Walpole Planning Board Minutes

 December 10, 2024

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Present: Board members Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternate Travis Adams. Absent board member Trevor MacLachlan and alternate Bill Carmody.

Call to order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. He asked Mr. Adams to fill in for the absent board member. Mr. Adams agreed.

Minutes: Review minutes of the November 2024 meeting and workshop minutes. Mr. Marcom made two corrections on the regular November meeting minutes. On page 1 he changed if to is in the sixth paragraph and on page 2, last paragraph, the middle lot of the Dunkin subdivision is Lot 2. Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the amended minutes. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

OLD BUSINESS:

Continuation of:

Public Hearing No. 2: Subdivision for Dunkin property at 418 Main Street. One lot into four lots. 

Town Map 12, Lot 56, Lot 1 56-1 will be 1.73 acres, Lot 2 will be 2.9 acres, Lot 3 will be 2.04 acres, Lot 4 will be 2.62 acres. Commercial District.

Mr. Jason Hill of TF Moran presented the subdivision of 8-plus acres on the quadrant at the corner of Main Street and Upper Walpole Road in the commercial district. There will be four lots. Lot 1 will be for a Dunkin coffee shop, Lot 2 will be a baseball field. Lot 3 is the site of the future police station and lot 4 abuts the Savings Bank of Walpole, owner to be determined. Lot 1 has access from Upper Walpole Road as well as Route 12. Lots 2 and 3 have a shared access from Upper Walpole Road and Lot 4 has access from Upper Walpole Road. The site has public water and sewer. 

There being no questions from the board or the public, Mr. Miller closed the hearing at 7:05 pm. Mr. Perron made a motion to accept the subdivision as presented. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Public Hearing No. 3: The Walpole Foundation: Construction of a new preschool, 75 Westminster St. Tax Map 20, Lot, 11, Residential B District.

Erin Lambert of Wilcox & Barton in Concord presented the proposal for The Walpole Foundation.

The new school will be 5,294 square feet. There will be five egress points on three sides of the building. There will be 48 parking spaces, two of them ADA accessible. The driveway will be one-way with a bus drop-off area at the front of the building, which faces south. There is an enclosed playground off to the west side of the building. The plans are to plant 11 trees – some shade tress, some ornamental trees – and some perennials. The poles with lighting will only illuminate the property and will be downcast so neighbors and wildlife are not affected. 

This is not a day care operation. It is a school with an educational program that is in session during the regular school year. It is not currently in session during the summer months.  There are approximately 30 students currently enrolled, not counting the students who come for after-school care. There is a community room in the new building and it has a kitchen designed for community use. Capacity is for 40 students. Not all students attend every day. Some students are on a two or three day a week schedule. The present school will remain in operation during construction of the new school. There are currently two classrooms but a third classroom will be added to the new building. This room will be used for infants, six weeks to about 2 or 2 1/2. That classroom can accommodate 6 to 8 children.

The school will be served by municipal water and sewer. The building will be fully sprinkled. Underground electric service will be provided from a pole near the driveway entrance. The building will be heated by propane.

Construction is planned to begin in the spring of 2025 with estimated completion by the summer of 2026. When the new school is up and running, Wilcox & Barton are in charge of demolishing the old school building. 

When all of the questions of both the board and the public had been answered, Mr. Miller closed the hearing at 7:30 pm.

Mr. Harrington made a motion to approve the project as present. Mr. Dalessio seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Public Hearing for Approval of Proposed Revised Zoning Amendments. There are eight amendments.

Mr. Miller explained that earlier this year the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment and Todd Horner, Executive Director of Southwest Region Planning Commission, and Carol Ogilvie, a senior planner with the organization met several times to discuss the zoning ordinance to clarify and improve organization of the document. The result was this document with eight amendments.

Mr. Miller said there was good cooperation between both boards. Two major changes are that the Planning Board will now resume yearly inspection of the town’s three remaining gravel pits and take over signage, which actually is part of the site plan process. The Select Board will handle permits for  temporary use of a mobile homes or trailers and building in the timberland district.

Powers of the ZBA were defined:

• Hear and Decide Appeal from Administrative Decisions
• Special Exceptions
• Variances

Definitions will all be in one place and alphabetized.

Mr. Perron made a motion to have the Planning Board recommend this article, which will be placed on the March warrant. The motion carried unanimously

Public Hearing for a zoning amendment drafted by the Planning Board.

Mr. Miller said this zoning amendment was discussed at the November meeting and has been slightly tweaked. But the intent remains the same as the original draft.

It will be placed on the town warrant. It excludes formula businesses in the commercial district, Section 6, of Downtown Walpole Village, Article VI. Formula businesses include retail sales and restaurants that regulate by contractual or other arrangements certain standardized features that include uniforms, logos, interior or exterior design, array of services or merchandise, menus, ingredients and food preparation. 

Mr. Marcom made a motion to have the Planning Board recommend this zoning amendment, which will be placed on the March warrant. The motion carried unanimously.

Update

Mr. Miller attended a meeting in Temple last week. It was a Citizen Planning Conference arranged by SWRPC and attended by a variety of officials from several towns in the Monadnock Region. There were about 20 people at the conference, he said. He said it was a very constructive meeting with a discussion on a lot of issues. Another meeting is planned for March. He plans to attend and hopes a couple of board members will go with him.

Mr. Miller also mentioned that the group that was at the November meeting who wanted to construct three buildings on the lot south of Dollar General  had registered a plat at the Registry of Deeds without any approval from the town. Town counsel is looking into this matter.

Public Hearing for a Petition Article

Mr. Harrington made a motion to hold a public hearing in January 2025 on a petition to be placed on the March warrant that would amend the article about shops, restaurants and other retail building not exceeding 40,000 square feet to not allow drive-up window service. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

It was 8:15 pm.

These are unapproved minutes that will be reviewed for corrections at the January 2025 meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Secretary

Next meeting: January 14, 2025.

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, PLANNING BOARD