PLANNING BOARD
Walpole, NH 03608
MINUTES: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:00pm Town Hall
Presiding: Jeff Miller, Ch.
Members Present: Ben Daviss, Dave DeCoste, Sheldon Sawyer, select., Donn Lounsbury, alt., Jeff White, alt. Members Absent: Eric Merklein, Bob Miller, Henry Fletcher Recording: Pamela L. Aslinger, Sec./alt.
These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the August 11, 2009 meeting for errors, corrections and omissions. There were 10 persons in attendance.
I. Meeting opened at 7:03pm
A. Roll call – Donn Lounsbury designated for Bob Miller, Jeff White for Eric Merklein and Pam Aslinger for Henry Fletcher.
B. Minutes of 6/9/09 - Mr. Sawyer moved to approve the minutes as presented for the June 9, 2009 meeting, seconded by Mr. DeCoste, motion carried unanimously.
II. Review Applications Submitted:
A. Roxanna T. Damaziak – Minor 2 lot subdivision located on the south side of Cheney Hill Rd. and the east side of Valley Rd., Map 13, Lot 53 in the Rural Agricultural district. Purpose is to create Lot 1 with existing house of 1.73 acres and Lot 2 of 44.57 acres. Frontage, lot size and setback requirements are met. Sec. Aslinger collected abutter fees in the amount of $30.00 to complete the application materials. Ch. Miller called for a motion to accept the application as complete. It was so moved and seconded. Vote called, all were in favor, motion carried.
III. Close Meeting – open public hearing
A. Damaziak – Ch. Miller opened the public hearing and asked for a description of the proposal. Judy Northcott described the proposal pointing out the lots on the displayed map. Ch. Miller called for comments, hearing none closed the public hearing.
IV. 7:10 Ch. Miller re-opened the meeting and called for board action. Mr. Sawyer made a motion to approve the application as presented, the motion was seconded by Mr. Daviss, all were in favor, motion carried. Maps and mylar were signed with Mrs. Northcott agreeing to record the mylar at the registry of deeds and to notify the Secretary of the recording numbers.
V. Old Business
A. David Keurlainen of Merriam Farm - Joint discussion with Planning board and selectboard in regard to issuing a building permit on Class VI Merriam Rd. with a presentation by Mr. Rogers, land surveyor. The planning board may give a recommendation on the proposal following the discussion. Selectman Sawyer was present representing the selectboard noting the public hearing on the matter had been held on June 9, 2009.
Attorney Greg Michael for Merriam Farm gave a brief overview of the proposal and it’s relevance to State RSA 674:41 C. The statute addresses the review and approval of permits on Class VI roads to facilitate and allow the use of parcels without going through the zoning process and to allow some reasonable use of the property. Because the Town does not maintain Class VI roads, property owners have the right to maintain and make improvements to keep access to the parcels. The statute also requires the owner to provide indemnification to prevent the Town from being held liable for any maintenance of the roadway. He said the indemnification must be filed at the registry of deeds. He asked Mr. Rogers to present the details.
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Mr. Ed Rogers provided the board members with maps showing the various parcels and roadway. He provided cross-sections of two critical areas of the roadway showing how they will fill in the roadbed with gravel and remain within the existing stonewall. He indicated where they would begin making the improvements at the middle of the Frink parcel continuing to the Surry town line. Improvements will be made to about 2300 ft. with the entire length being about 3000 ft. The road was created as a two-rod road in 1760’s or 33 ft. wide. In some places the walls are wider and some are narrower, but generally the ROW is 33 ft. wide. In respect of the surrounding abutters they will make the improvements with an 18 ft. wide roadbed within stonewalls and will not be cutting trees. The 18 ft. width at the midpoint in the Morgan property is the most critical section because stonewalls are very narrow. He said the road is not being brought to a Class V standard nor will they be petitioning the town to accept the road, it will remain a Class VI road only to access the three Merriam Farm parcels. He said there would be between 10 and 20 trips per day and is considered a very low volume by road standards. They are hoping the boards will be satisfied with the road design and make a favorable recommendation thereby issuing the building permit.
Ch. Miller called for comments and discussion. Mr. DeCoste verified the distance at about ½ mile and questioned why the Selectmen were not requiring the road to be brought up to Class V standards, he was concerned about the potential of being sued because the standard of the road was not being specifically defined, is the owner really exempt if something should go wrong? Attorney Michael read the statute again clearly spelling out the exact law requiring a signed and recorded indemnification releasing the municipality of all responsibility, the town cannot be sued, he is quite certain. Mr. DeCoste asked what if a fire truck was not able to reach a property if the road wasn’t properly maintained? Attorney Michael said the legislature specifically wrote the RSA to protect towns from the responsibility specific to Class VI roads by requiring property owners who want to build or use their property to realize towns are not responsible if something should happen. Mr. DeCoste asked Mr. Sawyer if the selectboard requires the road to be brought up to Class V in order to issue a building permit? Selectman Sawyer said it’s not required. If it were brought up to Class V they could petition the town to accept it as a new road without a town vote, however the current selectboard requires a full vote of the town.
Attny. Michael said they are not asking for Class V standard or status. He said the selectboard has the ability to accept a design that relates to an individual situation, such as in this instance to preserve stonewalls. Mr. Sawyer noted that over a year ago Merriam Farm was denied a request to bring the road up to a Class V standard paid for by Merriam Farm because of pending wetland and litigation issues. Mr. White asked if the town would be held responsible if a fire truck should slide off the road because the road is not up to a standard? Atty. Michael said the maintenance is the sole responsibility of the property owner, if it isn’t kept passable they are liable, not the town. He added that many times the upgrade is a great improvement from the existing condition. Mr. Rogers noted that the design they are proposing meets the National Fire Safety standards for a fire road.
Mr. Lounsbury asked if the road would be drained at all times? Answer was yes, Mr. Rogers showed where the ditches and cuts would be made, where it’s tight they’ll do underground drainage to allow some existing drainage to continue. He said the road wasn’t fully engineered until the Selectboard approves their preliminary design. Mr. Sawyer asked if fabric would be used, answer was yes, it’s a very good long-term solution. Mr. Rogers said they would replace culverts and construct a bridge. They will be applying for DES permits and perhaps an alteration of terrain permit depending on the scale of the project. Mr. Sawyer asked who was responsible for overseeing that the work meets the permit requirements? Mr. Rogers answered that the contractor is responsible and if they should fail, the fines are substantial. He said if erosion control measures is not met anyone downstream would notice immediately. He said an
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erosion control plan would be generated for the project and DES would be involved due to the areas of wetlands. Mr. Sawyer asked if the Conservation commission would be included? Mr. Rogers thought that would be a good idea since one of the parcels is a conservation piece.
Marsha Galloway acting Chairperson for the Walpole Conservation Commission spoke to her board’s concerns. She stated they are very concerned for a number of reasons - the 12 – 20% grade down the hill and where the sediment goes. Some of the road is down to bedrock, she asks if there will be any runoff into the brook? She thinks it is much wiser to enter from the Surry side, she asked where the utility poles would be placed, where is the fill coming from and how does it get there? She said once improved the road will be a thoroughfare and used much more frequently.
Attorney Michael said he appreciated Ms. Galloway’s comments. He said he wanted to make it crystal clear that anyone owning property on a Class VI road has the right to make improvements and repairs to the road in order to access their property, even without permission from the Selectboard. He reminded that the road is open to the public. He said they are not trying to create an attractive nuisance, it will help the area overall. He said it is their legal right to use the road to access their property.
Ms. Galloway asked for more info on the road design. Mr. Rogers said currently the road is washed out because it hasn’t been maintained and has been left to flow wildly creating runoff channels and has taken a bridge out. He said currently the way the traffic travels directly through the brook is very harmful, he thinks their proposal will be a great improvement to the wetlands areas, brook and surrounding property. He said unfortunately coming in from the Surry side is out of the question for one major reason due to the delineation of the power companies serving Surry and Walpole. Surry uses PSNH and Walpole NE Utilities, they can’t be mixed. Mr. DeCoste asked if the road would be dead-ended then, would it stop in Walpole? Mr. Rogers answered no, if the Surry parcels are developed then they will need to make improvements on the Surry side. Ms. Galloway asked where the fill would come from? She’s especially concerned about visibility on Crehore Road corner. She asked that they appear before the Conservation Commission to discuss their proposal. Mr. Rogers said most of the fill would come from the Merriam Farm parcels since there are substantial gravel deposits available.
Mr. Sawyer clarified that generally property owners notify them of any improvements made to a Class VI road, they appreciate the courtesy although do not issue any permits to do so. Attny. Michael agreed the town’s policy was prudent.
Sec. Aslinger mentioned Mr. Don Morgan’s letter written to the both boards the day after the public hearing, she e-mailed it to the planning board members. Members had received it although Selectman Sawyer was unaware of the letter because he was away for three weeks. Sec. Aslinger said Mr. Morgan’s main concern is the brook crossing and damage to stonewalls. Mr. Rogers said he had spoken to Mr. Morgan about his concerns. Mr. Sawyer said during the walk through they had agreed that stonewalls could be removed if they were within the right of way. Mr. Rogers said the one of the critical narrow areas on the road is in front of Mr. Morgan’s property, but rather than moving them to reflect the right of way they prefer to work within them.
Mr. Sawyer noted the Town owns the opposite side of that area.
Ch. Miller called for comments and a recommendation from the planning board. Ch. Miller said his main concern is the length of the needed improvements reminding there are 8 lots involved and that all may apply for building permits creating density on a substandard non Class V road thereby overriding the subdivision regulations and zoning ordinance. He thinks it is more extensive than past requests that have been 400 ft. serving one lot, he asked that the Selectboard deny the permit. Mr. Sawyer mentioned there is currently a Class VI road that services 8 lots, Taggert Rd. and Stevens Lane, but it’s not a through road. Mr. Miller said there are many Class V roads in town available for building and this situation is inappropriate for the town. The road standard will be well below Class V, once a number of houses are built the potential to have it
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taken over by the town will increase and create a substandard road that the town will be responsible for. He thinks it has the potential to create a huge expense for the town and safety issues in the near future. He said the zoning laws should be respected.
Mr. Daviss agreed with Ch. Miller and said the pressure will gain to have it upgraded by the town and taken over. Mr. Miller said once upgraded to a Class V at the town’s expense the lots can then be further subdivided creating more density in an outlying area. Mr. Rogers said they are not proposing in anyway to have the road be brought up to a Class V standard by the town. Mr. Miller said he was projecting into the future, as planners we need to look at the potential impact to the town, he feels strongly it’s not an area to encourage residential growth. He said it’s an unprecedented situation that could be a negative impact on the town.
Ms. Aslinger said with the length of the road and impact, the fact that Mr. Morgan and the Conservation Commission prefer to have the area kept intact as a remote natural habitat with very little traffic she thought it could be considered scattered and premature development. She agreed with Chairman Miller about it being way beyond other requests that have only been a few hundred feet to service one lot, not 2300 ft. and bypass 5 lots to get to the one on the end. She thought the expense of the improvements is concerning when the other property owners benefit. She agreed it was up to Mr. Keurelainen as to how he wants to access his lands but each one of the lots along the roadway will benefit from his investment, she thought it could be a difficult situation and also sets precedence for creating conflicts.
Ch. Miller called for the board’s recommendation, reminding that it is a non-binding board action. Mr. Daviss moved to recommend to the selectboard that they not approve the building permit request, seconded by Mr. DeCoste. Ch. Miller called for further discussion, hearing none called the vote. All were in favor, with Selectman Sawyer abstaining, motion carried. Mrs. Galloway submitted her notes to the Secretary for the record and requested a copy of the minutes.
IV. New Business – none
V. Planning Discussion 7:55pm
A. SWRPC – Lisa Murphy addressed the board regarding the current contract and completion of the Master plan land use section and to discuss an economic development plan. She said pages 1 through 16 of the land use section is where the data needs updating and then they can incorporate the goals and vision statement and complete the section. She said the data gathering will entail most of the work (34 hours) and will come from all the land use changes from 1999 to present. Ch. Miller asked if a draft could be ready for October? She thought 4 -6 months was a reasonable timeframe. Sec. Aslinger offered her assistance in gathering the data since most of it is on file. Members asked if maps could be incorporated where needed.
Ch. Miller suggested Ms. Murphy meet with the board again at the regular September meeting devoting the discusssion to the land use draft. Ch. Miller asked members study pages 1-16 and take the August meeting to discuss the data and forward the information to Lisa. There is no other business before the board for August so the agenda can be devoted the master plan.
Lisa looked at other towns in the region of Walpole’s size selecting Hinsdale and Chesterfield economic plans. She said the first step is to decide the level of activity of business needed. She said Hatfield, MA has a much heralded plan that includes agricultural incentives. She will forward pdf files so they can be e-mailed to the board members. She asked what the board was looking for. Ch. Miller said the town for the last 20 years has been working towards sustainability, that a good economic base is good for the town but without an explosion of growth. Mr. Schupack’s concern is that lack of infrastructure is hampering economic growth can it be made a priority? Ch. Miller said the land is limited for industrial and commercial, perhaps other land needs to be considered such as North Walpole. Lisa said the plan from Hatfield suggests zoning adjustments and overlay districts such as a planned unit development industrial
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area and a village plan district. Ch. Miller asked if the planning commission could give the board an idea on the costs and process so timeframe and appropriations could be considered. Ms. Murphy said the board’s input is needed but it’s a plan that can be prepared more efficiently by the commission due to the type of data it needs to include. Mr. Sawyer asked if it was necessary to have it in the master plan, is it a necessary expense in light of the fact that all and recent businesses have come to Walpole without an economic section, what is the actual benefit? He said how in this economic climate could anyone plan that far in advance. Ms. Murphy said that’s why she asks first what does the town want to see, is a change needed, are incentives needed and is managing economic growth a priority? Ch. Miller said the economic development plan would give detailed guidance for others in the future, he said the town has been fortunate to attract great businesses. Mr. Sawyer said in the past Walpole’s been considered not wanting growth but feels like there is a better balance now. Mr. Daviss said there’s a history of not having a plan and when someone proposes something new there is an explosion and fighting. He said if there is a plan with community involvement there’s no need for a fight because we have a plan that everyone has participated in, town factions are happy and business can go on. The more we plan the better the developers will want to come to Walpole, it’s a time and money saver. Ch. Miller thanked Ms. Murphy for her attendance and information.
VIII. Communications and Miscellaneous
A. Other – Mr. Sawyer mentioned that the Office Manager for the town has given her notice as of Oct. 1, they will be advertising the position. There is a meeting on July 20th to discuss the ceiling in the town hall, they have been denied insurance funds but have applied to the Dept. of Rev. Administration to access funds for the repair, they would like to hear from persons and boards as to what type of ceiling is preferred.
IX. Ch. Miller adjourned the meeting at 8:20pm.
cc: PB, ZBA, WCC, BOS, Town Clerk
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