Walpole Planning Board March Minutes

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed for corrections at the April 2026 meeting.

Role Call:  Board present: Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Jeff Harrington, Trevor MacLachlan, Joanna Andros, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Absent: Board member Clerk Jason Perron and alternate Travis Adams.

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

Review of minutes of February 2026 meeting: Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the February 2026 minutes as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:

Public Hearing: No. 1 

Subdivision: Elisse McGuirk 2000 Living Trust, 167 Valley Road, Tax Map 13, Lot 15 and Tax Map 12, Lot 76, Rural/Agricultural District, Proposed four lots: 1.94 acres, 36.75 acres, 7.53 acres and 5.87 acres. Proposed Use: Residential.

Mr. Miller called surveyor Jon Buschbaum of Envirespectland Services on speaker phone and Mr. Buschbaum presented the details of the four-lot subdivision. Mr. Buschbaum said there are two parcels of land across the street from one another. It is a simple subdivision. The parcel on Lot 13 was to separate the land with the house on it from the rest of the property. That house lot is 1.94 acres. On Lot 12 he divided it into two lots so that each lot could have a house on it and still have adequate field space. One lot is 7.53 acres and the other is 5.87 acres.

Mr. Mark McGuirk asked Mr. Buschbaum why he ended the property on the west side where he did? Mr. Buschbaum said if he had continued the lot line it would have cut off the driveway to the back of the property. Another question was why was it 200 feet in front of the house. Mr. Buschbaum and he had to conform to the ordinance in the rural agricultural zoning district that requires 200 feet of road footage. 

Another gentleman asked why he didn’t get a certified mail notice. He was one of the owner’s sons. Mr. Miller asked if his property was next to the property on the map. He said no. Mr. 

Miller said only abutters of the property had to be legally notified by certified mail. It seemed obvious that the some of the children of Elisse McGuirk didn’t agree with the plat that was presented so Mr. Miller suggested that the group get together and discuss it and come back to the April meeting. The matter will be continued at the regular April meeting

Public Hearing No. 2

Subdivision: William and Sally Allen, 142 Prospect Hill Road, one lot into two, Tax Map 8, Lot 63, Residential A District.  Lot 1 1.48 acres with 254,21 feet road frontage. Lot 2 3.18 acres with 200.63 feet road frontage.

Surveyor Joe DiBernardo presented details of the two-lot subdivision and said it’s a simple straight forward subdivision into two lots. One will have the house on it, the other is an open lot. He cited the dimensions and the road frontage mentioned above. It has town water and town sewer. Mr. Miller closed the public hearing at 7:20 pm. Mr. Marcom made a motion to approved the subdivision as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

New Business:

Signage: Town Line Equipment, Route 12. Former Pinnacleview Equipment. 

Steve Corey of Town Line Equipment requested a replacement of the sign at the former Pinnacleview Equipment store. The new sign will be free-standing and double-sided. The dimensions are 125 inches wide by 82.25 inches high. It will be lit from two lights atop of a pole. The sign’s size conforms to Walpole’s sign ordinance. It is similar to the sign that is in front of the building now only will be higher. Mr. MacLachlan made a motion to approve the sign, Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Lot Line Adjustment, David and Cynthia Westover Trust, 238 Kingsbury Road, Tax Map 5, Lots 11-1, 11-2 and Lot 11-3. Lot 11-1 will be 10.30 acres after adjustments with 4.15 acres from Lot 11-2. Road frontage for this lot is 287.9 feet on County Road and 658.4 feet on Kingsbury Road. Lot 11-2 will be 5.50 acres after giving 4.15 acres to lot 11-1. It has 200 feet road frontage on County Road. And Lot 11-3 will be 1.75 acres after getting .18 acres from Lot 11-2 with 350.97 feet of road frontage on Kingsbury Road.

Mr. DiBernardo made the presentation and requested a public hearing in April for the Lot Line Adjustment. Mr. Harrington made a motion to have a public hearing for the Lot Line Adjustment. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Changes at the Potato Barn

Mr. Miller said Steve Rudek, owner of the Potato Barn behind the Bellows Inn, is planning on making changes to some of the apartments in the building. His plans are to downsize a couple of apartments that are already there and to add 4 new ones apartments. That will bring the total number of apartments in the Potato Barn to 13. Mr. Barry Bellows will be doing the work and he wanted a public hearing in April on the site plan. Mr. Marcom made a motion to hold hearing in April for the Potato Barn site plan. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Adjournment

Mr. MacLachlan made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:40 pm. 

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, PLANNING BOARD