housing Development.
Miles plans to design units of about 900 – 1,000 sf to be incorporated within the current footprint of Jacob's Village Buildings #3 and #5. She plans to make the units more affordable through increased density.
Both Gibbs and Allen suggested making this a second phase of the original plan. Doggett suggested a Technical Review meeting be held to discuss the options and to put the request on the next agenda.
12. Dogget moved to adjourn at 9:50 pm. Miles adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Babcock
Administrative Assistant
Newton Planning Board
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