The Walpolean

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

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

Walpole Planning Board Minutes

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

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

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

Call to Order: Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. There was a quorum present.

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

New Business:

Site Plan: Lawrence & Lober – Preliminary meeting.

Rick Hamm, president of Lawrence & Lober Electric and Adam Steele, vice-president, were at the meeting to discuss preliminary plans for a potential building. Mr. Hamm said they were considering buying the former Abingdon Spares property on South Street for the business, which is now located in Bellows Falls, Vt. He is looking at building a 6,000-to-8,000-square foot building for his warehouse and office. He said he had about 25 employees, but most of those employees take the company trucks home at the end of the day. There already is plenty of space for parking in back of the building for employees, he said,  as well as more on the property. After a question from Board member Andros Mr. Hamm said the building would face toward Route 12.

Chair Miller said that the property has been designated at Residential B, so the buyer would need a Special Exception from the Zoning Board of Adjustment as well as a site plan application form the Planning Board. The Zoning Board meets the following week on a Wednesday and the person to contact would be Chair Tom Murray. Mr. Miller suggested that Mr. Hamm look at some of the buildings at the former Pinnacleview Equipment because all their buildings have a colonial architectural style and since this building would be the entrance to the town of Walpole it would be in keeping with the town’s architecture. Mr. Miller also suggested he consider the landscaping. Mr. Hamm and Mr. Steele left the meeting and will let the Board know if they would be back for a more formal meeting.

Old Business:

Public Hearing: 

Subdivision, Sabin Rock Farm LLC, 79 Reservoir Road,  owner Margie Palmer, Tax Map 10, Lot 26. One lot into three lots: Lot 1 9.58 acres, 559.67 feet road frontage, Lot 2 6.42 acres, 200.92 feet road frontage, Lot 3 17.99 acres, 771.21 feet, rural/ag zoning district. 

Mr. DiBernardo presented the project saying it changed from an original two-lot subdivision to a three-lot subdivision because there were already two residences on the property and that is not allowed according to Walpole’s Zoning Ordinances. Mr. DiBernardo pointed out the lot sizes and frontage, which all conformed to Walpole’s zoning ordinances now. Mr. Miller closed the hearing at 7:12 pm.

Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the project as presented. It was seconded by Mr. Marcom and it carried unanimously.

New Business:

Subdivision: Elisse McGuirk 2000 Living Trust, Tax Map 13, Lot 15, Valley Road and Tax Map 12, Lot 76, Valley Road in the Rural/Agricultural Zoning District. Surveyor Jon C. Buschbaum of Envirospect Land Services, LLC explained the project via speaker phone. 

There are two parcels of land across the street from one another on Valley Road. The notes on the plat says “the purpose of this plan is to subdivide Map 13, Lot 15 and Map 12, Lot 76 into 2 residential lots.” He said the plan for Tax Map 13, Lot 15, which is 38.7 acres, would be to  separate off the current residence on the property. That property is 1.94 acres.  Regarding the lot across the street, which is 13.4 acres, it would be divided into two lots one of 5.87 acres and one of 7.53 acres. Mr. Buschbaum requested a public hearing for the next month, March. Mr.  Buschbaum did not submit an application with the plat but said he would drop off the application and fees to the town by February 25th.

Mr. Perron made a motion to hold a public hearing at the March meeting for the subdivision of the McGuirk properties. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Subdivision William Allen, 142 Prospect Hill Road, Walpole, NH 03608, Tax Map 8, Lot 68, Residential A Zoning District. One lot into two lots. Lot 1 would be 1.48 acres with 254.21 feet of road frontage and Lot 2 would be 3.16 acres with 200. 63 feet of road frontage.

Surveyor Joe DiBernardo presented this project for Mr. Allen and asked for a public hearing on the matter in March. Mr. Marcom made a motion to hold a public hearing in March for the William Allen subdivision. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Adjournment

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion. The time was 7:31 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

Walpole Planning Board Minutes

January 13, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed for corrections at the February 10, 2026 meeting. 

Roll Call: Board Present: Chair Jeff Miller, Clerk Jason Perron, Jeff Harrington, Joanna Andros, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternate: Travis Adams. 

Absent: Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Trevor MacLachlan. 

Call to Order: Mr Miller called the meeting to order at 7 pm. He asked Alternate Travis Adams to sit in for Mr. Marcom. Mr. Adams agreed. 

Review minutes of December 2025: Mr. Perron made a motion to approve the December 2025 minutes as written. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Public Hearing No. 1: 

Ideal Location LLC, owned by Greg Gay, 1134 Main St., North Walpole proposes a building of 2,100 square feet at Town Tax Map 27, Lot Sub 1, for office space and parts inventory. Industrial Zone. 

Mr. Gay presented a new plat, this one showing the new 2,100 square-foot building in relationship to the primary building at the back of the property. He said the new building will be 70 feet long by 28 feet wide. It is for offices and parts inventory space to support the main building, he said. It is in the Industrial Zoning District of North Walpole. The building has been approved by the North Walpole Commissioners and the North Walpole Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. Gay present this plat in 2016 and he said the North Walpole Fire Department approved it then. 

Mr. Dalessio asked if there is here was an exterior lighting plan. Mr. Gay said no. Mr. Dalessio then pointed out that the plans were 10 years old and that building codes have changed. He suggested Mr. Gay take these points into consideration. 

Mr. Don Lennon, one of two principal owners of Len-Tex, a business that abuts the property, asked if the building was going to be sprinkled. Mr. Gay said no but there is a fire hydrant nearby and there would be no flammable materials, such as gasoline, in the building. Mr. Lennon said he had to think of his employees and wanted it noted that he was insisting there be sprinkler system added. “It’s in the Industrial Zone,” Mr. Lennon said. 

Board members approved Mr. Gay’s proposal with two conditions: that Mr. Gay get in touch with the Walpole Sewer Department to connect to the sewer that runs in front of the property (there is a manhole noted on the plat) and that he get a new letter from the North Walpole Fire Department approving the project. He closed the Public hearing at 7:10 pm. 

Public Hearing 2: 

Community Facilities and Services is the final section of the updated Master Plan that needs Planning Board approval. 

This section of the Master Plan includes information on the buildings in the town that provide services to the community. Those facilities are Walpole Police and Walpole and North Walpole Fire Departments, Walpole and North Walpole libraries, Walpole Historical Society, Highway Department, Water and Sewer Departments and Recycling Center. This document needs to be approved to complete the total update of the 2020 Master Plan that was originally delayed because of COVID. 

Mr. Perron made a motion to add the Facilities and Services section to the Master Plan. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Walpole Fire Department letter 

Fire Chief Mark Houghton was at the meeting because he needed a letter from the town saying it would exempt the Walpole Fire Department from a small problem about distance to the center of the road. Mr. Houghton explained he had received a letter that day from the federal government saying before actually receiving the grant money for the firehouse addition, he had to have a letter from the town exempting the fire department from the required distance from the center of the road. The small problem is that the required 65 feet from the center of the road (Main Street) to the building was a foot or two short. After a short discussion with the Board, Chair Jeff Miller agreed to write a letter exempting the fire department from that requirement.

Previously, the town voted to approve the addition to the fire department. Mr. Houghton said that they already had scheduled to begin renovating the fire department in mid-March. 

Subdivision: One lot into two or three lots: Sabin Rock LLC, 79 Reservoir Road, Tax Map 10, Lot 26, rural/ag district, owned by Margie Palmer.

There is a problem of two residences on this lot, which is not permitted in the Walpole ordinances. So the owner has to change her decision on how she wants to divide the property into two or possibly three lots. There is a total of about 35 acres with more than 1500 feet of frontage so three lots is doable. The land in current use can still remain in current use. The Public Hearing will still take place in February and abutters will be notified of Ms. Palmer’s decision within the allotted time.

Mr. Harrington made a motion to hold a public hearing in February for a subdivision of this property. Mr. Perron seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Adjournment 

Mr. Perron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 pm. Mr. Harrington seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Marilou Blaine, WPB Secretary