PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
May 5, 2010
Call to Order: 6:35 p.m.
ROLL CALL: Present were: Timothy E. Moore, Chairman; Peter Bealo, Vice-Chairman; Lawrence Gil; Charlie Lanza; and Robert Gray, Selectmen Ex-Officio.
Also present was P. Michael Dorman, Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer. Leigh Komornick, Planner, was excused.
Minutes of April 21, 2010, Planning Board Meeting
R. Gray moved, second by P. Bealo, to approve the minutes of the April 21, 2010, meeting. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 3-0-2 (Bealo, Gil abstaining).
Brief Discussion with Ron Brown re: Status of His Elderly Housing Project
Ron Brown, 289 Mill Street, Haverhill, MA was present for the discussion. He said that he would like to talk about phasing the subdivision of his property on Sweet Hill Road (aka Gunstock Road). Mr. Brown offered that phasing was allowed under §235-10.
He explained that he would like to phase the paving of the road in an effort to be more in compliance. Mr. Brown added that pipe work (under the roadway) could not be completed until the (elderly housing) subdivision was approved.
L. Gil asked what sections Mr. Brown would be paving first.
R. Brown replied that he would pave where it would not be affected by the installation of the waterline.
P. Bealo asked if Mr. Brown had brought some kind of drawing for the Board to review.
R. Brown replied that he had not, reiterating that he would first pave where there would be little or no cuts needed for installation of the waterline.
T. Moore stated that he would like to see some kind of plan or drawing. He asked when Mr. Brown expected that his application would be filed.
R. Brown stated that he didn’t know, noting a letter from SEC Associates that stated the plans (for the elderly housing project) would not be ready for the June Planning Board meeting.
Members of the Board suggested that Mr. Brown come with some kind of plan for the type of phasing that he was suggesting. The consensus was that no decision or suggestions could be made without some kind of plan to review.
P. Bealo noted that this discussion did not mean that the (vesting) clock wasn’t still ticking.
R. Brown cautioned the Board to seek legal counsel before deciding to revoke his plan, suggesting it would be illegal for them to do so before December of 2010.
T. Moore reminded that the Board’s decision to require the road be paved in June was to avoid a situation where weather conditions in November/December might prevent the road from being paved.
R. Brown suggested that the letter of the law said that he was vested and suggested that the Board check the RSAs.
Paul Sickel Re: Minor Expansion of Signal Variety
Paul Sickel, property owner 63-65 Plaistow Road, was present for the discussion. He explained that Signal Variety would like to expand their walk-in cooler to allow for a better delivery loading situation and clean up the store. Mr. Sickel added that when the State of New Hampshire took some of his property for Route 125 it made his property non-conforming.
P. Sickel offered that he was before the Board to get their approval to proceed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) to request a special exception to expand his non-conforming lot.
P. Bealo noted bollards on the drawing Mr. Sickel offered the Board. He asked what they were for.
P. Sickel explained that they were to protect customers and slow down vehicle traffic.
There was a brief discussion of the current loading/unloading situation and how Mr. Sickel’s plan would improve that. It was noted there were paved areas for parking that were not striped.
R. Gray moved, second by P. Bealo, to deny the plan submitted by P. Sickel to expand Signal Variety because he will first need a special exception from the ZBA to expand his non-conforming lot. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
Update on Jack Soraghan’s Casey’s Diner Move to 13 Plaistow Road
T. Moore read the staff report regarding the proposed relocation of Casey’s Diner from 31 Garden Road to 13 Plaistow Road.
M. Dorman offered the following additional information:
- The use is a permitted use in the Commercial I District
- The parking calculation submitted exceed the regulation requirements by twenty (20) spaces
- The State of New Hampshire Well Board has approved the use of the existing well
- A new septic system has been approved by the State of New Hampshire for a restaurant use. This system will also relieve some use of the existing system
P. Bealo asked how soon Casey’s Diner was expected to move.
M. Dorman replied that he thought it would be within 1 ½ months. He noted that he expected that development on the existing site (31 Garden Road) would begin in September/October. M. Dorman added that the potholes in the pavement on that site had been filled.
R. Gray offered that it was important to discuss the old site, adding that he didn’t think it was mutually exclusive to this proposed move.
M. Dorman suggested that Rite-Aid would now be the first to build and Mr. Soraghan might eventually decide to build his building upon the completion of the Rite-Aid construction.
C. Lanza asked how long the site plan was good for.
R. Gray asked if there had been a preconstruction meeting.
M. Dorman reminded that changes were recently made to the regulations that put the timing for a preconstruction meeting closer to actual construction, rather than to the approval of the site plan.
R. Gray asked how long the plan was good for if Mr. Soraghan didn’t build.
M. Dorman replied that four (4) years or he could sell the property with the plan.
R. Gray questioned that status of the driveway permit.
M. Dorman offered that it had been checked with New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) and there was no expiration to the driveway permit. He added that NHDOT just wanted to be informed when construction was scheduled to begin.
R. Gray asked if Rite-Aid would be putting up $45,000.00 or $90,000.00 for roadway improvements.
M. Dorman responded that Rite-Aid would be required to provide the entire $90,000.00 for road improvements to obtain a building permit.
T. Moore asked if there would be an as-built plan submitted for the site at 13 Plaistow Road showing the location of the new septic system.
M. Dorman offered that only the tanks were relocated.
T. Moore noted that this was a change of use and it had been shown that there was adequate parking and septic for the new use.
R. Gray asked what the procedure was when there was a new business; were they allowed to just move in.
T. Moore explained that in the case of a new occupant, for example retail for retail, there is no need for them to return to the Board and a certificate of occupancy (CO) is issued. He noted that a restaurant was a more intense, but permitted use, therefore the Board was taking a look at the change. He added if it were a restaurant leaving and retail coming in it would be considered a lesser use and the Board may not need to look at the change.
M. Dorman offered that he was again seeking guidance from the Board since, as members on the Board change, so does the list of things the Board wants to take a look at.
R. Gray suggested they should always be informed of a change of use but in this instance the use was permitted and everything had been confirmed to be adequate for the proposed change.
R. Gray moved, second by C. Lanza, to approve the change of use to allow a restaurant at 13 Plaistow Road. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
Review/Comments on the NHDOT Proposed Service Road on the east side of Route 125 between East Road and Old Road
T. Moore read a draft letter proposed to be reviewed by the Board of Selectmen for their comment and ultimately forwarded to the NHDOT. The letter was commenting on a proposed service road that would be part of the Route 125 redevelopment project.
There was a discussion of the original intent of the service road, which was to link businesses on Route 125 at the back of there properties, allowing customers to access all of them and avoid Route 125. The original intent was to have both ends connect back into main roadways (Joanne Drive and Old Road at the end); but that changed with the lack of cooperation of property owners and development of new site plans at the ends of the proposed service road. It was suggested that the current design of the proposed service road offered no real benefit; proposed potential harm to valuable wetlands areas; and raised the potential for additional commercial development in the area of the service road. It was noted that it was important to make the Town’s opinion known to the NHDOT before plans for the redevelopment of Route
125 in that area were finalized.
The consensus of the Board was that the letter was ready to be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen for their review and comment before being forwarded to the NHDOT.
Other Business – T-Mobile Special Event
T. Moore noted a letter submitted from T-Mobile, 4 Plaistow Road, to change the date of their proposed special event. There were no objections.
Other Business – Master Plan Update
T. Moore noted that Roger Hawk had been contracted to help work on the Master Plan. He suggested a scope of work for the public information meeting, which the staff report requested that the date be changed to June 16.
R. Gray said that he would inform the Board of Selectmen of the new date.
T. Moore noted that after the public forum a draft of the Master Plan would be prepared for public hearing and a final draft would hopefully be ready for fall approval.
Other Business – Announcements
T. Moore noted there would be a hazardous waste collection day, Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the Plaistow Recreation field.
T. Moore noted that the Boy Scouts were preparing the Town Forest for a grand opening on May 22, 2010.
There were no additional matters before the Board and the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted as recorded by Dee Voss.
Approved by the Planning Board on _________________________
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Timothy E. Moore, Chairman
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