NEWTON PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING AND WORKSESSION
APRIL 28, 2009
1. Call to Order:
Chairperson Miles called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm. In attendance were: Chairperson Ann Miles; Vice Chairman Jim Doggett; Planning Board member, Barbara White; and Alternate Rick Milner. Minutes were transcribed by Administrative Assistant, Lisa Babcock.
Also in attendance: Circuit Rider Planner, David West and resident Charles Whitman.
Miles appointed Milner to stand in for Pettit.
The Board requested that a memo be sent to the Board of Selectmen requesting that Alternate Gary Nelson's appointment be rescinded because they are uncertain of his residency at this time and he has not attended any meetings in over a year.
2. Father & Son Realty Trust of Newton, NH - continuation of a public hearing for an 8-lot subdivision and roadway at 73 Pond Street, Newton. The property is referenced as Tax Map 4, Block 5, Lot 13 and Pond Knoll Estates.
Dennis Quintal of Civil Construction Management was present to represent the developer. Todd Fitzgerald was not present.
Mr. Quintal addressed the Board. He briefly reviewed the subdivision plan which includes a new roadway to be named Zena Lane.
Mr. Quintal said that he has met lot sizes by soil requirements, done test pits, completed a drainage analysis, submitted the alteration of terrain application to the state, and met with the town engineer. He received a clean letter from the town engineer.
Member Frank Gibbs arrived at 7:07 pm.
Mr. Quintal said he received some comments from Kim Pettit who lives on Heath Street and is not officially an abutter, but her property is next to an abutting property. He then proceeded to address the comments from an e-mail dated 4/28/09.
1) Was the capacity of the culver under the RR bed considered by the drainage study? Mr. Quintal replied yes, two stormwater detention areas are to be constructed and that should handle any runoff.
Alternate Kim Vaillant arrived at 7:20 pm and was appointed to stand in for Gundersen.
2) People often drive fast around the two curves on Pond Street, should the road be widened or signage added? There are pedestrians and cyclists in the area.
Mr. Quintal said as far as the requirements are concerned – he had to show that there was site distance enough to meet the requirements for a driveway. That has been done. He said there is adequate enough site distance for a vehicle coming out of this driveway to be able to see up and down the street and not cause any problems. He does not think pedestrians would be impacted by vehicles accessing the driveway.
As far as widening the road, some towns like to have wide roads, but there are towns that like to have narrow roads because it keeps the speeds down. There are different philosophies about widening the roads. If the town wants Mr. Fitzgerald to put a sign up that says "driveway ahead" or "pedestrians" that shouldn't be a problem.
Mr. Quintal then addressed David West's comment letter dated 4/27/09.
1) The access easement for lot 13-13 should be straightened out. The proposed easement will turn any driveway toward the wetlands and require a sharp turn to avoid them.
Mr. Quintal explained that the easement was designed to minimize disturbance, but it could be straightened out.
West said his main concern was the wetlands – if the easement was straighter, it would minimize the impact on the wetlands.
Vaillant said the choices are to have the curved driveway to minimize disturbance or have the straighter driveway and minimize impact on the wetlands.
Gibbs asked if there is standing water in the wetlands. Mr. Quintal said no, it does dry out in the summer time.
Mr. Quintal said if the driveway is straighter, in the long run there will be less of an impact to the wetlands.
Doggett asked if this was a shared driveway. Mr. Quintal confirmed that it is. He said if the driveway was not shared, it would have to cross wetlands, it would cause more of an impact. In order to avoid the wetlands, the road would have to be made longer so that the lots could all be shifted over. A longer road means more disturbance and there would be more roadway to maintain.
2) Mylar needs all professional stamps. Understood.
3) Subject to impact fees. Understood.
4) Preliminary access approval will be required per section VI of the access management ordinance. West said this requires a vote of the board.
5) Review access easement for lot 13-3. Mr. Quintal provided a copy of the deed which references plan # D-31571. A note on that plan indicates that the easement allows for the future construction and maintenance of all drainage facility components within the easement.
6) The height of the existing building is not shown on the plan. Mr. Quintal will add it.
7) The plan is missing a wetlands stamp. Mr. Quintal said the wetlands stamp will be added.
8) The plan is missing a soil scientist stamp. Mr. Quintal said the stamp will be added.
9) Is the note "all road and drainage work…" per 8.1.6.J on the plan. Mr. Quintal said it is.
10) The exact locations of the proposed utilities are not shown but a utility and drainage easement of 25' is shown per 8.1.6.K. West asked if the Board thought this was sufficient.
11) Approval of easements and deeds by town counsel. Mr. Quintal said that was usually done when the road was taken over by the town.
Miles asked if the Board should require the road to be in place before the houses are built. Mr. Quintal said usually building permits are not issued until the road is roughed in or all of the drainage is in place and the road is graveled. A note can be added to the plan indicating this is required.
Gibbs said that occupancy permits should not be issued until a base coat is down on the road, but that the developer should be able to get started with building before having to put in the road.
Vaillant said she liked the idea of requiring gravel to keep the mud down but she didn't think the driveways should have to be completed before construction.
Mr. Quintal suggested leaving the decision to the town's engineer; he is good at making sure things get done right. He added that the site specific permit (alteration of terrain) requires that erosion and sedimentation are controlled – the site is to be kept stable, the drainage systems along the road should be installed before construction takes place.
12) Waivers are required for the shared driveways. The waivers have been submitted.
13) The shared driveway, if allowed, requires special language on the mylar. The board may wish to require special language in the deeds as well. The language for the mylar is included as note 6 on sheets 1 & 2, both are to be recorded.
14) Road deed. This is taken care of at the time the road is taken over.
Mr. Quintal then proceeded to present 3 waiver requests:
The first request was for subdivision regulation 8.2.4-A.3.c, "…maximum grade of any driveway for an entrance shall be 8 percent."
Mr. Quintal said a short section of the road (about 100') where the slope goes up to 8%. To cut this down, would require considerable cuts into the hill.
Miles asked if the board had any comments on the pitch of the road going in at 8% vs 6%.
Doggett moved to allow that waiver, second by White. Motion carried 5-0-1 with Gibbs abstaining.
Mr. Quintal presented waivers for shared driveways on lots 13-12 & 13-13 and lots 12-3, 12-4 and 12-5.
Milner asked if the reason for the shared driveway design is to avoid impact to the wetlands. Mr. Quintal said that is one reason. The other reasons are to minimize disturbance and avoid excessive grades. He also said that shared driveways minimizes the access points on the roadway.
West stated that he supports the concept of shared driveways. Doggett said there is a downside in that sometimes people sharing a driveway don't cooperate.
Vaillant said she has a shared driveway and it works well for her although she did have problems in the past. She said the prospective home buyer must know what he/she is getting into.
Resident and developer, Leo LaRochelle arrived at 8:01 pm.
Doggett suggested having a condition of approval requiring some minimal language in the deed that governs shared driveways. Vaillant said she thought that was more the responsibility of the banks.
White moved to have the shared driveway for lots 13-12 and 13-13 be straightened out to allow more distance between the driveway and the wetland; and to grant 2 waivers a shared driveway on lots 13-12 and 13-13 and another shared driveway on lots 12-3, 12-4 and 12-5. Second by Vaillant. Motion carried 4-1-1 with Doggett opposed and Gibbs abstaining.
West asked if the Board was comfortable with the way the utilities were done on the plan, with a 25' wide easement but no specific location. The Board did not have a problem with this.
Mr. Quintal said there are several things that might be part of the conditional approval: waivers must be added to the plan, monuments must be set, the state subdivision approval is needed, the driveway must be straightened out, fees must be paid.
Doggett asked about conditions for the road. Miles said to have the drainage in place, the site stabilized and the road graveled especially in light of the 8% grade prior to issuing foundation and building permits. Concerning the 3 houses along Pond Street, drainage structures must be in place before permits are issued. There have been problems with drainage on Pond Street in the past.
Mr. Quintal suggested adding a note to the plan stating all drainage structures must be in place, the road must have a gravel base and the site must be stabilized prior to the issuance of foundation and building permits.
Doggett moved to grant approval for an 8-lot subdivision of Tax Map 4, Block 5, Lot 13 off Pond Street subject to the following conditions:
- The mylar must be stamped with all required professional stamps.
- The state subdivision approval number must be noted on the plans.
- The monumentation must be set in all areas that will not be disturbed by construction.
- The 3 waivers must be noted on the plans.
- A note must be added to the plans stating that no foundation or building permits will be issued until the site is stabilized, the drainage structures are in place and the road has a gravel base.
- A note must be added to the plans that a base coat of pavement must be applied to the road before occupancy permits are issued.
The motion carried 5-0-1 with Gibbs abstaining.
The hearing for Pond Knoll Estates was not closed and is continued to May 12, 2009.
3. Leo LaRochelle, 18 Brenner Drive, was in attendance to address the Board.
Mr. LaRochelle explained that he was the developer of George's Way, a project that he took over after the Georges went into foreclosure in 2006. He has also developed property all over the state of NH.
Mr. LaRochelle said that he wanted to address the board because he felt that he had been treated poorly in the town. He had difficulty getting his bond money back, he has had to pay high taxes and fees and he had a hard time getting an occupancy permit for his home on Brenner Drive.
He stated that he had trouble with the previous town engineering firms. He had situations where one engineer signed off on the project and the next imposed new requirements. He said he just wanted the board to be aware of how badly he had been beat up on the project.
Miles said that many of these issues have been addressed by this Board. A new engineering firm is in place. The Planning Board and Town have retained the same legal firm which improves communication. All new developments must go through the Technical Review process to improve communication and give the developer a chance to ask questions and get feedback up front. The Board is also working very hard keep the review processes for each new application moving forward. The Board is working with commercial and light industrial developers to help build the tax base. There is improved communication between the Planning Board, Board of Selectmen and Conservation Commission. She apologized that Mr. LaRochelle had had a bad experience working in the town.
4. Appointments:
Doggett moved to appoint Charles Whitman as an alternate with term ending in 2012. Second by White. Motion carried unanimously.
Doggett moved to appoint Alternate Kim Vaillant to fill the seat left vacant by Fred Gundersen. Second by Gibbs. Motion carried 4-0-2 with Miles and Vaillant abstaining.
5. Adjourn: Miles adjourned the meeting at 9:08 pm without completing the agenda items due to a power outage.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Babcock
Administrative Assistant
Newton Planning Board
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