The Walpolean

[Editor’s Note: It has come to my attention that I never published the April Planning Board meeting minutes. I apologize for the error.—Kelli]

Walpole Planning Board Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

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

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

Election of Officers: Mr. Perron made a motion to keep the slate of officers the same. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. The slate of officers are Jeff Miller as chair, Dennis Marcom as Vice-Chair and Jason Perron as Clerk.

Mr. Miller introduced Tom Murray and said he has agreed to be an alternate on the Planning Board. A motion was made and seconded to approve Mr. Murray as alternate. The motion was approved unanimously.

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. He asked Mr. Murray if he would fill in for the absent Board member and Mr. Murray agreed.

Review minutes of March 2026 meeting: There were two corrections. On page 3, Ms. Andros pointed out that there was an extra word in the first sentence and suggested striking out the word “ones.” On page 2 in the paragraph about Town Line Equipment, Mr. Marcom suggested adding that the board approved the sign which was 32 square feet and remove the mention of inches.. He made a motion to approve the February 2026 minutes as corrected.

Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried.

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 asked Kathleen Dustin, Trustee of the Elisse McGuirk Trust, if the two parties had come to some kind of agreement. Ms. Dustin said no. Mark MdGuirk handed out page one of the Trust pointing out the portion that says “to split off the house with 200 feet of road frontage on Valley Road, the northerly border of the house lot to be delineated by the southerly edge of the driveway to the existing barn, the easterly and southerly borders to be delineated by the pond and creek running through the existing parcel.”

Mr. Miller said that the problem with the two sides not being able to agree on the plat are not the concern of the Walpole Planning Board. The subdivision, as presented. complies with all the ordinances of the Walpole Zoning Ordinances so that is what this Board must consider. He asked the Board to make a motion. Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve the subdivision as presented. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the board agreed unanimously.

Public Hearing No. 2

Lot Line Adjustments, David and Cynthia Westover Trust, 238 Kingsbury Road, Tax Map 5, Lots 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, Rural/Agricultural District. Proposed four lots:

Surveyor Joe DiBernardo explained how the four lots will be configured. He said 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. Miller asked if the largest lot will be in current use. Ms. Westover said yes. He asked the Board if they had any questions. Having none, he closed the hearing at 7:14 pm.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to approve this Lot Line Adjustments as presented. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

New Business:

Site Plan application. Snowplow Sales Development, Levi Hubbard and Brookside Real Estate LLC, 538 Main Street and intersection with Route 123 and Route 12, 75.49 acres. Map 12, Lot 58, Commercial District.

The site design includes an office, workshop, covered storage structure, a gravel display area, parking lot, outdoor equipment and inventory storage area. The use is for a landscaping business.

John Noonan of Fieldstone Land Consultant made the presentation and requested a public hearing for the May meeting. He went over the Site Development Plans. He said the property is currently an undeveloped corn field bordered by Blue Seal to the South, a baseball field to the north and forest to the east. The site will be serviced by private well water, private septic system and underground electric and communication services. There is a pre-development drainage plan as well as a drainage plan.

There is an approved highway cut where the driveway will be. It is directly across the highway on Route 12 from the Malnati home. The office is 3,360 square feet and attached to the 8,000 foot store. The size of the office is 56 feet by 60 feet. The two-floor store is 100 feet wide by 80 feet long. The office will face Main Street and the store will be behind it. The store is barn red with black window and doors. There’s a gable in the front.

Open bins are lined up along the southern boundary line. At the end of these open bins are two larger ones with salt and sand. They will be covered. There are 55 parking spaces with a couple of ADA spaces. At the northern edge of the property is an infiltration basin.

Overhead LED lights will be down lit and sprinkled around the parking lot. Four trees will be placed along Route 12 and another seven abutting the Walpole Youth Baseball Foundation property. Shrubbery will be placed at the driveway entrance and surround three sides of the office building.

Mr. Dalessio reminded Mr. Noonan to get touch with Mark Houghton for fire safety.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to hold a public hearing in May for the project. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Short-term rentals

Mr. Miller brought up the topic of Airbnbs. He said he thought that owners should come before the Planning Board so that neighbors have some idea of what is going on in their neighborhood. He referenced the B&B ordinance and thought something could be added to amend that ordinance to cover Airbnbs. The Board will get more information on the topic and work on amending the B&B ordinance.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Harrington second the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:50 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Marilou Blaine

WPB Secretary