OLD LYME PLANNING COMMISSION
PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 8, 2009
PRESENT WERE: Harold Thompson, Chris Kerr, Steve Ross, Robert McCarthy and Alternate Sean Mulligan seated for Connie Kastelowitz and Alternate Robert Pierson. Also present were Attorney Ed Cassella, Diana Atwood Johnson, Tony Hendriks, Robert Doane, and Kim Groves
Chairman Thompson reported that Nancy Strohla has declined to serve another year as an alternate of the Planning Commission. Thompson thanked her for her dedication, insight and wisdom and support of the Planning Commission for all the years she has served as an alternate.
PUBLIC HEARING
RESUBDIVISION – H. MICHAEL SCHAEFER ET AL – 136 NECK ROAD
Thompson noted that the drawings for the proposed subdivision were recently revised and submitted to the Land Use office yesterday. He further noted as a result of the time- frame of this submittal the commission’s staff has not had an opportunity to review and comment on the drawings. Therefore, Thompson suggested that Mr. Hendriks present a brief overview tonight and the public hearing be continued until next month to allow staff time to review the plans.
Mr. Hendriks, Registered Professional Land Surveyor, presented the application this evening on behalf of the applicant. Hendriks stated the reason the commission has fresh plans is that, based upon previous drawings that had been put together, it looked like the common boundary line needed to be revised. He stated the property is owned by Mr. Michael Schaeffer et al and his brother and sisters. He noted that Mr. Ernst Schaefer owns a property at 11 Coult Lane. He stated at first they thought in order to gain access to the rear portion of this 6 acre plus lot access needed to be provided off Coult Lane. However, it was determined that the simple revision could be withdrawn. He noted the plans have been revised and is in compliance with the subdivision regulations. He noted as of
December 5, 2008 comments were received from Mr. Metcalf and he noted that 95% of those comments have been addressed on the revised plans.
Page 2 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
Hendriks indicated this subdivision was originally part of the Old Farms Subdivision. He stated the remaining land has been in the Schaefer Family since that time. He stated the proposal is to divide the property into three building lots, creating one building lot for each of the family members. He stated the rear property would be going to Mr. Ernst Schaefer who owns the property next door.
Hendriks stated he has submitted a request for a waiver for open space. He noted that the statutes do allow for a waiver of open space if the property will be given to family members without any numeration or consideration.
Mr. Hendriks stated the Site Development Plan demonstrates that each of the lots comply with the MABL regulations. He also noted that additional probes have been done on the existing house lot. Mr. Hendriks stated the proposal also includes using the existing driveway that has a 12% grade rather than constructing a new driveway in an effort to save the existing trees on the site. It was also noted that Mr. Ron Rose, Town Sanitarian, had signed off on the prior plans submitted to the office. Hendriks stated there are some existing overhead utilities on the site, however any new utilities will be put underground in accordance with the requirements.
Hendriks also noted for the record that Attorney Fran Sablone is in the process of creating all the legal documents for the subdivision.
Steve Ross made a motion to continue the public hearing until the February meeting. Sean Mulligan seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
REGULAR MEETING
DISCUSSION OF LORDS WOODS OPEN SPACE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
Attorney Cassella was present to bring the commission up to date on the status of Lords Woods Subdivsion. Cassella stated that the Open Space Committee has been trying to get the developer to resolve some of the outstanding issues at the site, including fixing the level spreader, putting the parking spaces in for the access to the open space, and labeling the open space and conservation areas with markers. Due to the disputes between the contractor and the owner, everything reached a stand still last Spring and there has not been any real progress since that time. Cassella stated that developer agreed to pay the Open Space Committee $75,000.00 by the end of the year (December 31, 2008) and to complete all the other improvements during the dry season over the summer.
Page 3 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
Cassella stated the developer is requesting an extension of time due to issues they are having with their contractor, Allen Hull. Cassella stated that basically through discussions with the parties involved, the town took this as an opportunity to secure timeframes for completion of the outstanding items. Cassella said there is a tentative agreement in place subject to the approval of the necessary commissions and Dr. Awwa. He said the agreement would give Mr. Metcalf a lot of responsibility in figuring out when he thinks on the calendar it is best to take these actions. Cassella stated if they fail to comply with the agreement penalties would be implied on a per day basis. He noted in exchange for those considerations we are proposing to give them another year until December 31, 2009 in
order to pay the remaining $70,000.00. He noted the property would be secured with a mortgage and also to get a specific amount per lot upon closing if any should happen to be sold between now and the end of the year.
Cassella stated that one of the major considerations is that once there is a mortgage in place it needs to be established that the mortgage the town is getting has sufficient equity in the subdivision property for that mortgage to be satisfied. He noted we are waiting for an updated market analysis by the realtor that shows the value of the lots in total to ensure the town will get their money.
Ross asked if bond money would be a more secure approach. Cassella stated we do have bond money currently and Mr. Metcalf is doing an analysis to determine whether that bond money is sufficient. Cassella stated they would prefer the work to just get done, rather than the town having to assume any liability itself for the completion of the work.
Kerr suggested a lien be placed on the property for the $70,000 to ensure the town receives the money due to the current economic times. Cassella stated he did not think the applicant plans on doing any development and further noted that they are agreeing to do a mortgage. He further noted that there are other mortgages ahead of the town. Kerr stated that we need to get in line. Cassella stated we are in line, but there is a legal question as to the agreement that was signed last year and is recorded on the land records and it clearly states for good consideration they are going to give a mortgage.
Discussion ensued amongst the commission and Diana Atwood Johnson with regard to time frames, the improvements needed, financing and the concern of the current economic times. The commission agreed to review this issue in the next six months.
Page 4 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
DISCUSSION OF OPEN SPACE/CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
Attorney Cassella presented the new conservation easement that will be used by the town. Johnson stated that she felt this was an excellent document. She stated she noted she has spent the last couple of years putting together an inventory of all the conservation easements in town. She noted that there approximately 70 easements in the town. She noted they are currently working on an enforcement policy and procedure to inform the property owners of the existence of and responsibilities for their easements on their property.
Thompson expressed concern about the process of enforcing these easements and the importance of educating the buyer of their obligations. Ross stated he thought this information should be recorded on the land records for each of the individual lots so the buyer would be made aware of the easement at the time of purchase.
Johnson noted that the town has an obligation to make sure that the property owners are maintaining their easements and this new document very specifically outlines the responsibility. She also noted the second portion of this process will be the enforcement policy which she is currently in the process of drafting with counsel.
Cassella suggested that the markers be required to be in place prior to the signing of the mylars which would solve the problem of enforcement in the future. Pierson suggested the markers be bonded just in the way that monuments are bonded for the subdivision.
SUBDIVISION – ENOK PEDERSEN – BURR ROAD – 16 LOTS – RECEIVE APPLICATION AND REQUEST FOR WAIVER OF THE PUBLIC HEARING
Steve Ross made a motion accept the application and set the public hearing for the next meeting month.
Thompson stated that the regulations do not require public hearings for subdivisions. Thompson stated historically public hearings have always been held for subdivisions.
Ross stated the reason he made the motion he did was because there was so much public interest in the prior public hearings held on this application that he did not feel it was appropriate to deny them the opportunity to see any changes or revisions to the plan.
Cassella stated just as a point of interest there should be a second on the motion prior to any further discussion.
Robert McCarthy seconded the motion.
Page 5 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
Pierson stated it has always been the policy of this commission to hold public hearings.
Robert McCarthy asked why this application was before the commission again. Cassella stated from what he understood there was a property owner, “Carlson”, who had issues transferring over property that he had agreed to transfer due to the mortgage holder refusing to agree unless the driveway strip would be owner “in fee”on the property. He further noted this transfer was not going to happen by the time the mylars needed to be recorded which is right about now, so the application has been revised to eliminate the transfer.
Sean Mulligan stated he did not feel the commission should go through the entire process again if it was only a minor detail. Chris Kerr concurred with Mr. Mulligan.
Ross withdrew the motion at this time.
Robert Doane, agent for the applicant, stated the problem that came up resulted from one of the conditions of approval which was the conveyance of the Carlson property to Pedersen taking place prior to filing of the mylars. He noted that Mr. Carlson ran into problems with his mortgage company on obtaining a release on the portion of property needed. He stated this problem did not come to him until a few weeks ago at which time it was too late to make changes prior to the expiration of the subdivision mylar filing.
Therefore, Doane stated he has revised the plans and removed Lot 17 and Mr. Carlson will not convey his section of the property. He noted that nothing else on the subdivision has changed and there were no conservation easements on Lot 17 so all the other issues will remain the same including the roadway, easements, and drainage.
Doane stated he has no problem in carrying the prior folder forward which has all the public comments and professional reviews so that is all still part of the approval process.
Doane further stated he did not submit a waiver request because it was a policy of the commission and not a regulation, however if the commission would like he would be happy to submit a request.
Chris Kerr stated he did not see this as the definition of a subdivision because no new lots are being created and a lot is being eliminated. Doane stated it is a 16 lot subdivision. Kerr stated the commission approved a seventeen lot subdivision. Cassella stated that is void. Kerr stated if he drops down and everything else remains the same but one lot is being eliminated he does not see the need for going through the formal process again.
Cassella suggested the commission review the file once again before rendering any decisions on the application.
Page 6 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
Diana Atwood Johnson noted that there is not one mylar that identifies the open space and conservation easements. She noted that she felt it would be enormously useful to have one sheet that shows all of that information. Mr. Doane stated he will provide a page to identify the open space and conservation easements.
Kim Groves asked if the applicant would be willing to pay any additional review fees. Doane indicated that would not be a problem.
Robert McCarthy made a motion to receive the application and waive the public hearing as well as the application fee. Sean Mulligan seconded the motion.
DISCUSSION
Steve Ross asked if the abutters would receive any notice. Groves noted the agenda would be posted on the website and filed with the town clerk.
The motion passed unanimously.
SUBDIVISION – EDWARD & LINDA MARSH – 5 LOTS – RECEIVE APPLICATION AND SET FOR PUBLIC HEARING
Doane indicated this application would be starting fresh because there was a problem with the delineation of the flood plain and as a result of the lots have been rearranged. He noted the proposal is still for 8 lots on the 53 acres serviced by the same common driveway. Doane stated initially he was going to do a FEMA map amendment but due to the fact that it is such a lengthy process he decided to use the questionable FEMA map and modify the lots.
Steve Ross made a motion to receive the application and set it for public hearing. Sean Mulligan second.
Discussion:
Harold Thompson said as far as being consistent he would like to ask for a waiver of the application fee.
Harold Thompson amended the motion to waive the application fee for this applicant.
Steve Ross seconded the amendment.
The amendment to the motion passed unanimously.
The amended motion passed unanimously for the acceptance of the application and waiver of application fee.
Page 7 – Minutes
January 8, 2009
SJE SUBDIVISION – DISCUSSION OF OPEN SPACE PAYMENT
Groves reported that SJE Development, LLC has asked the Planning Commission if they would be agreeable to a payment of $7,450.00 per lot when each of the lots are sold. Groves also noted that the lien would remain on the property until the fees are paid.
Chris Kerr made a motion to approve the agreement. Steve Ross seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
COMMISSION FEES – OLIVIA LANE
Groves reported that the commission has received a letter from Attorney Brendan McKeever dated January 6, 2009. Thompson stated the last paragraph indicates the commission may wish to consider placing a Notice on the Land Records, saying that title to neither Olivia Lane nor 26 Bailey Road may be transferred until such time as all costs and fees due to the commission are paid per the foregoing sections of the regulations.
Kerr also recommended that the town not plow the road or pick up the garbage until the fees are paid. He further recommended that the road not be accepted until the fee is paid. Groves stated it is difficult to ensure that the services are not provided by the Public Works Department. Discussion ensued.
Chris Kerr made a motion to place a lien on the property. Robert McCarthy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
READING AND APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER MINUTES
Steve Ross made a motion to waive the reading and approve the minutes as submitted.
Sean Mulligan seconded the motion.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Groves
Land Use Administrator
| 
