TOWN OF WALPOLE

PLANNING BOARD MEETING

APRIL 8, 2014

Presiding:        Jeffrey Miller (Chair), Robert Miller (Vice-Chair), James Aldrich, Kelley Hicks, Dennis Marcom, (Jason Perron – late), Chas Street (Selectboard Representative)

Alternates:      Ed Potter, Jeff White

Recording:      Regina Borden, Recording Secretary

These Minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the May 13, 2014, meeting for corrections, additions and/or omissions.  There were nine people in attendance.

Meeting Opened:  Mr. J. Miller, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM in the Walpole Town Hall.  He advised that meetings are tape recorded therefore asked anyone that wishes to speak to identify themselves.

Roll Call:  Mr. J. Miller noted that regular member, Mr. Jason Perron, was not present, therefore, he called upon alternate member, Mr. Ed Potter, to assume Perron’s seat on the Planning Board.

Mr. J. Miller welcomed Kelley Hicks and Jason Perron as the newly elected Planning Board members.

ANNUAL RE-ORGANIZATION:

CHAIR:  Mr. R. Miller nominated Mr. J. Miller as the Chair for 2014.  Seconded by Mr. Aldrich.  There were no other nominations.  With six members in favor, the motion was approved.  Mr. J. Miller abstained from the vote but accepted the position as Chair.

VICE-CHAIR:  Mr. J. Miller nominated Mr. R. Miller as the Vice-Chair for 2014.  Seconded by Mr. Aldrich.  There were no other nominations.  With six members in favor, the motion was approved.  Mr. R. Miller abstained from the vote but accepted the position as Vice-Chair.

SECRETARY:  Mr. R. Miller moved to nominate Mr. Aldrich as the Secretary for 2014.  Seconded by Mr. J. Miller.  There were no other nominations.  With six members in favor, the motion was approved.  Mr. Aldrich abstained from the vote but accepted the position as Secretary.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING on March 11, 2014, and the WORKSHOP SESSION on March 25, 2014:  Mr. Aldrich moved to approve the Minutes of the regular Planning Board (PB) meeting on March 11, 2014, and the Workshop Session on March 25, 2014, as printed.  Seconded by Mr. Potter.  With all members in favor, the Minutes were approved.

Mr. Perron came into the meeting; Mr. Potter assumed his Alternate Member seat.

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

There were no Public Hearings scheduled for this meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

HODGKINS & SONS, INC.:  Mr. John Hodgkins advised that they would like to do a Lot Line Adjustment on land they own in the Industrial Park, off Route 12.  The existing parcel is 13.88 acres; they would like to subdivide this into a 7.00 acre and a 6.88 acre lots.  Both lots will have the required road frontage.  SVE Associates did the design.  Mr. Hodgkins explained that they have taken all the gravel off this parcel, there is some loam, the granite curbing will be removed.  There is some crushed gravel left; they are in the process of hauling material away.  It is now flat land.

Mr. Aldrich moved to schedule a Public Hearing at the May 13, 2014, meeting.  Seconded by Mr. Marcom.  With all members in favor, the motion was approved.

532 MAIN STREET, LLC:  Attorney Robert Kasper advised that the property at 532 Main Street has the Creamery, the Wash ‘N Dry and the Walpole Valley Tire businesses.  They want to make some improvements to the building.  A change they are proposing is to take the existing 3-bay wooden structure out front and build a new structure on the back of the building so Walpole Valley Tire will be doing the tire changing on the back side.  They will also put a new door in on the back of the building for the Tire service.  Even though this is a Zoning Board matter he wanted everybody to know that they are proposing to replace the 19’ x 3’ signs with 8’ x 3’ signs for each company with a matching background.  This will reduce their signage quite a bit.

Mr. R. Miller moved to schedule a Public Hearing at the May 13, 2014, meeting.  Seconded by Mr. Aldrich.  With all members in favor, the motion was approved.

JOHN SHELDON:  Mr. Joe DiBernardo, DiBernardo and Associates, LLC, was representing John Sheldon.  The application is for a Lot Line Adjustment but there are multiple parts to it.  Mr. Sheldon is one of the owners involved in this proposal.  This property is located at Cheshire Turnpike and Common Road in Drewsville.  Mr. Sheldon is buying 5.46 acres from Southwestern Community Services that will become a part of the Sheldon existing parcel.  In addition they would like to straighten out some of the other boundaries.  Mr. DiBernardo explained the proposed changes on the plan.  Mr. J. Miller explained that this would all be fine if they wanted to do it in a Phase I and Phase II process but the PB cannot create a non-conforming lot.  They are creating another lot because they are moving the line.  He suggested they clean it up by going to the Zoning Board for a Variance then in the future if they want to sell or move the line it is all corrected and there will be no non-conforming issues.  Mr. DiBernardo and Mr. Sheldon felt it best to go to the Zoning Board first for a Variance and then come back to the Planning Board.

HAL WILKINS: Mr. Wilkins was present for a preliminary consultation about a possible business expansion.  There are three lots on the R.N. Johnson, Inc. parcel.  He has a client who is interested in purchasing the southern parcel.  Because there would be no access on Main Street they worked out a way to create access that will benefit all the parcels.  It is a 50-foot wide by about a 350-foot-long right-of-way which allows everyone access in and out.  The problem is that his client is interested in moving a line over to some point because it might involve demolishing the building.  His question has to deal with Variances.  The shed is right on the property line.  If his client purchases this parcel he would have an existing building in a pre-existing situation.  If the line moves they shift the Variance into the Johnson parcel.  Do they really have to tear the sheds down to create a 20-foot green space for a set-back or would the PB consider allowing the shed to remain until such time as they know what will happen to the middle parcel.  Mr. J. Miller felt they could have a conditional Variance if that were the case but there might be a time frame.  It is the Zoning Board that has the say for Variances.  Mr. Wilkins said they want to move forward with this.  He noted that this is now 3.7 acres but they will make it 4 acres.  Mr. J. Miller pointed out that after they figure out where the boundary line will be that will be the appropriate time to come back to the PB.  Mr. Wilkins asked if the right-of-way is an acceptable way to solve the problem of access.  He discussed this with Jim Terrell, Road Agent.  Mr. J. Miller said it sounds logical but the curb cut off the road is going to have to be adequate for what will be developed there.

OLD BUSINESS:

Excavation Tax and RSA 72-B – Proposed Draft For The Site Plan Review:  Mr. J. Miller recommended that this be an Agenda item for the Workshop Session.

PLANNING BOARD:

Workshop Session – Reminder:  There will be a Workshop Session on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 7:00 PM in the Walpole Town Hall Downstairs Office.

ADJOURN MEETING:

Mr. Aldrich moved to adjourn this meeting.  Seconded by Mr. Marcom.  With all members in favor, the motion was approved at 7:39 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Regina Borden, Recording Secretary

(Note:  These are unapproved Minutes.  Corrections, if necessary, will be found in the Minutes of the May 13, 2014, Planning Board meeting.)