Walpole Planning Board

Walpole Town Hall

October 14, 2014

Minutes

 

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

Alternate: Ed Potter, Alternate.

Absent: Jeff White, Alternate

Recording: Marilou Blaine. These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the November 11, 2014 meeting for corrections, additions and/or omissions.

Meeting Opened: Mr. J. Miller, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.

Roll Call: All board members were in attendance so no alternates were needed to fill in.

Minutes: Mr. Aldrich made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Mr. R. Miller seconded the motion and the board approved the motion.

Old Business: 

Public Hearing No. 2 – Subdivision of one lot into two lots. Steven W. Brode, 15 Macri Lane,     Town Tax Map No. 7, Lot No. 22, Rural Agricultural Zoning District. The application was approved as       complete.

Ms. Cindy Westover represented Mr. Brode. She said that the lot is 2.95 acres and will be divided into a 1-acre lot and a 1.95 acre lot. The 1.95 acre lot has a house on it. Test pits have been done and Ted Fellows said everything looked fine. The state has yet to sign an official letter but they are expected to do so, Ms. Westover said. Mr. Street asked about a driveway. Ms. Westover responded that it would abut Mr. Bruce Potter’s driveway. The public hearing was closed.

Public Hearing No. 2: Site Plan Review. Conversion of the former American Legion building at 73 Main Street into a business for Costume Ladies. Tax Map No. 20, Lot No. 52, in the Commercial Zoning District. The building is owned by Mr. Ray Boas, Ms. Barbara Kasper and Ms. Lynne Rollins-Kinnier. The business is owned by Ms. Kasper. The application was approved as complete.

Mr. Boas said that renovations to the building have changed from what was originally planned and brought the public up to date on what has already happened. He said they have spent about $30,000 on safety upgrades and renovations.

– To date the lighting in the parking lot has been reduced two-thirds.

– The topography and driveway will remain unchanged.

– The plan is to demolish the dilapidated porch and steps and plant grass where the steps were, thus adding five (5) feet to the set back from the road.

– The porch and steps were 59 square feet but the display area will now be 14 square feet less. It will include an emergency exit and possibly a couple of steps facing west, if needed.

– The windows will be knee high to shoulder height.

– The lighting on the inside will not be more than an ordinary living room and will go off when most living rooms in the village go off.

– The roof over the display area will be a gray standing metal seam roof to match the slate roof.

– The hours of operation during October will be 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays 10 a.m – 5 p.m.

– For the rest of the year, the shop is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday from 10-6, and Saturday from 10-2. It is closed (except for the odd appointment) on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Abutter, Mr. James Brunelle had a concern about the light on the top of the flag. He said the light shined into their living room so the American Legion discontinued using the light. Mr. Boas said the light at the top will be removed and the flag will be lighted from the bottom and will not spill upward beyond the flag. Mr. Brunelle seemed satisfied.

Ms. Carol Fabis of 15 Elm St. asked if it was customary to take a flag down on rainy days. Mr. Boas said that  if a flag was lighted then taking down the flag during rain was not necessary. 

Ms. Fabis acknowledged that she was not an architect but considered Walpole a quintessential New England village. She said that the display window is more in keeping with a mall where there is pedestrian traffic for window shoppers. The only pedestrians here are joggers and dog walkers, Ms. Fabis said.

Ms. Fabis said she would prefer for the display windows to be two over two mullion windows in keeping with the look of the neighborhood. She did, however, wish the owners of Costume Ladies well.

Abutter, Ms. Felicia Phillips said that the owners have made adjustments to their original plan and worked with the people who will be their neighbors. She applauded them for doing so. The Public Hearing was closed.

Public Hearing Results:

Public hearing No. 2: Subdivision: Mr. Aldrich made a motion to accept the subdivision as presented. Mr. Street seconded the motion and the board approved it, pending state approval of the test pits.

Public hearing No. 1: Site Plan Review: Mr. Street made a motion to accept the plan as presented. Mr. Aldrich seconded the motion and it was approved by the board.

New business:

Request for Public Hearing by Liberty Utilities on Farnum Road, a scenic road with two entries – County Road and Watkins Hill. Liberty Utilities wants to schedule routine maintenance and hazard tree removal.

Mr. Jeffrey Carney represented Liberty Utilities. He is a licensed forester and vegetation specialist. He has worked for utility companies in the area since 1989 – Granite State and National Grid. He will be working with two graduate student foresters. There are three customers on Farnum Road.

Mr. Carney said there is a lot of vine growth to be trimmed and a dead tree on the County Road side. Mr. Carney said the Watkins Hill end did not require as much work.

Under the current state statutes homeowners can refuse and restrict work done, but there are 300 rules on how and what to trim on trees with a power or distribution line. There are standard clearance rules for cutting distances from the trees to the power line on the sides, underneath and above the line.

Mr. Carney said there will be door hangers placed on each door explaining what Liberty Utilities is going to do. The owner has 45 days to decide or convey preferences to the Utility Company. If the homeowner does not return and/or replace the door hanger with specific instructions, it is considered by law a consent. 

Ms. Kelley Hicks made a motion to schedule a public hearing in November and Mr. Aldrich seconded the motion. The board agreed. 

More New Business:

Mr. Richard Drew, who has filed for a Lot Line Adjustment, was not at the meeting. Ms. Lorraine Pellegrino was on the agenda to find out if she needed a Site Plan Review to Change the Use of her husband’s dental office on Main Street into a two bedroom apartment. Both Mr. J. Miller and Mr. R. Miller said she did need a Site Plan. She was not at the meeting.

Water Protection

Mr. Mark Houghton, Walpole’s Water and Sewer Superintendent, introduced Ms. Jennifer Palmiotto, who went over the revisions to the Public Water System Ordinance in Walpole. Ms. Palmiiotto is executive director of Granite State Rural Water Supply.

Ms. Palmiotto gave a little background on the how the group came to be started. She said that in 2002 the Walpole selectmen suggested a regular study of the public water system. One well is located on Route 12 directly west from Shaw’s near the Connecticut River and the other is beyond Hooper Golf Course on Watkins Hill.  Since 2002, land around the wells has been purchased, a zoning ordinance was adopted and education about public water systems has been taught both in the local schools and at Hooper Institute.

In March 2004, a zoning ordinance was adopted and in 2008 amended. It is updated every three years.

The committee, which first met monthly beginning in May 2013, looked at N.H. Department of Environmental Services regulations and literature and met with DES personnel. They decided to focus on the wellhead area where contamination would be most likely to occur.

Southwest Regional Planning Commission looked at the committee’s final document and made some minor suggestions. The last meeting the committee held was on October 1 and they have finalized their document.

Ms. Palmiotto said the changes were mainly “wording” issues. For example, the word aquifer means that the water source can go on for miles. The term wellhead is much more specific to the area around the well.

Mr. Street asked if the mapping system Avatar sent was accurate enough. Mr. Houghton said it appeared to be.

Mr. J. Miller said that the Planning Board would be meeting to discuss the document at its October work session on October 28, 2014, and asked about maps.

The following is from a handout that Ms. Palmiotto gave to the board about the proposed revisions:

Definitions were moved from Section 8 to Section III and unnecessary terms were removed (e.g. stratified drift, stratified drift aquifer). In addition, definitions were added for some terms such as “impervious surface” and “junkyards”.

Section IV improves The overlay District description. Specific references are made to maps which have been officially adopted on a certain date.

In Section V Determination and Adjustment of the Boundaries of the district is better defined.

Section VIII adds a “Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan) for conditional uses that use regulated substances within the district (wellhead protection areas).

Section IX describes the review and approval process for all applications withing the District.

Section X spells out 14 prohibited uses. Commercial animal feed lots was removed from current ordinance. Four uses were added: K. concrete, asphalt and tar manufacturing; L. Fueling and maintenance of large earth moving equipment; M. Sewerage/wastewater treatment system; N. Hazardous waste facility.

Section XII adds a section on existing nonconforming uses.

Section XIII highlights exemptions (e.g. private residences, temporary storage of construction materials, sale transport and use of pesticides etc.)

Section XV describes the process for maintenance and inspection of performance standards.

The revised draft includes a table highlighting prohibited uses and conditional uses.

 

The meeting adjourned around 8 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine