Washington Planning Board

March 3, 2009

 

0.0       Assembly

Members Present: Jack Sheehy, Lynn Cook, Nan Schwartz and Ken Eastman

Alternates Present: Dennis Kelly, Fran Greene

Members and Alternates absent: Tom Marshall, Bill Cole and Jim Crandall

Visitors: Chris and Carolyn Bullock, Peter Mellen.

 

Sheehy asked for a motion to have Dennis Kelly sit in for Tom Marshall. Schwartz motioned Kelly sit in for Marshall. Eastman seconded the motion, all voted in favor.

 

1.0       Minutes were not available, we will approve at next month's meeting.

 

2.0       Driveway permits: none

 

3.0       Mergers:

3.1       Allan and Laurie Dube, 118 Lovell Mountain Road, Lots TM 09-039 and

09-054, deeds provided, fee paid. Cook determined that the new lot number will be TM 09-039. Kelly made a motion to approve, Eastman seconded, all voted in favor.

3.2       James and Marilyn Plumridge, 176 Ashuelot Pond, Lots TM 18-017 tract 1 and 18-017 tract 2, deeds provided, fee paid. Cook determined the lot number will remain TM 18-017, as this was merging 2 tracts on the same lot. Eastman made a motion to approve, Kelly seconded, all voted in favor.

3.3       John Hyland, 231 Washington Drive, Lots TM 12-116 and 12-117, deed provided, fee paid. Cook determined the new lot number will be TM 12-116. Eastman made a motion to approve, Cook seconded, all voted in favor.

3.4       Peter and Patricia Martin, Washington Drive, Lot TM 12-089 with 2 tracts, deeds provided, fee paid. Cook determined lot number will remain TM 12-089, merging the 2 tracts on one lot. There was a question about a lack of the mortgage holder's signature on the second page, but a third page was found containing the signature. Cook made a motion to approve, Eastman seconded, all voted in favor pending checking on the mortgage holder's signature.

 

4.0       Old Business:

4.1       Peter Mellen came in for Jake Realty Trust to discuss a minor subdivision on Faxon Hill Road, TM 15-058. Peter showed us the plans and asked for questions and requested that we go over the application checklist with him. He stated he will return to our meeting on April 7th for a scheduled hearing. We will ask Michelle send notice to abutters and put a notice in the paper for the hearing. Schwartz asked if he had spoken to Ed Thayer about the driveway issue that came up in a previous discussion. Mellen pointed out that Thayer had several conditions for the driveway that were noted on the plan. Cook noted that the correct new lot numbers were on the plan TM 15-058 and  15-058-1. Mellen explained that anything done with the new lot would have to go to the state for approval as it is in the shoreland protection zone. The septic system has already been sited on the plan and pre-approved by the state because of the CSPA and the amount of ledge on the property. Mellen mentioned that anyone seeking to build on the new lot would need shoreland permits before building. Cook requested an updated current use map for the Assessors but Mellen objected stating that this was not a requirement of the subdivision application. Schwartz explained that we are at present writing this into our application, but it is not in there yet. We have been requesting this with applications for about 6 months now and there have been no objections to it so far. Mellen asked that we send a letter to the owners requesting this extra map and he will do it if they ask him to. Cook and Schwartz will draft a letter from the Planning Board and Board of Assessors to send to the property owner and cc to Mellen making a formal request for an updated current use map for the property.

4.2       PLAN NH application for 2009 design charrette – Schwartz stated that the application was finished and sent by the February 26th deadline. We should hear results in mid March.

4.3       Town Meeting and municipal space needs – Sheehy felt that the Board should take a position on the Town Hall project and speak at Town Meeting. A wide-ranging discussion ensued on what position we wanted to take. It was decided that Sheehy would speak and we would state that we support using the Town Hall for town offices but that we think that the current project needs to be considered in the context of the needs of the community and all the town buildings and not in isolation. Sheehy will also speak on Article #32, our request for $20,000 to start a capital reserve fund for Town Building projects and planning.

4.4       Work Force Housing – Eastman provided us with a copy of the new Workforce Housing law, passed recently by the legislature. Every town is obligated to have their fair share of low cost housing for workers. He stated it wouldn't take effect until next year to give each town more time to figure out how to comply. We will discuss more at our next meeting.

 

5.0       New Business:

5.1       Chris and Carolyn Bullock, 312 Martin Road, TM 08-035, came in seeking a business permit for mail order business with a request for exemption from site plan review. They explained that their business is a family business now based in Massachusetts and they were hoping to move it up to their property on Martin Road. The business is not a retail business but internet order based, it also includes phone and catalog orders. They sell Native American crafts, clothes, etc. They would run the business out of a new barn they are now building on their property. We determined that since they stated that they would have an employee or 2 they didn't qualify as a cottage industry and had to apply as a home based business. We denied the exemption application and explained that they would need to go through the site plan review process. Schwartz asked about shipping and how many times they would receive or send shipments. They said daily and that they were going to have to work something out with the delivery service because they refused to go all the way out to their location, especially in winter. Bullock planned to set up another spot where they could meet to exchange packages. They will return when they finish the application for site plan review. Schwartz will have Michelle start a file for the Bullocks.

 

6.0       Communications:

6.1       Town and City Magazine - Filed        

6.2       The Source, DES's water source protection program newsletter - Filed

6.3       NHOEP – Save the date, Spring Planning and Zoning Conference, May 2nd, Manchester, online registration only at www.nh.gov/oep - Filed with paper copy of  registration form and conference agenda

6.4       Copy of Workforce Housing Bill from Ken Eastman - Filed 

6.5       PLAN NH – 2009 Merit Awards, call for entries - Filed       

 

7.0       Meeting date - Next Planning Board meeting, April 7, 2009 at 7PM

 

8.0       Adjournment:  Sheehy motioned to adjourn, Cook seconded the motion, all voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10PM

 

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz

Secretary, Washington Planning Board