Roll Call: Present: Board members Chair Jan Galloway-Leclerc, Vice-Chair Dave Edkins, Pauline Barnes. Alternates: Myra Mansouri, Shane O’Keefe and Carolyn Vose, who arrived a few minutes late. Absent: Board members Tom Murray and Tom Windmill and alternate Don Sellarole. Also at the meeting were application presenter Jessi Dussault and resident Dan McCollister. Ms. Galloway-Leclerc asked alternates Myra Mansouri and Shane O’Keefe to sit in for the absent board members.

Minutes: Dave Edkins made a motion to approve the May 2023 minutes as printed. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

New Business: Special Exception: Dussault Property Management LLC, Jessi Dussault, wants to put three apartments in former Head Start School. The building is the carriage house adjacent to the Drewsville Mansion, 4 Common Road, Drewsville. Requesting a public hearing in August.

Ms. Dussault introduced herself. She said said she and her husband recently purchased the Drewsville Mansion and the adjacent carriage house. They already own 19 multi-family homes in the Fall Mountain area. The Mansion has five rental units that are all occupied. The Carriage House was the former Head Start School for preschool-age children. She would like to put three one-bedroom apartments in that building – two on the first floor and one in the basement. Currently the first floor is one large room that is completely open, Ms. Dussault said. She would like to split that room down the middle and make it two apartments. There are already two entrances to that floor. The basement apartment has double doors and faces the pond. The bedroom on that floor would be immediately to the left as you enter and they would place a window in that room that would serve as a second egress. The first floor apartments would be about 650 square feet and the basement apartment would be about 850 square feet. Her husband owns Griffin Construction and he works with Matt Beam who does the plumbing and Tim Latham who does the electrical work, Ms. Dussault said.

At this point in the meeting Mr. Edkins said that Dussault Property Management purchased both buildings from Southwest Regional Planning Commission in Keene and he wanted the board to know that he is vice-chairman of the SWRPC board. He said he had known that the buildings were for sale but had had no knowledge or involvement in the purchase or sales of the buildings. If the board thought he should recuse himself from voting on the Special Exception for the Carriage House, he would do so. Several board members spoke up saying they did not think he needed to recuse himself.

Ms. Leclerc said Zoning Coordinator Ernie Vose said Ms. Dussault needed site plan approval from the Planning Board and a Special Exception from the ZBA. Since the property is in the Residential B district and multi-family homes are permitted in this district, Ms. Dessault could go forward with her Special Exception application, Ms. Galloway-Leclerc said. Ms. Dessault has a public hearing scheduled with the Planning Board for a site plan on Tuesday, August 8.  

Mr. Edkins said the application was complete and made a motion to hold a public hearing for a Special Exception for the three apartments at the Carriage House in Drewsville in August. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the board voted unanimously to hold a public hearing for a Special Exception for Dussault Property Management LLC at the August 2023 meeting.   

Ms. Dussault gave the secretary three copies of the application and a check for the application fee and the abutter notices. 

New Web site and what to include on the website site design. Applications, Bylaws, etc.

Ms. Galloway-Leclerc said that Assistant Town Clerk, Vicki Gohl, contacted her about the new website and said that each department would be responsible for its own content. She recommended looking at the Hanover website for ideas on how it is laid out and the content it contains. Basic ZBA info is already included on the town’s website now. That includes all applications, ZBA Bylaws, etc. Ms. Galloway-Leclerc said Ms. Gohl suggested pictures of the board but Ms. Galloway-Leclerc didn’t feel comfortable with that suggestion. She did however say that she wrote a blurb on “What the ZBA does.” Board members suggested that the entire Zoning Ordinance booklet should be on the website and Mr. O’Keefe suggested possibly including a link to the Office of Strategic Planning and the Zoning and Planning Manual. ZBA agendas and minutes are already listed in another section of the site. At the end of the meeting, Mr. McCollister suggested a section on “most frequently asked questions”. Board members thought that was a good idea. More discussion at future meetings will continue after board members have had a chance to look at the Hanover website.

Maps: Dates of zoning changes of Pinnacleview and Dearborn Circle on map in Town Offices.

A previous reply from the NH Municipal Association said that dates should be included in the Walpole Ordinances booklet about any zoning changes when new maps created for the Zoning Board are displayed. Last year, the ZBA board had printed, framed and hung a colorful zoning map of Walpole Zoning Districts in the Town Offices lobby. It should have included the dates of the Pinnacleview zoning change and the Dearborn Circle zoning changes on the map and in the Ordinance. The secretary will write up a possible blurb about the changes to be placed on the map and in the Ordinance under Article III and present it to the board at the next meeting.

Warrant amendment

Copies of a new cover for the Walpole Zoning Ordinance and the amended text on penalties that was approved at the March 2023 town vote were distributed. Jodi Daigel is working on typing out a copy of the entire Ordinance.  

Discuss town counsel, Jeremy Hockensmith letter. Board members received a copy of the letter at the meeting.

Mr. Edkins made a motion to go into nonpublic session to discuss legal advice from town counsel, Jeremy Hockensmith. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried. The board went into nonpublic session at about 7:50 pm and came out of nonpublic session at 8:10 pm after a motion was made by Mr. O’Keefe and seconded by Mr. Edkins and approved by the rest of the boad.

Adjournment

Ms. Barnes made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Mansouri seconded the motion and the motion carried.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed for corrections, omissions and additions at the August 2023 meeting. 

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

ZBA Recording Secretary

Posted: Inside the Town Offices, on the bulletin board outside the post office, The Walpolean, ww.walpolenh.us

cc: ZBA, WPB, Town Offices.