1-10-07

Walpole Planning Board Endorses Zoning Change for New Industrial Park

By Chuck Bingaman, Contributing Writer

            The Walpole Planning Board voted 6-1 Tuesday evening to recommend that town voters rezone most of a 43-acre site behind Diamond Pizza on Rt.12 from rural agricultural to industrial to enable immediate development.

            Petitioners seeking the rezoning had previously gotten it on the warrant article list for March town balloting, but they wanted the Planning Board’s recommendation on the article for the weight it carries with town voters.

            Assuming the rezoning passes in March, Keene developer Toby Tousley intends to buy the former Huntington Farm from Hubbard Farms, the current owner that, until several years ago, used it for extensive poultry operations.  If the rezoning passes, Tousley expects to sell an eight-acre parcel to Chamberlain Machine, currently of Rockingham, VT, that intends to build a 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility on it.  Chamberlain, founded in the 1940s, makes high tech pumps for various industrial uses and has outgrown its current facility.  The company currently employees 45-50 skilled employees and expects that number to rise by 10% per year, according to Manager Chris Miller who attended Tuesday’s meeting.

            Tousley also noted that the parcel contains enough space for “at least two more Chamberlain Machine-sized businesses there and there could be a couple hundred employees working at the site, depending on the types of businesses.”  Tousley also pointed out that the parcel’s frontage on Rt. 12 includes already zoned commercial area up to 250 feet from the highway that would stay commercial and might be developed in the future for offices but “probably not restaurants.”

            Proponents of Board endorsement said that the land had not been used for agriculture for years, and Board member Sheldon Sawyer even argued that large-scale poultry operations were more akin to a commercial or industrial use than traditional agriculture in any case.  Planning Board Chair Jeff Miller, having recused himself from presiding over the hearing to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, said, “I think rezoning is a good idea. Hubbard Farms is not a growing industry in Walpole.  They’re going to sell that land for some uses.  Their proposal for light, clean industrial park is exactly what Walpole needs.  It would benefit the valuation of Walpole.” Further, some pointed out that this sort of development is preferable to an extensive housing development that might have a tax-negative effect on the town.

            Walpole Conservation Commission Chair Gary Speed cautioned the Board that its recommending the development meant that prime agricultural land would be permanently lost and that the town’s conservation plan puts a high premium on maintaining quality agricultural land in the town.  He also noted that the industrial park would sit atop one of the town’s primary aquifers and be a short distance from one of its wells. Ben Daviss, the sole Board member to vote against recommending the rezoning, found no fault with Chamberlain or Tousley’s plans but argued that, procedurally, the Board was acting prematurely in recommending a significant zoning change in advance of its upcoming review of the Master Plan.  Daviss also cautioned against moving too quickly before determining whether the compaction caused by building and paving large surfaces could damage the aquifer. John Hansel objected to the recommendation because there is remaining space in the town’s current industrial park five miles further south on Rt. 12. 

            Walpole Zoning Bard of Appeals Chair Myra Mansouri, noting that she was “not anti-growth or anti-development”, argued against changing the zoning and argued, instead, for a special exception in the rural agricultural zoning for the proposed Chamberlain development. “Once it’s rezoned,” she said, “it’s rezoned forever. We’re losing our farmland, and I think it’s a big deal!”

            In the other major issue on the agenda, the Board voted to place a warrant article proposal on the March ballot reducing from three to two the number of stories allowed for new multi-family dwellings.

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