The Walpolean

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

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. A full board was present so no alternates were needed to fill in.

Review of Minutes of May 2024: Mr. Dalessio made two corrections. He said on page one, paragraph seven about his call to Fire Chief Mark Houghton about the propane tank should be deleted because it wasn’t part of the meeting. Mr. Dalessio said the call was made before Mr. Marcom called the meeting to order. He also said Stevens Lane is a private road not a Class VI road. However, both private and Class VI roads need a recommendation from the Planning Board for a waiver in order to build on either of these types of roads. Mr. Harrington said his name was misspelled on page one, paragraph three. Mr. Miller asked for a motion to approve the amended minutes. Mr. Marcom made the motion. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. 

Topic for this evening was the Master Plan: Mr. Miller said that it’s time to have public hearings for the sections of the Master Plan that have been completed. So he suggested that in July the Board have a public hearing for Land Analysis and Population and Housing Analysis sections. The Board members will get hard copies of these sections and several copies of these two sections will be available at the Town Offices for the public to peruse the public hearing on July 9 meeting. 

An article about restricting formula businesses in the Village District was passed out to the Board members. Mr. Miller said the language came from a Town of Jaffrey ordinance. In a month or two the Board will have a hearing about placing it on the warrant.

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The time was 7:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: inside Town Offices, on bulletin board outside Post Office, www.walpolenh.us

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

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

Minutes of April 9, 2024 and Joint Meeting with the Planning and Zoning Boards on April 25, 2024: Mr. Harrison made a motion to approved both minutes as written. Mr. MacLachlan seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Appoint Alternate Travis Adams to continue on board for another three years: Mr. Marcom said Mr. Travis expressed a desire to remain on the Planning Board as an alternate for another three years. Mr. Perron made a motion to have Alternate Travis Adams stay on the Planning Board as an Alternate for another three-year term.. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

Old Business:

Public Hearing for Tractor Supply LLC, 8 Red Barn Lane, addition of 1,600 square-foot space outside – a covered canopy structure for a garden center. Tax Map 12, Lot 13-2, commercial district. Dwight MacKenny, project manager for Tractor Supply. Approval by Walpole Fire Chief Mark Houghton of new propane connection. Name of company for signage.

Mr. MacKenny said he was back for the public hearing for approval of the 1,600 square-foot space for the garden center. He said everything remained the same as presented at the last meeting. The garden center will be put on the north side of the building. It will be surrounded by fencing and has a cloth canopy in place as a roof. However, when asked about the propane tank Mr. MacKenny said that the company has a propane specialist who should have contacted Mr. Houghton. When asked about signage, Mr. MacKenny said Tractor Supply had chosen a sign company more than a month ago. The Secretary said her contact person was Beth Dorminey of OnPoint Commercial Designs and she said in an email that as soon as we have an update on the information, she “will send it over.” The secretary had not received the information on either topic as of the meeting. The Planning Board does not approved the signage. That is under the purview of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. But a sign MUST be approved for any building in the commercial district.

Mr.  Dalessio called Mr. Houghton on his cell phone and asked if he had approved the propane tank. Mr. Houghton didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. After explaining to him about the project at Tractor Supply, he was notified that it didn’t have a roof. It was a cloth canopy that covered the site of the garden center. He asked to see the plans and the secretary dropped them off at the Town Offices that same night. 

Mr. Marcom closed the public hearing. Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the project as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

                                         ​

New Business:

Stacey McGreer Allen, Tim Allen are proposing to build a home on Stevens Lane, Class VI road. Stevens Lane is off of Watkins Hill Road. Here’s the procedure.

1. Go to Planning Board for a Recommendation. If recommended then step 2.

2. Go to Registry of Deeds in Keene on West St. to include waiver of town responsibility for maintaining road and access.

3. Get an application from Town Offices. Fill it out. 

4. Once updated step 3, ask to be put on Select Board agenda for a Building Permit.

That afternoon the secretary received two documents regarding this property at 76 Steven Lane: one was a copy of a driveway permit dated 2019 who approved it by then road agent Mike Rau and an email from Lindsey Guyette of Walpole’s current Highway Department who had sent the copy of the permit to Mr. Miller and the secretary. She copied both documents and each person on the board had copies of these two documents.

Tim and Stacey Allen came to the meeting and were a little puzzled that they had to anything more than get a building permit. Stacey Allen said they purchased the property in 1979 from Jack and Barbara Fraunfelder and had a letter saying everything was all set. The entrance to the property would have to be from Watkins Hill not Taggard Road. The entry from Taggard Road, which is part Class V and part Class VI has a portion that is not passable with a car because of ledge. There are already of couple of homes on that road called Stevens Lane, entering from Watkins Hill. However, the road is now designated as a Class VI. The Allens need to get a waiver to build on that road and it must be recorded in the deed. That’s the reason for going to the Registry of Deeds.

Mr. Marcom asked if they had a conforming lot. It is 16 acres so it’s conforming in size.

Mr. Marcom asked about conforming to building setbacks – 65 feet from the center of the road and the required distance from their boundary lines. They replied yes.

And according to Mr. Perron, who had a picture of the property on his cell phone, the frontage is about 300 feet. 

Mr. Marcom asked if they were familiar with conditions of the waiver and they both said yes.

Mr. Perron made a motion to recommend that Stacey and Tim Allen be approved for the waiver. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Update on Dunkin

Tom Berube, Civil Engineer for TF Moran, Dunkin’s contracting company,  sent information that he was doing the water line easement that week. That was one of two conditions of approval for the project. The second was the driveway permit from NHDOT. Jason Hill emailed the secretary that that was close to being approved and as soon as it was a done deal, he would let the Board know.

Adjournment:

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:20 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the June 11, 2024 meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine, WPB Secretary

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

Call to order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 6:58 pm. A full board was presented so he didn’t need an alternate to fill in.

Election of Officers: Mr. Harrington made a motion to appoint Jeff Miller as chair, Dennis Marcom as vice-chair and Jason Perron as clerk. Mr. Dalessio seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Minutes of March 2023: Mr. Harrington made a motion to approved the minutes of the March as written. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business:

Site Plan for Tractor Supply LLC, 8 Red Barn Lane, addition of 1600 square-foot space outside – a covered canopy structure for a garden center. Tax Map 12, Lot 13-2, commercial district. Request for a public hearing. Dwight MacKenny, project manager for Tractor Supply, was the presenter.

It was explained to Mr. MacKenny that the reason he was here tonight was because the structure for the garden center would cost more than $10,000 and site plan regulations mandate that any structure costing that amount or over has to have a site plan.

Mr. MacKenny introduced himself. He said the outdoor project is on the north side of the Tractor Supply building and the gable architecture of the building will be facing toward the west where the parking lot is. It’s a gazebo look-alike and instead of being made of wood the building will be made of steel. It is 1600 square feet and there will be hookups for hoses to water plants. He was requesting a public hearing in May. 

Mr. Dalessio noticed that there was a propane tank in the area of construction and it was going to be moved from the area where the new structure is going to be built to some place else around the building. He told Mr. MacKenny that the new hookup had to be approved by Walpole’s fire chief, Mark Houghton, and Mr. Houghton had to write a letter to the Planning Board saying it had been approved. Mr. MacKenny said he would get in touch with him. The secretary will supply her Tractor Supply contact with Mr. Houghton’s email. The application, list of abutter and support documents, as well as the fees, has already been filed at the Town Offices.

Mr. Perron made a motion to hold a public hearing for the addition of a garden center to Tractor Supply. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed. 

Mr. Dalessio reminded Mr. MacKenny that the signage needs to be approved by the ZBA. Mr. MacKenny said that  the secretary’s contact, Beth Dorminey of OnPoint, would get the name of the company creating the sign. That would be a separate meeting with the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Workshop: Joint Planning and Zoning Boards workshop April 23.

Mr. Miller and current ZBA Chair David Edkins visited with Southwest Region Planning Commission’s executive director Todd Horner earlier in the month to discuss the updating/recodifying of the Walpole Ordinances this year. Mr. Homer sent Mr. Miller an outline and contract of their proposal. The proposal is for “a high-level audit of the Walpole, NH Zoning Ordinance” and the first item out of 8 items is “Recommend strategies for improving the organization and structure of the zoning ordinance so that it it better understood by Town Officials who are responsible for administering it and can be more intuitively navigated by the general public.” Both Mr. Homer and planner Carol Ogilvie will be at the first joint workshop of the Planning and Zoning Boards on the fourth Tuesday, April 23, in the main meeting room of the Town Hall.

Mr. Marcom asked if it has to then go to the town attorney. Mr. Miller said they’re (Southwest planners) not lawyers but they are the experts on this type of thing. We’ll let them do their thing and once we’ve had discussions about their outcome, we’ll make a decision on whether or not it needs to go to the town attorney.

Mr. Dalessio reminded the board that the Master Plan still has to be finalized. It’s basically all done except for one small item that needs confirmation from the Conservation Commission. It will need a public hearing.

Handout 

Planning board members received a copy of a four-color zoning map originally created by students of Peter Palmiotto’s at Antioch-New England. It was updated with Mr. Palmiotto and some zoning board members a year or two ago. Everyone was impressed with the color, its readability and information on the map.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at about 7:30 pm. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed. The next meeting is May 14, 2024.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the March 12, 2024 regular meeting for corrections.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Recording Secretary

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

Call to order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. He asked Mr. Adams if he would sit in for Mr. MacLachlan. He agreed.

Minutes of February 2024 and Minutes of Joint Workshop meeting with Zoning Board of Adjustment: Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes and the workshop minutes as printed. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business:

Solar Array on 20 acres at 239 Old Keene Road and mostly 240 Wentworth Road, Tax Map 5 in rural/agricultural district. Property owned by Sheldon Sawyer. Samantha Valone, representing Lodestar Energy based in Avon, CT and Manhattan, NY, will present a basic concepts description of the project.  

A map of the surrounding area with a blue lake-like feature that was where the solar array was to go was distributed prior to the start of the meeting. 

Ms. Valone said this was just a preliminary meeting to an eventual final request for a 5 mega watt solar installation at peak times. She is a solar development associate for Lodestar Energy. She said Lodestar has installed similar solar arrays in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York State and a few in New Hampshire communities. She mentioned Chichester as one town in New Hampshire. Currently the company is filling out the applications it needs for the project and doing surveys of storm water and the property. The surveys will provide information on what kinds of equipment Lodestar will need for this project and how to go about building this installation. Equipment will be ordered and delivered to the site. Ms. Valone said it usually takes four (4) to five (5) months to build an installation of this size. A seven-foot chain link fence would surround the installation. She thinks the company should be ready to submit a site-plan application by July. 

Work on the project will start on property on Old Keene Road where six poles will be installed. These will be for overhead interconnection lines that would eventually go underground from the poles on Old Keene Road to the solar installation. Mill Road is a connector road that goes west to east from Old Keene Road to Wentworth Road and somewhere on that road is entrance to a 15-foot wide gravel vehicle maintenance road that goes to the installation site. After the installation is up and running the only maintenance needed is mowing under the panels. Some one asked about snow on the panels and the answer was it just slides off like it would on a metal roof. Mr. Miller said you will not be able to see the installation from Old Keene Road. 

Installations usually last for 20 years or more and then are decommissioned. Lodestar will​ follow the requirements for decommissioning it, Ms. Valone said. The installation and decommissioning requirements are all spelled out in Section VIII of the Walpole Site Plan Regulations. Walpole has its own Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire organization through which townspeople can get electric power at a community rate. Its chair, Paul Looney, was at Tuesday’s meeting and said that folks in Walpole get their power from Liberty Utilities and Liberty buys from a broker. He asked Ms. Valone if she had contacted Liberty yet. She said “no” but it was one of her things on the list of things she had to do. Ms. Valone said that this project can offer the Town energy credit of any town-owned Liberty electric accounts.

This was the first meeting about the process of building the solar array on Wentworth Road. For more information on the project, look for notices of upcoming meetings beginning in June.

Old Business

Public Hearing for site plan continued from February. Alyson’s Orchard: Adam Naeck site-plan application for a post-and-beam addition to the farm store. Tax Map 4, Lot 44, 57 Alyson’s  Lane, Commercial/Industrial District.

Mr. Naeck had a picture of the exterior of the current 400 square-foot farm store. It is attached to a roughly 1,400 square-foot apartment. The store is the main operation for Alyson’s farming retail space. Regularly there is one register inside and about a half dozen shelves display homemade products such as jellies, jams and chutneys and a couple of coolers have frozen chicken pot pies and dessert pies for sale. Currently there is no space inside the store for any of the fruits and vegetables the farm grows on a yearly basis. All are displayed outside. This is not ideal, Mr. Naeck said, because it make them subject to the weather, pests and potential theft. During its peak season, two outdoor registers are used outdoors.

The proposed farm store addition is 40 feet wide and 56 feet long. It is a two-story timber frame building and will be assembled by Ward Timber in Alstead. The addition will directly abut the current farm store. The 2250 square foot layout will be mainly used for indoor sales of our crops and farm retail space. There is also a 1000 foot loft which will be used for storage, more retail space if needed and customer seating. The timeline for constructing this building will be either this summer or next summer. 

There will be two main entrances, one directly from the current store into the new store  and an outdoor main entrance facing east towards the main event center. Parking will remain as it is. There will be an emergency exit only door on the west wall as well as an emergency exit from the loft upstairs to a staircase leading out, which is already found on the current store building. Current lighting will also be used as well as entry way lights found at each entrance.

In the future the old store may be used as a bakery where items like their popular cinnamon donuts will be made as well as other baked goods.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the site plan. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Workshop

Mr. Miller said he called Southwest Region Planning Commission and talked to senior planner Todd Horner who agreed to meet with the joint boards in the next couple of months. However, since the initial telephone conversation was made, Mr. Horner is now going to become the executive director of the organization so he pushed the workshop meeting until June. 

Mr. Miller was also optimistic that the Conservation Commission was almost finished going over a list of conservation property in the Natural Features section of the Master Plan. So that project could be wrapped up soon. 

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. It was 7:45 pm.

​

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the March 12, 2024 regular meeting for corrections, omission and additions.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Recording Secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: Inside the Town Offices, on the bulletin board outside the Post Office, http://www.walpolenh.us

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

Minutes: Ms. Andros made a couple of typo corrections and added a clarification describing the location of the glamping site on page 3, first paragraph, fourth line. The sentence should read “coming from Wentworth Road, drive to the top of the hill where the driveway flattens out. The glamping sites are to your right, just east of the pond.” Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the amended minutes, Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7 pm

Unfinished Business:

Discussion of Site Plan Application: Adam Naeck, Alyson’s Orchard, Tax Map 4, Lot 44, 57 Alyson’s Lane, Commercial/Industrial Districts, addition of two-story, post-and-beam building to the farm store and 7 glamping sites around Lilly’s Pond. 

The board gathered to discuss the Alyson’s Orchard site plan application. They agreed they wanted more details and answers about the glamping sites. 

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

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the February meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine, WPB Secretary 

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: Inside Town Hall, on bulletin board outside Post Office, http://www.walpolenh.us

Regretfully, the incorrect minutes were previously posted as being the December ones. These are the ones you have been awaiting and we apologize for the mistake. – Lil

December 12, 2023

Town Hall

7 pm

Present: Board members Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrison, Joanna Andros, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternate: Bill Carmody. Absent: Alternate Travis Adams.

In addition to Dunkin’s presentation team, there were about 25 residents at the meeting.

Minutes: Review of November 2023 minutes. Mr. MacLachlan made one correction on page 2 in the section on building on Class VI roads. Change RON to IRON. Mr. Marcom made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Call to Order: Chair Jeff Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. There was a full board present so an alternate was not needed to fill in. 

Old Business:

Public Hearing continues from October meeting. Site Plan: NGP Management LLC/Walpole Properties, LLC, Tax Map 12, Lot 56, Commercial district, proposes 1815 square-foot Dunkin coffee shop with drive-thru at intersection of Route 12 and Upper Walpole Road. 

Present from TFMoran, the company which is facilitating the building of the proposed Dunkin, were NGP applicant Jim Clifford, architect George Delegas, Attorney Eli Leino of Bernstein & Shur in Manchester and presenter Jason Hill PE.

Tonight’s meeting was mainly about the discussion and concerns of the Board made at the October 10, 2023 Planning Board meeting, which were about traffic. Mr. Leino said the Board received explanations and copies of diagrams explaining Dunkin’s responses to the Board’s concerns. The explanations show different sites, mainly around Manchester that he said had twice the volume of traffic as Walpole and with no signage, showing similar Dunkins with similar situations. He also said there are no Dunkin establishments that have parking for trucks. There were a couple of photographs of Dunkins showing where there is considerable truck traffic. One photograph was of traffic on West Hollis Street in Nashua. The caption says “Located off Route 3, West Hollis is a high traffic street connecting the highway to downtown Nashua. The site is small and there is no accommodation for trucks. The store does a high volume of sales and has no issues with trucks.” Mr. Clifford repeated that there are no Dunkin establishments that have parking for trucks. Considering truck parking, Mr. Hill stated that parking along Route 12 is unsafe because of the limited amount of space and the soft shoulder of the road.

Regarding cut-thru traffic between Upper Walpole Road and Route 12, the applicant agrees to install “No Thru Traffic” signage on the property. However, Mr. Hill said it has been Dunkin’s experience that this is not a problem at other Dunkins and to his knowledge it doesn’t happen that often. Mr. Hill showed a property on Beech Street in Manchester. The site is similar to the Walpole site in that the property is at an intersection. According to his written notes, Mr. Hill says “We have also enclosed a map of the Beech Street, Manchester, NH store. This store is at a high traffic intersection with substantial volume backing up at the light during the day. Traffic cutting through this property has never been a significant issue,” he wrote.       

Regarding the issue of sight distance of cars coming from the south on Route 12, Mr. Hill provided three photographs, two coming from the south and one from the north on Route 12, showing that a car at the entrance to the proposed Dunkin can be seen from a distance of 500 feet away. He said that was well within the required distance of 325 feet. Another photo confirmed that vegetation along the right side of the highway going towards Upper Walpole Road could be a problem for drivers turning south if mowing is not maintained. That’s up to the NHDOT maintenance which is responsible for mowing, he said. 

What the board was also waiting for was traffic mitigation from NHDOT. Mr. Leino said the department is swamped and Mr. Hill said it could be March before an official letter is received.

Mr. Miller mention another of his concern –  traffic queuing on the east side of the road while waiting to enter Dunkin because there are too many cars in the queue. Mr. Hill said there was room for a queue of 13 cars from the entrance to the menu board and room for another five cars from the menu board to the window for service. That’s a queue of 18 cars Mr. Hill said and he couldn’t anticipate any time it would back up into the shoulder on the east side of Route 12. Mr. Miller wasn’t so sure of this. 

Mr. Hill, Mr. Leino and Mr. Clifford all asked if there couldn’t be conditional approval of the site plan dependent on the ruling from NHDOT. It is not Dunkin holding up final approval of the project. It’s NHDOT. Their hands are tied. It is a slow process. During the time they were waiting for approval, there are things that they could be working on regarding the proposed building and site.

Mr. Dalessio reminded Mr. Hill that he still had to get a letter regarding safety as well as water and sewer conditions from Mark Houghton, water and sewer manager as well as Walpole’s fire chief. Mr. Hill said he has already had some discussions with Mr. Houghton and would follow up on a letter.

So, what to do? Mr. Perron said the only thing holding this up was approval from DOT. Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the Dunkin proposal on condition that the project gets approval from NHDOT. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion. 

Mr. Miller explained why he was not in favor of the project. He described what he sees every morning at the current Dunkin at the Jiffy Mart while driving his grandson to school. At 8:30 in the morning traffic is backed up to the front of the building. He also had concerns about this Dunkin being directly across from Diamond Pizza and the amount of traffic in and out of that their driveway. He didn’t think it was a good place to have another driveway cut on Route 12. He was convinced it was a place where there was a serious traffic accident waiting to happen. In good conscious he was against the project, he said.

A vote was taken on approval of the site plan with the condition that the traffic pattern be approved by NHDOT. The vote was five yes votes and two no votes. Mr. Marcom, Mr. Perron, Mr. Harrington, Mr. MacLachlan and Ms. Andros voted yes. Mr. Miller and Mr. Dalessio voted no. Also a recent email letter from Mark Houghton about water and sewer “requires a valid easement on the 6” water main that traverses this property from west to east in the new deed – is a requirement before construction begins.” 

Public Hearing for Site Plan: Alyson’s Orchard: Adam Naeck proposed an addition to the farm store and seven clamping sites. Tax Map 4, Lot 44, 57 Alyson’s Lane, Commercial/Industrial district.

Mr. Naeck introduced himself. He had a photograph of the location on the Alyson’s Orchard property where he was planning on putting up to seven glamping sites and add a post-and-beam two-story building to the farm store. He said there was already an apartment above the store. He explained that the word “glamping” stands for glorified camping. The glamping sites would be around Lily Pond, which is on top of the road, the entrance to the orchard from Wentworth Road. He already has three glamping sites established. The tents, which are water and fire proof come from Colorado. The tents are 16-feet-by 20-feet and 16-feet-by-24-feet, The larger tent can accommodate two queen beds and a couch. Inside are wash stations and a microwave. Outside are port-o-potties and grills for cooking. There is also a bathroom with a shower about two minutes away in the northern section of the farm store for use only by glampers.  Down the line, he said, he will be adding another septic system specifically for the glampers but it is sufficient for now. However, he said, this is orchard property and he has no intention of creating a campground. Parking for campers is not a problem, he said. There is room around each tent for two or three cars.

The addition to the store of 40-feet-by-56-feet with the second story being a loft in one portion. He plans to sell farm products, have a bakery in the current section and maybe a place to hold birthday parties for kids. 

Mr. Miller reminded the public that this was a public hearing for only the seven glamping sites and the addition to the form store. Any other projects, such as a tree house which he mentioned, he must come back to the Planning Board. Mr. Naeck agreed.

Mr. Dalessio said since it’s a site plan it should have a lighting plan, a parking plan and a landscaping plan. Mr. Naeck was asked if he could get that together for the January meeting. Mr. Naeck said that right now he was focusing on the orchard and was withdrawing the project.

Mr. Miller asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made to adjourn by Mr. Marcom, seconded by Mr. Harrington and the rest of the board agreed. 

These minutes are unapproved and will review next month for omissions, corrections and/or additions.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB recording secretary

cc: WPB, ZBA, Town Offices, The Walpolean.

Posted: Inside the Town Offices, on the bulletin board outside the Post Office, http://www.walpolenh.us

​

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

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

Minutes: Review minutes of September meeting and September workshop meeting. 

Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the September meeting and workshop minutes as written. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion passed.

Old Business:

Public Hearing:

Site Plan: NGP Management LLC/Walpole Properties, LLC, proposes 1815 square-foot Dunkin coffee shop with drive-thru at intersection of Route 12 and Upper Walpole Road. 

Mr. Jason Hill, project manager for TF Moran on the Dunkin in Walpole proposal, submitted some changes in response to comments made at the initial meeting last month. To repeat, the location of the Dunkin coffee shop is at the point on a piece of property that is bounded on the east side by Upper Walpole Road and on the west side by Route 12. Mr. Hill said the parking lot has 16 parking spaces for customers who want to go inside. There are also two handicap spaces.  The truck parking for unloading Dunkin products will remain the same at the upper northeast side parking lot. It may also be for employees. There is room for 13 cars to queue up in the drive-thru lane. According to Mr. Clifford, in terms of the average time in the queue per vehicle, that is typically about 30 seconds. 

There are two windows on the pick-up side of the building. The purpose of the second drive-thru window is entirely to speed up the rate that cars get serviced and exit the property. All ordering and payment happens at the first window. If someone has an order that is taking longer than usual, that person can pull up to the second window allowing cars behind to continue being serviced at the first window. The second window is only there to provide efficiency. The second window is primarily there to maintain the average flow.

The picture of the landscaping shows that more trees and plants have been added to the property – more trees along Route 12 and additional plants by the transformer, cooler and along the drive thru. There is going to be signage at both the Upper Walpole Road and Route 12 entrances to the property. 

Mr. Hill had spoken with Mark Houghton and it was agreed that the movement of fire trucks through the property was approved. Mr. Hill and Mr. Houghton still have to get together on other safety measures as well as water and sewer issues.

Regarding the actual building, the trim has been painted white and will have gray siding. Board members asked about the picture they received of the building with a cupola and Mr. Hill said he didn’t know about that. It will probably be discussed further with the architect.

Mr. Miller asked about trucks entering the property for service. He noted that at Dunkin’s  current site, which offers diesel fuel for large trailer trucks, there are drivers who go into that building for coffee. Mr. Hill said that there is no parking for large trailer trucks and Mr. Clifford said they have 120 Dunkins and not a single one is designed for truck parking.

Mr. Hill has also spoken with NH Department of Transportation and expects approval soon of the driving pattern. The third lane, which will act as a turning lane and is still part of the project. He will contact the Department before the next meeting to see where approval for the cut stands. 

Traffic Report

Mr. Robert Duvall, also an employee of TF Moran, spoke about traffic. He said traffic from Upper Walpole Road will be for parking patrons only and will not have access to the drive-thru lane. On the Route 12 side of the property, there will be one lane in and one lane out. Drivers come into the property may go to the parking lot or access one of two lanes. The inside drive-thru lane is for service. There is an additional lane that bypasses the pick-up window and goes directly to the exit on Upper Walpole Road or back through the parking lot in order to exit onto Route 12.

He has the numbers on the amount of traffic that visited the current Dunkin, which is located further north on Route 12 on the opposite side of the highway at the Jiffy Mart and gas station. Traffic was calculated in the morning from 7 to 9 am, in the afternoon from 4 to 6 pm and on Saturday 11 am to 1 pm. On weekdays there were 150 trips in the morning, 75 in and 75 out. The afternoon peak hours were less than the morning hours at 71 trips and Saturday tallies were a tad higher than peak morning hours at 160 trips. Of people traveling on Route 12, 90 percent passed by and 10 percent turned into Dunkin.  

Accident Evaluation

One table in the Traffic Reports shows that the crash frequency by intersection over a 6-year period. There were 17 total accidents at the North Meadow Plaza location, four with injuries and no fatalities. At the Upper Walpole Road there were 12 accidents over the same period of time, two with injuries and no fatalities. The accidents mainly occurred at the afternoon peak hours and some with Saturday  hours. 

Speed Study

The traffic report study was conducted at the location of the Diamond Pizza driveway. The observed speed on a weekday was 44 mph in the northbound land and 47 mph in the southbound lane. On Saturday it was 44 mph in the northbound lane and 49 mph in the southbound lane. The posted speed is 35 miles per hour. However, it was noted that speeds in excess of 70 mph have been clocked on this highway.

Sight Distance

Opinions on sight distance differed greatly from the experiences express by members  on the Planning Board and what Mr. Duval reported. The largest discussion focused on driving north on Route 12 and up the hill to Upper Walpole Road and seeing the entrance to Dunkin. Mr. Duval said it is 460 feet from Upper Walpole Road to the Dunkin Driveway. But, according to board members it is uphill and you cannot see the Dunkin driveway until you get to the crest of the hill. Another complaint was that if a driver were coming out onto Route 12 from Upper Walpole Road and wants to turn left there is a problem with vegetation growth on the west side of the road that blocks the driver’s line of sight making it harder to turn left. DOT is responsible for maintaining this space and should be notified of the problem, one board member said. There is also a larger wait time at this location than other locations entering onto Route 12. It’s about a 39 second wait time in the am peak time if you are turning left. 

Regarding cars exiting Dunkin onto Route 12 and then heading north and south are as follows:

WBL means westbound left turn to head south onto Route 12 and WBR means westbound turn right heading north on Route 12: 

AM Peak : WBL is 17.7 seconds and WBR is 10.5 seconds.

PM Peak: WBL 21.6 seconds and WBR 10.8 seconds.

Saturday Peak is WBL is 21.4 seconds and WBR is 10.8 seconds.

Several people at the meeting spoke about their experiences with driving this portion of Route 12 and Upper Walpole Road. The people who spoke live in the Upper Walpole Road area, Huntington Avenue or travel the road daily to and from work or to Alstead or Fall Mountain High School. All said they were worried about an increase in traffic in this area and the speed of some of the cars and possibly additional of trucks. One woman ended her passionate statement about additional traffic saying that even one more accident is one too many. Another suggested that Police Chief Justin Sanctuary come to the next meeting and give his opinion of traffic regarding both roads. A state trooper, who lives on Upper Walpole Road, was at the meeting and he said while he doesn’t cover this territory he’s seen speeds of 55 to 60 mph. 

Mr. Dalessio asked about the cars turning into Dunkin from Upper Walpole Road. The people driving those cars cannot get to the coffee shop unless they park in the parking lot because there is a barrier for that lane to turn into the drive-thru lane. He predicted this will become a popular cut-thru for those drivers wanting to head north on Route 12

Snowmobile Trail

There is a snowmobile trail that cuts through this property, north of where the proposed Dunkin will be. The members of that group maintain that trail during the winter. Mr. Miller reminded Mr. Clifford to get in touch with the leader of the snowmobile group and discuss their trail. Mr. Clifford said he would.

Mr. Miller closed the tonight’s public hearing. It will be continued next month. Mr. Dalessio asked Mr. Hill for a lighting plan at this meeting. The architect will probably present his change and Mr. Hill will hopefully have more information on where the project stands with the NH Department of Transportation. 

Workshop this month: Tuesday, October 24: Carol Ogilvie – Continued discussion of Natural Resource section of Master Plan. 

Adjournment

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

The minutes of this meeting are unapproved will be reviewed at the November meeting for corrections, omissions and additions.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

WPB Recording Secretary