Walpole Planning Board Minutes

June 10, 2025

Town Hall 

7 pm

Roll Call: Board present: Chair Jeff Miller, Dennis Marcom, Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternate: Travis Adams. Absent: alternate Bill Carmody.

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. A full board was present so there was no need to appoint an alternate to fill in.

Minutes: Review minutes of May 2025. Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

New Business: 

Signage at Blue Seal:

Free-standing sign near Route 12, with an Electronic Messaging Board. Internally Lit Wall Sign on building. Couple of smaller signs: on the containing propane silo and one near driveway entrance to the store. Presenter Justin Parker of Classic Signs Inc. LLC in Amherst, NH. The property is at 334 Main Street, Tax Map 12, Lot 59 in the commercial district. Blue Seal was formerly owned by Achilles Agway.

Mr. Parker said he was at the meeting to get approval for four signs: a wall sign on the building, a free-standing sign near Route 12, a sign near the entrance driveway to the store and a sign on a propane tank, which is 118 feet to the north of the doors to the building. The sign on the propane tank is 3.89 square foot, single sided vinyl. The entrance sign is 3 feet 1 3/4-inches. The size of these signs comply with Walpole’s Zoning Ordinances on signage.

 However, the wall sign on the building and the free-standing sign are larger than the 32 square-foot maximum spelled out in the zoning ordinance. So he is asking for a variance. He said he believes these signs should not be smaller because cars going by at 55 mph wouldn’t even notice the Blue Seal sign and reducing the size of the sign takes away from their intrinsic design. Actually the cars passing Blue Seal should be going 35 mph. Variances are decided by the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The secretary will put him on the agenda for June 18.

The wall sign on the building has the Blue Seal logo and below it says FARM – HOME. Its size is 49.58 square feet, single-sided and internally lit. The free-standing pylon sign has the Blue Seal Logo and the words Farm – Home. Between the words FARM and Home is a tiny rooster on both signs. There is an additional space for a “reader” board of 2 lines of 6-inch copy on the Route 12 sign. This sign is double faced and the electronic reader board would change every couple of minutes to say something else. The choice of what goes on the message board is up to the owners.

 Mr. Harrington worried the message board might distract drivers. He read from sign provision No. 3 “oscillating, rotating flashing, neon, or other tubular gas signs are not permitted except when used for public safety purposed by a governmental entity?” Mr. Marcom also mentioned provision 3 but other Board members didn’t stater concerns about the message board.. 

Mr. Parker also submitted back-up renditions of the signage on the building and near Route 12 that comply with Walpole’s sign ordinance in case his request for a variance is turned down.

Mr. Harrington made a motion to approve the sign on the propane tank and sign at the entrance driveway. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.

Phase 3 at Abenaki Springs

Mr. Miller said the Select Board recently had a discussion of Phase 3 at Abenaki Springs. He said given that there have been so many changes in that area over the last few years he thought Phase 3 would need go through a Site Plan Review. Mr. Dalessio said Avanru Development used the words “substantially complete” to indicate they might be ready. However, Mr. MacLachlan, who works in construction, said Avanru may have some of the infrastructure in place such as electrical, water and sewer but that doesn’t cover “substantially complete” in the construction industry. There isn’t even a draft of the building, he said. The Board will revisit this topic next month.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:35 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed on July 8 for any corrections.

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, PLANNING BOARD