NEWTON PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING AND WORKSESSION
MAY 26, 2009
1. Call to Order:
Chairperson Miles called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. In attendance were: Chairperson Ann Miles; Planning Board members Barbara White, Kim Vaillant, and Frank Gibbs; and Alternate Rick Milner. Minutes were transcribed by Administrative Assistant, Lisa Babcock.
Also in attendance were residents: Jody Baronian and Craig and Nicole Jackson all of Walnut Farm Road.
Miles appointed Milner to stand in for Pettit.
2. Michael Cushing 9 Pond Street discussion regarding Accessory Apartment: Mr. Cushing was present. He stated that he had hired Richard LeClaire to build the house. Miles recused herself from the discussion.
The secretary stated that the town's assessor was working on the assessment for the property and she was questioning whether or not the apartment had received final approval from the Planning Board.
Mr. Cushing said one of the issues that came up when he went for approval was that the apartment had to be built by the owner of the house. It was unclear at the time whether Mr. Cushing was going to own the house after it was built, or sell it. However, he has owned the property ever since it was built and now he lives there.
The Board reviewed the history of the apartment. Mr. Cushing had intended to build a 900 sf accessory apartment but was denied a building permit in part because the size of the apartment was too big. He was granted approval to have an accessory apartment by the Planning Board, but was told to seek a variance from the size constraint (which was 500 sf at the time) from the Board of Appeals.
The application was denied by the Board of Appeals since they have no jurisdiction over conditional use permits.
Vaillant said that in the mean-time, the Planning Board revised the accessory apartment ordinance to allow apartments up to 800 sf or 1/3 of the total gross floor area, whichever is smaller. This was due to numerous complaints that a 500 sf apartment is unreasonably small.
Vaillant said that it appears that there was a breakdown in communication between the Planning Board and the Building Department as an occupancy permit was issued for a residence with a 700 sf apartment.
Mr. Cushing said the apartment was 790 sf and was built in 2007. White said that it appears that the apartment was built after the ordinance was changed to allow an apartment of 800 sf, but that the applicant had never gone back to the Planning Board after the Board of Appeals denial.
Mr. Cushing said he received an occupancy permit so he felt that gave him the right to occupy the property.
White moved that the Planning Board agrees that the accessory apartment is in compliance with the zoning ordinance for accessory apartments as amended. Second by Vaillant. Motion carried 4-0-1 with Miles recused.
3. Circuit Rider Updates: West was unable to attend the meeting.
4. Plan NH Update and Review Master Plan Survey: Whitman was unable to attend the meeting but left a phone message with an update. He had spoken to Robin LeBlanc of Plan NH and she told him that the initial meeting would only take about 1 to 1 ½ hours and could be part of a regular Planning Board meeting or could be held as a separate meeting. The main topic of discussion would be how to prepare for the upcoming charrette.
Miles said she preferred a meeting outside of a regular Planning Board meeting. She also said that all of the town department heads should be invited to the meeting as well as all three selectmen.
Gibbs said each neighborhood should have representatives who participate in the charrette.
The Board then reviewed the Master Plan Survey. Vaillant said that people who participated in working on the Master Plan had indicated that they felt the town was losing its rural character due to too much development.
Those that participated indicated a strong preference for agricultural and farming uses. Miles said if the town permitted something like a strip mall it would have to be designed to blend into the surrounding areas.
Vaillant said that as the town moves forward with Plan NH it is still important to consider the Master Plan.
Ms. Baronian and Mr. and Ms. Jackson all said they are interested in participating in the Plan NH charrette.
5. Other Board Business:
- Puzzle Lane LEED Certification: The Board reviewed an e-mail from town engineer Mike Vignale dated April 17, 2009. Mr. Vignale wrote that Mr. McDonough was pursuing a LEED Certification for the Phase II building at lot 27-1. As part of the LEED Certification Mr. McDonough wanted to process recycled materials at the site for use in the project.
Mr. Baronian stated that she is very concerned about the noise being generated at the Puzzle Lane site. She said there is excessive truck noise late into the evening and early in the morning.
Mr. Jackson said he spoke to Chief Streeter about the excessive noise. Chief Streeter said there is no noise ordinance to enforce so he advised Mr. Jackson to continue to contact the police each time there was a disturbance.
Mr. Jackson said the police have been contacted about 4 or 5 times by Walnut Farm residents and Howard Lane residents.
Ms. Baronian said it sounded like there was excavation going on at 9:30 pm. Miles said there was a report from code enforcement that the noise was originating at Ravensburger. Ms. Baronian said originally that was the case, but now there seems to be a full blown excavation operation occurring during late night hours.
Miles said she was originally concerned about the safety of the materials being brought onto the site such as asphalt. However after some research it appears that crushed asphalt is not a hazardous material. However it is another situation altogether if there is an excavation operation going on.
Ms. Jackson asked if there are hours of operation listed anywhere. Miles said the Board would find that information.
Gibbs said he has no problem with Mr. McDonough using recycled materials in his building project but that he should not be processing the materials on site because it seems to be generating too much noise.
Gibbs suggested having the town engineer visit the site and pay him out of the operating budget.
Miles suggested that the abutters continue to contact the police each time there is a disturbance at the site and also to contact the Planning Board office periodically. The Board will gather some information.
Miles noted that Mary Pinkham-Langer from the State Department of Revenue Administration had been at the site over the past week. A report is forthcoming.
Milner moved to accept the minutes of 5/12/09 as written. Second by White. Motion carried unanimously.
- Review and Revise CIP: The Board reviewed the CIP. The Board determined that all figures for 2009 should be moved to 2010 and that the various departments represented should be contacted regarding their plans for next year's warrant articles.
- Discussion regarding fees: The Board discussed the application fees for items such as home based businesses and accessory apartments. A public hearing will be scheduled for July to adjust the fees.
- Public Discussion with NH Legislature's Groundwater Commission: Milner stated that he attended this discussion regarding groundwater. He said the main points were that water is a shared resource and land owners do not own the water beneath their land, the state does.
Milner said that as the law stands now, towns have may not have the right to regulate water use. He said that in order to correct this and to gain more control over groundwater, towns must work on getting changes made in the law.
6. Adjourn:
Gibbs moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:24 pm. Second by Vaillant. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Babcock
Administrative Assistant
Newton Planning Board
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