Walpole Planning Board Minutes

May 13, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm 

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

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm.

Minutes: Review minutes of April 2025. On page 2, section on adjournment Ms. Andros corrected the word “passes” to “passed.”  Mr. Harrington made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:

Site Plan: Public Hearing: 1,400 square-foot Domino’s Restaurant, 504 Main Street, & Red Barn Lane, Tax Map 12, Lot 13-3 Unit 2 A, Commercial District. Agent Chad Branon Fieldstone Land Consultants, Applicant and owner is Acorn to Sky Investments LLC in Meriden, NH.

John Noonan, project manager for Fieldstone Land Consultants, presented the proposal and announced the answer to two previous questions the board had. There will be no seating in the building. The business is for take-out only. Customers may go in the building for pick up. And yes there will be delivery.

Mr. Noonan continued that this is a hearing for a Domino Pizza on land that is a condo lot. It is Tax Map 12, Lot 13-3, 2A and shares an access entrance road with Dollar General off of Red Barn Lane and abuts Tractor Supply to the north. This plat supersedes a recorded plat that the Planning Board did not approve. That plat was filed with the Cheshire County Registry of Deeds in Keene in April 2024.

The plan presented included revised elevations. The color of the siding of the building is castle stone or beige with white trim and a black asphalt roof. It is a design that will fit well in the community, Mr. Noonan said. It has a gable roof in the center. The entrance to the building is at the end of shared driveway with Dollar General and then goes around to the back of the building to the take-out window and comes around in the front of the building to exit. The remaining land is convertible land, which means that it may have another business on it, wetlands and a pond. Operation hours will be 11 am to 8 pm.

Mr. Noonan pointed out a couple of sites where there is drainage, one in the top right-hand corner of the lot and one near Red Barn Lane. Lighting is mounted on two poles and there is lighting on the building. Landscaping will consist of trees and shrubs. He mentioned a few red maples, Ms. Kim lilacs, hydrangeas and he pointed out the location of the enclosed dumpster, which also will be surrounded by shrubs. The electrical box will also have shrubs surrounding it. The entire project will connect with town water and sewer on Red Barn Lane. It was suggested that Mr. Noonan contact Walpole Fire Chief Mark Houghton to get approval on fire safety. 

Mr. Miller asked if there were any other questions. Being none he closed the public hearing at 7:15 pm. The Board had no more questions. Mr. Harrington made a motion to approve the site plan as presented and Mr. Perron seconded the motion. Mr. Miller thanked the owner, Bobby Oakes, for working with the Board to sort out the “condo” problem.

There were a few Walpole residents at the meeting and Chris Burchstead raised her hand and asked when they were going to have their input at the meeting. The time for them to speak up was when Mr. Miller asked if there were any other questions. The gist of their concern was another drive-up business and more traffic. Mr. Miller point out that this is in the commercial district and the Board cannot determine which businesses can or cannot locate in it. As long as a business follows the site plan the Board cannot legally oppose the project. Mr. Perron reminded them that a couple of years ago that there was an article on the warrant to ban formula businesses of which Domino’s Pizza is one. That article was turned down by residents. Holly Gowdy, who has land that abuts land on which the Domino Pizza will be built, was there to complain about the traffic on that section of Route 12. She said trailer trucks go 60 miles per hour down that stretch of road. It is dangerous and she fears there will be a fatal accident. She thinks there should be more of a police presence on that portion of Route 12.  Select Board member Carolyn Vose advised anyone who has a complaint should call the police department, not 911, but the regular police department number. 

Lot Line Adjustment: Public Hearing, Nathan Bisson and Allegra Pickering, 310 Main Street: Tax Map 24, Lot 13-14, 14-1 and 15. Residential A and Commercial District. Swap land between Doug Palmer and Bisson/Pickering.  0.13 acres from Palmer to Bisson/Pickering for front lawn. 0.14 acres on Main Street from Bisson/Pickering to Palmer of Old Hewitt Barn Properties. Purchase from BNB Realty to Bisson/Pickering 0.04 acres. Total acreage of Bisson/Pickering now 8.66 acres, formerly 8.4 acres.

This lot line adjustment is a swapping of small parcels of land mainly to straighten out boundary lines. There was a small adjustment to the plat that Surveyor Joe DiBernardo presented. It regards fencing that BNB put up on the western boundary for its preschool. That was readjusted to 38 square feet being annexed to BNB property. With the lot line adjustment Bisson/Pickering get a new front lawn. The final tally is .52 acres after adjustment for BNB; 1.5 acres for Hewitt Barn; and a final 8.66 acres for Bisson/Pickering.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the lot line adjustment as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Zoning Ordinances: The changes to Walpole Zoning Ordinances that were approved in March have been reorganized into a new booklet that will soon be available. Southwest Regional Planning Commission was in charge of the work. The booklet will soon be copied and distributed.

Adjournment: Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The time was 7:45 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the June 10, 2025 Planning Board meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, PLANNING BOARD