Washington Planning Board
Washington Planning Board
Working Meeting Minutes
June 14, 2016
0.0 Assembly: 2:00PM
0.1 Members present: Crandall, Kluk, Schwartz and Williams
0.2 Alternates present:
0.3 Members and Alternates Absent: Dulac, Hatch, Terani and Russell
0.4 Visitors: Ryan Curran, Tom Marshall and Deb Defosse
Crandall opened the meeting at 1:55PM, stating we were here to help Curran with his Site Plan Review application.
1.0 Liquor Commission: Curran said that the LC has contacted him two times in the last week, they spoke about a separation of the two spaces (he is using a rope) and the fact that he won’t be serving after 8PM. Williams said that he is in contact with Lt. Young at the LC and he had a draft of the restrictions on the serving side of his business. Curran said he spoke with him also on Friday and Monday (yesterday). He didn’t have a copy of the document so Schwartz gave him one. Williams said that our letter is in the hands of the LC and nothing will happen until Curran files and appeal or we send a letter rescinding the 90-day extension. Curran said he will appeal if we don’t back off. He feels the 90 days is too long, we are a summer town and it will affect his business. Williams said it would be a month or two to go through the hearing process and longer if he needs to go through the ZBA for a variance for the parking issue. Crandall said he needs to do diagrams of the store and parking and it takes time. Curran wants to get it done quickly. Defosse asked about how long it took to get the Gibson Pewter application done. Crandall said he thought it was 3 months. She is concerned that Curran was not told when his application was not completed and he was not told that he needed to do a new permit. She was annoyed that communication hasn’t been decent with him from the start. Williams shared with Curran a “sole proprietor” checklist from the state, which asks for town documents. Kluk explained that we didn’t know until after the BoS minutes came out that they were passing the Liquor License issue to the PB. She said Curran needed to be proactive with the board. Marshall stated the letter they received from the Liquor Commission (LC) was a courtesy letter, the LC rep had met with Curran and his process had started. The BoS sent it to the PB because we do business permits, they considered it a courtesy to get us in the loop. Williams said it is a requirement not a courtesy. Kluk said maybe it was misinterpreted, but there was no communication with the PB. Marshall said the Master Plan says we should encourage businesses and we have the authority to go either way with this. Curran said we haven’t asked him what his intention is, he is not going to make it a bar or a pub. He just wants to sell beer and wine to customers that are eating. Kluk said that Williams asked that question and you answered it at our meeting. Williams thinks there is a misinterpretation going on, somehow because we have to follow the process we are against what he is trying to do. We are not against it but the process takes a while to get through. This is a significant change to the business and parking is an issue. Curran said he doesn’t foresee a big change to the business, people won’t stay for hours and he doesn’t want it to be a bar. He is considering parking in the rear of the store.
Kluk said the concern is there may be some people that don’t support this but if we don’t go through the process it could become a problem, it protects everyone if we go through the process, we are all covered. We will go through the process as quickly as possible. Crandall added that we won’t take more time than we need.
Crandall suggested we take up the Business Permit application first. Williams asked if this is one business or two? Curran said it is one business with two sections and there is a distinct line between the restaurant and the store. We suggested he put down 6am to 8pm everyday to keep his hours flexible. To the nature of the business section he will add the grill and 20-seat restaurant. Kluk asked about house rules and Curran stated no beer or wine before 10:30am and none after 8pm. Williams suggested he add that to the draft license conditions and asked about restricting alcohol sales to food purchases. Curran asked if he meant that a customer had a burger and stayed for three more beers. He would have a three drink limit. Williams said if that is what he wants to do, it might help the public accept it, we could make that a condition, that you have to order from the grill menu to purchase a beer or glass of wine, all agreed. Curran said alcohol will only be served in the restaurant section and he is required to have a separate refrigerator for it. We discussed parking requirements. Curran said he has 1600sf in front and whatever space is in back, he expects 10 vehicles at a time. Williams said he spoke with the LC about parking needs, they don’t have requirements but the LUO does and we need to come up with the needed amount of spaces. In discussing permits we need to have copies of, Kluk asked about the category of his food permit from the state. Curran didn’t know, he would provide us with a copy of his temporary permit. Kluk said he needs a “permit of assembly” from the Fire Chief, for his liquor license. We discussed the septic issue, Curran said his plan says he is good for 20 seats. We looked at the septic design plan and discovered the system is designed to handle 10 seats at 20GPD. Defosse suggested he put in a port-o-potty if needed. Curran will contact Meridian, who designed the system, to see if it can actually handle more seats. We discussed outdoor lighting and he may need to add more in back if there is parking there. Schwartz suggested down lighting that won’t spill on the abutter’s property. We discussed the parking and Curran said he has 6 or 7 across the front of the building. We calculated he needs about 20 spaces using the LUO requirements. Curran thinks he can get the spaces he will need. We see the parking in front as grandfathered (in terms of size and setback) for the store, Curran thinks he can get the rest of the parking in back. Crandall said if he can he will avoid having to get a variance from the ZBA (an added process that takes time).
We went through the Site Plan Review application document with Curran and decided what was not applicable and what he needed to provide. He will need to do a site plan map of the store/restaurant and the property for the application. He will use the septic design plan as a base. Defosse will provide him with the abutter list. Curran will provide us with a list of any items he is asking us to waive. Willams said that we have talked about restrictions on the hours and number of drinks, he should attach that as an additional sheet on the business permit. Williams asked about the need for 2 bathrooms and Currans said they were not needed. Crandall asked if Curran had any more questions and he said no. Kluk explained the application process, we receive his application and determine it is complete, we conduct a site visit, then schedule, notice and hold a public hearing, then we vote on approving his application.
Curran will let us know when he has his application ready for us.
2.0 Adjournment: Time: 3:35 pm
Dulac motioned, Kluk seconded, all voted in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nan Schwartz