Walpole Planning Board Minutes

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes have not been approved but will be reviewed for corrections at the June 2026 meeting.

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

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order shortly before 7 pm because all the people who were presenters at the meeting were in attendance. A full Board was present.

Review minutes of April 2026 meeting: Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

New Business:

Presentation by Sarah Bollinger SWRPC: Topic: Family-Based-Child Care Zoning.

Mr. Miller introduced Sarah Bollinger from Southwest Regional Planning Commission (SWRPC). She explained she was at the meeting because in an email to Mr. Miller she pointed out a concern she had about Walpole’s 2025 zoning ordinance. She “wanted to flag that family-based child care is not addressed. Because Walpole has a permissive zoning ordinance the absence of any provision for family-based child care effectively means it is not allowed, which is not consistent with current statute.” Ms. Bollinger offered to come to the June and July meetings and assist the Board in drafting such an ordinance.

Mr. Miller said he was all in favor of family-based childcare as did several other members of the Planning Board. “Childcare is important for our town,’’ he said. 

It was decided that Ms. Bollinger would come to the next meeting to begin working on a draft for a family-based child care ordinance. Mr. Miller said it could also be done at a fourth Tuesday workshop meeting. Ms. Bollinger will contact Mr. Miller about a future date for a meeting.

Old Business:

Public Hearing:

Site Plan Application: Snowplow Sales Development, Brookside Real Estate LLC and Levi Hubbard, 538 Main Street, Tax Map 12, Lot 58, Commercial District. This includes a 3,360 square-foot office and a two-story 8,000 square-foot store for snowplow and small equipment sales. There will be open bins on the eastern boundary line with various types of gravel, soil and mulch and two larger ones for sand and salt. They will also host a landscaping business. 

Preliminary to starting the Public Hearing scheduled for this meeting, Mr. Miller said there had been a couple of “hiccups” and another meeting will be held next month to continue the Public Hearing. First, six of 13 certified letters were returned to sender (Planning Board) because they couldn’t be delivered because there was no numerical address. Mr. Miller contacted Mr. John Noonan of Fieldstone Land Consultants and informed him of the problem. Mr. Noonan said he able to reach three of the six abutters who were supposed to be notified by certified/return receipt mail. The second problem was that the public hearing was not posted on the bulletin board at the post office and inside the Town Hall, a legal requirement. 

Mr. Noonan started explaining the Snowplow Sales proposal. The property is 75 acres and proposed are two buildings: one a 3,060 square-foot office and the other a two-story 8,000 square-foot store for equipment sales. There would be three trees along the perimeter of Route 12 and six trees along the eastern boundary line. On the southern boundary there would be multiple bins with different size stones and gravel and different kinds of mulch. Two larger ones at the end would be covered and contain sand and salt. The bin with salt would have an asphalt floor. The parking lot would be paved. There would be a small display at the front entrance. 

The Route 12 cut for a driveway has lapsed so a new application had to be filed and NH Department of Transportation should be getting back to the applicants in two to six weeks, Mr. Noonan said. Mr. Miller asked about oil. Mr. Levi Hubbard said it would be very small, like cans, not like an automotive operation. Drainage on the property is diverted around the property to the back where there is a stormwater management area. Septic and water from a well will be private systems. Lighting will be on poles around the perimeter. Other lighting is LED and down lit so no light should leak off the property, Mr. Noonan said. There is a landscaping plan for plantings in the hatched area containing such plants as azaleas, lilacs and hydrangeas.

The area of most concern from the Board was the cut for the entrance to the property. Traffic was entering from Main Street, continuing on Route 12 past the driveway and cars traveling south could be turning left into the entrance.

Mr. Noonan will be back next month with an updater from NHDOT, a picture of the sign and answer any further questions the Board might have.

Preliminary meeting with Hubbard Farms for a site plan.

Mr. Mark Houghton presented the plans for an addition to a building at Hidden Acres Lane off of Halls Crossing. The existing building is a square, 35-feet-by-35-feet, and used for showers before and after entering the bio security building. The proposal is to enlarge the building to 40-feet-by-40-feet for the same purpose – showers – and add an office and storage space.

There being no questions Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the site plan and hold a public hearing in June. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Sau60: Change of Use, Site Plan: School building in North Walpole will be converted to SAU offices.

Joey Carter explained the plans are in the formative stage The plan is to use some of rooms in the building for the offices of SAU personnel. That would also include a conference room and rooms set aside for confidential consultations. The gymnasium, bathroom and playground would still be available for use by townspeople. The expected timing of the move is in October. The only concern voiced was about traffic and children getting off and onto buses. Mr. Carter said that only happens twice a day. Mr. Carter will be back with more information about the changes.

Mr. Carter said that a letter from the North Walpole Fire Chief stating that all life safety issues have been addressed is required to obtain site plan approval.

Currently, Walpole’s second, third, and fourth-graders attend the North Walpole School. According to Walpole Principal Justin Cassarino all second-through-eighth-graders will be at the Walpole Middle School next year. The North Walpole School will then be entirely for the use of SAU 60 personnel. 

Tim Graves Gravel Pit Inspection:

Mr. Perron and Mr. Harrington completed visiting the Tim Graves gravel pit on Wentworth Road on April 30, 2026. They found no problems or concerns and their comment was on the inspection form was “Looks good.” Mr. Harrington mentioned there were just small piles of dirt. This completes the Inspection of gravel pits for 2025. The Gravel Pit Inspection Form will be filed with Mr. Graves previous submissions and previous years of gravel pit inspection forms.

Short-term rentals

Mr. Miller would like to add to the B&B ordinance something about short-term rentals also known as AirBnBs. The reason is to inform neighbors who live on a street or near an AirBnB, that that particular house is one that often has transient people staying there. Ms. Jackie Caserta, owner of B&B Valley Farms, said that she is in competition with AirBnBs. Ms. Caserta said that B&BS have to be licensed by the state and there are certain regulations. She believes that the same types of regulations should include AirBnBs. The Board will be considering how best to include AirBnbs in the current B&B ordinance. She offered to help with the drafting of a the ordinance.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 pm. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, 

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, PLANNING BOARD