PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
March 19, 2014
Call to Order: 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL: Tim Moore, Vice Chair
Genifer Silva - Excused
Shem Kellogg
Charlie Lanza
Steve Ranlett, Selectman Ex-Officio
Geoffrey Adams, Alternate
Also present were Leigh Komornick, Planner and P. Michael Dorman, Chief Building Official.
G. Adams was appointed as a voting member in place of G. Silva.
Reorganization/Election of Officers
S. Ranlett moved, second by G. Adams, to nominate T. Moore for Chairman and Charlie Lanza as Vice Chair of the Plaistow Planning Board. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
T. Moore welcome back Charlie Lanza to the Planning Board and Steve Ranlett, who returns as the Selectmen Ex-Officio.
Minutes of the March 5, 2014 Planning Board Meeting
The minutes of the March 5, 2014 Planning Board meeting will be reviewed at the next meeting.
Agenda Item 4: Reconsideration/continuation of review of letter of request by Hillcrest Estates, LLC for waivers from Town of Plaistow School and Recreation Impact Fees.
T. Moore reminded that Board that Steve Doherty, Hillcrest Estates, LLC had been in to request a waiver to reduce the amount they would have to pay for the School Impact Fee from $2,916.00 to $729.00 per unit. They would be paying the full amount on the Recreation and Public Safety Impact Fees. The waiver request was related to the 55+ Project located off Hillcrest Ave. The Board had requested that Mark Fougere review the proposal.
C. Lanza noted that he was stepping down from the Board for this discussion.
M. Fougere sent a letter to the Board recommending that they accept Mr. Doherty’s proposal.
S. Ranlett moved, second by S. Kellogg, to reduce the amount of the School Impact Fee to $729.00 per unit for the 55+ project located off of Hillcrest Ave. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-0.
C. Lanza returned to the meeting.
Agenda Item 5: Discussion/review of formal request for referral to ZBA (Zoning Board of Adjustment) for a proposed subdivision of a property located on Maple Ave by Lavelle Associates
Tim Lavelle, Lavelle Associates, was present for the discussion. He noted the following for the Board:
- The plan proposed to combine two (2) lots and then create three (3) parcels
- There is currently a four-unit apartment building on one lot and a single-family dwelling on the other
- Two (2) variances would be necessary, one for lot sizing on the four-unit lot, and one for frontage on the newly created lot that fronts on Witch Lane
- The lot on Witch Lane would only have 51.98’ of frontage
S. Ranlett moved, second by C. Lanza, to refer this applicant to the ZBA for two (2) variances. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 5-0-0 U/A.
M. Dorman noted to T. Lavelle that if he moved one of the newly proposed lot lines to give more area to the parcel with the four-unit building there would still be enough for the new third lot and no variance would be needed. They would still need a variance for the frontage of the Witch Lane lot.
Agenda Item 6: Continuation of Workshop: Final Draft of Survey for MasterPlan Update
It was noted that not all the materials are ready for this item and it was deferred to the next meeting.
Agenda Item 7: Reading of Communications Directed to or from the Board
There were no new communications for the Board at this time.
Agenda Item 8: Report/Update By Tim Moore on RPC (Rockingham Planning Commission) and MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) Activities and on the Rail Project
T. Moore noted that there was nothing new to report at this meeting.
Agenda Item 9: Other Business
- Review of request from Greg Whalen for use of property at 144 Main Street (Testa building fka Process Engineering)
L. Komornick explained that she had received a request from Greg Whalen, Granite State Materials, Inc. (GSM) to locate a road salt storage facility at 144 Main St. The letter noted the following:
- They would be using 59,000 sq ft (Bay A and Bay D)
- All storage would be inside the facility
- They would be storing approximately 40,000 tons of salt at this site
- The initial stocking of the facility would take approximately ten (10) days and require 125 truck trips per day for that period, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday
- Normal day-to-day operations would be the out-bound transportation of 500 tons of rock salt requiring approximately 15 truck trips per day
- Hours of operation would be from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, seven (7) days a week
- Weather conditions and demand for product could necessitate additional and after-hours trips
- Operations would be for 4-5 months of the year
- There would be one on-site employee and one front-end loader on site
- GSM would come in to update the site plan at a public hearing
M. Dorman offered this was an FYI to the Board as this was a permitted use and was within the hours of operation.
C. Lanza asked if bays A and D were concrete.
M. Dorman noted that they were concrete walls and floors.
G. Adams asked if all the units were separate units.
M. Dorman replied that they were.
There was a discussion regarding the hours of operation.
S. Ranlett suggested that they try to stay away from Sundays. He noted that weather conditions might make activity necessary on Sundays, but perhaps not every Sunday. S. Ranlett added those questions could be addressed at the public hearing.
There was discussion about truck access to the site. M. Dorman noted that he had discussions with Mr. Whalen regarding access to/from Route 125. He offered that Mr. Whalen seemed amenable to restricting the trucks to coming south on Route 121A by Route 125 at Sanborn’s Candies, and only taking left turns exiting the site to access Route 125. M. Dorman noted that, while it was important to have the discussion regarding truck traffic, Route 121A is a State road and the Town couldn’t not restrict access to it.
There was discussion of the possibility of CSM using rail service to access the site.
L. Komornick noted that CSM was the same company that has the large salt stock right on the waterfront in Portsmouth.
S. Ranlett offered that he didn’t recall seeing any rail tracks near the facility in Portsmouth so he was unsure if that would be a possibility. He added that it didn’t hurt to bring the possibility up in the discussion.
- Updates and FYIs from the Planning and Building Departments
M. Dorman noted that Hawaiian Isle (4 Plaistow Rd) had been cut in half, returning it to the size of the original restaurant. New bathrooms have been installed in the restaurant as well as the unit created by the demise. He added that one of the empty units at the front of the plaza was proposed to be a yogurt shop.
L. Komornick offered there was still no word on the third tenant for the former Shaw’s Supermarket unit (9 Plaistow Rd).
M. Dorman noted that Snow’s Brook has two (2) foundations in the ground for their 55+ housing project located off Hillcrest Ave.
L. Komornick added that everything would finally be recorded for that project. She noted there was a small wait getting all the proper signatures from all the mortgage interests. L. Komornick added that had they not gotten all signatures they may be facing a situation similar to that at 71-69 Plaistow Rd (Jay Davey). She added that she had been deposed in that matter. She noted that it would have been better if there had been a lot merger form filed but it was clear that the Board approved a “Lot Consolidation Plan” recorded. L. Komornick noted that $40,000-$60,000 of New Hampshire Department of Transportation money was being held until the matter was settled in the court.
L. Komornick reported that Ron Brown (Gunstock Road 55+ housing project) was working with engineers to meet the requirements and get the Stop Work order lifted.
L. Komornick offered that Steve Lewis (Chandler Place, 55+ housing project on Chandler Ave) was intending to have the first building in this summer.
S. Ranlett noted there would be a recount on Article 6 of the Timberlane Regional School District on Saturday at 8:00 at the middle school. The recount is open to the public.
There were no additional matters before the Board and the meeting was adjourned at 7:01 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted as recorded by Dee Voss.
Approved by the Planning Board on _________________________
________________________
Timothy Moore, Chairman
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