Ed. Note: Here, a little belately, are the minutes of the March 9 Planning Board Meeting. I have gone back, found them and publish them now because they contain real details on a major business and residential development that is in the planning stages and that all Walpole people should know about. They also contain detailed information about the Dollar Store that has nearly gotten necessary approvals but for a building permit that may involve an interesting issue with the Selectmen. Seems that the Dollar Store developer does NOT want to provide a sprinkler system for the building but Herb Hurlburt, who does our fire safety reviews for site plan applications, has recommended against the project unless it has a sprinkler system. Herb says such a sprinkler system is necessary to the safety of Dollar Store employees and customers AND to his men should they need to fight a fire in the building. This matter will be faced squarely when Dollar Store applies for a building permit. CCB
PLANNING BOARD
Walpole, NH 03608
MINUTES: Regular Meeting Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 7pm Town Hall
Presiding: Jeff Miller, Ch. Members Present: Bob Miller, V-Ch., Ben Daviss, Dave DeCoste, Henry Fletcher, Sheldon Sawyer, Sel., Eric Merklein, Alternates: Donn Lounsbury, Jeff White, Steve Dalessio. Recording: Pamela Aslinger, Sec./alt.
These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the April 13, 2010 meeting for errors, corrections and omissions. There were 15 persons in the audience.
I. Meeting opened 7:20pm
A. Roll call, all members were present, no alternates designated.
B. Minutes - Mr. DeCoste made a motion to approve the minutes as presented and seconded by Mr. Daviss. Vote called, all were in favor, motion carried.
II. New Business Preliminary Discussions/Application Submittals
A. Gretchen Young, P.E. Appledore Engineering, Inc. presented the board with an application for a Minor 2 Lot subdivision, special exception recommendation and site plan review located on Rte. 12 N. 564 Main St. Map 12 Lot 19 known as the Keefe parcel. It’s to be divided into Lot 1 of 1.26 acres and Lot 2 of 6.45 acres with existing house. The parcel is in the commercial and rural agricultural zones. Both lots have required frontage. Lot 2 is being purchased by The Hutton Company, Inc., TN in order to construct an 80 x 100 ft. building for a Family Dollar retail store. Mr. Taylor Hurd was present representing the Hutton Company. Ms. Young handed out miniature versions of the site map for the board members and described various aspects of the project. The infiltration drainage pond for the site is located in the rural agricultural zone therefore it requires a special exception for a commercial use in the RA zone. They will be applying to the zoning board at the 3/17/10 meeting. Proposal has 32 parking spaces meeting the requirement. The utilities are all on site with the sewer line being connected to the municipal system via directional drilling under Rte. 12. They are proposing an on site well locating it in the rear with the required 75ft. protective radius. There will be a propane tank for fuel. Stormwater will drain into an underground system, the infiltration pond will be used for overflow only based on the 100 year storm requirements and will they will apply for a shoreland protection permit.
Mr. Daviss asked if they owned the entire parcel, answer was no they will own Lot 1 with the store. Mr. DeCoste asked how far the pond will be from the road, answer was 351 ft. to the back of the pond. Width of the lot is 155 ft. Ms. Young stated she has a site plan and subdivision application to submit. Sec. Aslinger asked if they had applied to the zoning board already for the special exception? They will apply at the Wed. 3/17/10 meeting the public hearing will be held at the 4/21/10 meeting after the planning board’s hearing on the special exception recommendation, subdivision and site plan review. Ch. Miller said the planning board would need to consider any action on the subdivision and site plan review contingent upon the zoning board’s action at their 4/21/10 meeting because it takes place after the planning board meeting and hearing to be held on 4/13/10. The planning board can hold a public hearing on the special exception recommendation and if agreeable the subdivision and site plan review. Sec. Aslinger advised against having all three public hearings bunched together and having potential planning board action take place ahead of the zoning board’s decision on the special exception. Ch. Miller and Mr. Sawyer did not think it would be a problem.
Ms. Young offered drawings of preliminary building design and elevations of a typical Family Dollar store noting that the regulations do not specify building design but they are aware of the board’s preference to have the store relate to other stores and styles in the Town. She asked if the board could make suggestions. Ch. Miller said the building seems to be a block box with signage. Mr. Merklein He suggested as did Mr. Daviss something like Pinnacle View or Walpole Savings Bank. Mr. Hurd said they would do the best they can with the budget they have for the building design. asked if other designs or concepts could be presented something that would match Walpole’s existing style and not just a box?
Mr. Schupack asked if the site was in the well source protection area, answer was no, but it is in the aquifer.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 pg. 2
Mr. Dalessio complained that the side setbacks were exactly 20 feet thinking there wasn’t room for error. It’s a fairly large project squeezed into a very small lot. Ms. Young said they were mindful of the yard requirements when placing the project and took into consideration budgetary needs of Hutton Inc. for the project. She said the landscaping and fencing help to buffer the site. Ch. Miller asked about the driveway cuts, had they applied for a State permit, did they consider that the two existing cuts may be reduced in order for Lot 1 to have it’s own access? He suggested they speak to the State prior to the site plan application hearing. He is concerned about Lot 2 loosing its access Rte. 12 is a limited access road. By subdividing the land it may change the site plan substantially. Ms. Young said they had been to the State preliminarily and they plan to contact them after tonight’s meeting.
Ms. Aslinger asked if they met the 30% undeveloped land requirement? Ms. Young stated they did meet the requirement and said she also had some waiver requests to read through.
`Mr. Hurd mentioned that the store would create approximately 6 jobs and a good long-term tax base. He talked about the need to sprinkler the building for fire protection but notes they have never had to install sprinklers due to the type of metal and block construction and the size of the building falls under the National Fire Protection Code guidelines. Mr. Sawyer asked Mr. Herb Hurlburtt the fire inspector to speak. Mr. Hurlburtt said they would have to prove to him that all life safety issues for the building can be met without installing a sprinkler system, it’s the lives of the people in the building and firefighters at risk he is concerned with, the building can be reconstructed, but not lives lost. Mr. Hurd said it would be all steel construction with few combustible materials. Mr. Hurd did a quick budget study to bring water in from the water main at Tractor Supply, it ran $80,000.00 and they have not budgeted for that because they do not have to sprinkle the building and never have sprinkled their buildings. He said that’s more than the entire profit on the job and the rent is already set.
Mr. Sawyer asked if the land was in current use? Answer was yes. Mr. Sawyer said there is a 10% tax to remove it from current use, to be aware of the expense. Mr. Hurd asked for clarification whether the board was going to require sprinkling? Ch. Miller thought if the building meets the national and/or State safety standards, it would need to be taken into consideration by the board under the site plan review. Mr. Hurd said the town regulations refer back to the National code so that’s another reason they did not budget the cost into the project.
Mr. Merklein asked if they had considered using drainage gardens? Ms. Young said while they did not design a rain garden, they have provided that all runoff will go into the landscaped areas and all the catch basins will collect potential pollutants such as sand and will be maintained yearly. Mr. Merklein Ms. Young said due to extra cost and the small site area it wouldn’t be as productive as on a larger site such as Tractor Supply. She said that the main benefit of porous pavement is full site infiltration. She has designed the store site to be fully infiltrated so they have achieved the same result without the expense of porous pavement. Mr. Daviss asked if the utilities could be buried. Ms. Young said they did not budget for underground utilities but they could go back to the client to see if it is something they would re-consider. asked if they considered using porous pavement.
Ms. Young read the waiver requests that include Section VII-B 4 & 6 plans to show structures within 200ft as non-applicable and Section VII-D 1a. Interior parking lot standards, all parking is perimeter so is non-applicable. The requests made for state and local permits should not be included as waiver request upon application submission they should be applied for with a pending/contingent status.
Ch. Miller asked about the daily traffic estimation. Ms. Young said there is a traffic report included in the application packet. The weekday total is 458, 40 trips in and out peak hour. Mr. Bob Miller asked about hours of operation. Answer was 9-9 7 days per week. Ms. Young submitted the application materials, fees and abutter list. Ch. Miller called for a motion to place the application on the April 13th agenda and schedule the public hearing for the same meeting on the 2 Lot subdivision, special exception recommendation and site plan review. It was so moved and seconded, all were in favor motion carried.
Mr. Daviss suggested the board consider adding verbage to the site plan review regulations to better define building design standards, that other developers have expressed the need for specific guidance and specifications. Mr. Sawyer cautioned against setting in stone specifications that may not be in keeping with future innovative ideas that allowing flexibility might better serve the Town. Agreeing Mr. Daviss mentioned that the Master Plan suggests and addresses many design issues for the commercial district they should be taken into consideration. He stressed the potential for one store leading to several more. Mr.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 3
Sawyer thought the shortened depth of the commercial zone on the west side of Rte. 12 and limited building size (40K) is prohibitive and should be reconsidered at some point.
II. B. Tom Duffield of Duffield Engineering and Consulting presented preliminary plans for a multi-use development for Avanru Development located on Rte. 12 NE, the remainder of 504 Main St. LLC parcel south of Tractor Supply site. Mr. Duffield described the project on 11.5 acres and mentioned Tractor Supply’s plans to construct the 50 ft. Right of Way (ROW) and make improvements to the water and sewer lines. The remainder parcel of 11.5 acres has 547 ft. of frontage on Rte. 12. He referred to a map showing the site. He said there is a mutual agreement between the two properties regarding the 50 ft. ROW regarding cost sharing and maintenance of the public ROW even though it is not a town road but privately maintained. He said the water and sewer is adequate for their proposal of dividing the parcel into 3 lots with frontages met by making irregularly shaped lots or using the ROW as frontage. Because the ROW will be built to Class V standards even though it is privately maintained it would allow them to meet the frontage requirements and therefore configure the lots more uniformly for the uses proposed. He introduced Mr. Jack Franks to discuss the proposal according to the drawings provided.
Mr. Franks has lived with his wife Lisa Bierweiler in Walpole for 6 years and they have three children. He has served on the school board and coached baseball where he has had many discussions with citizens about the need for other amenities in Walpole. This has led to his conceptual plans to potentially develop the site into condominium elderly housing, medical/dental offices, family style restaurant and a more competitively priced grocery store. His family shops in Keene so he did an analysis and found on two items alone they were spending $1200.00. He spoke with the current grocery provider and found they have no intentions of changing so he thought some competition might be worthwhile. In speaking with other families and long time business owners they’ve suggested other amenities the community might need as his plan reflects those discussions. He feels the community would benefit by the increase in the tax base, creation of jobs and provide housing for retirees who want to downsize but stay in town. His plan shows a large-scale townhouse 50-55+community on the back parcel behind the proposed Tractor Supply building. The second parcel would be for a retail area/family restaurant and medical office building and outdoor pavilion picnic area. The front parcel along Rte. 12 would be for a mid size supermarket specializing in local or organic produce and competitively priced goods. He’s spent about 2 years researching his ideas and the last year negotiating the site. He hopes others will see the benefit of a project that will serve the community, not impact the school system, provide jobs and lower the cost of groceries while creating other family friendly amenities.
Ch. Miller called for board comments. Mr. Daviss saluted Mr. Franks for the thought he put into his mixed-use conceptual plan. He asked if he had spoken with any potential tenants? He said he had but rather not name them. He said one of the three potential tenants was very interested. Mr. Daviss Mr. Franks answered that the supermarket was 40,000 sq. ft., the retail space 25,000 sq. ft. and the housing would be built in 16 unit pods on an as purchased basis to total about 33,000 sq. ft. or 48,000 sq. ft. including carports. He was thinking of adding an indoor pool workout gym facility instead of having to drive into Keene for that much needed activity. A gym pass could be part of the purchase price of a unit. He was thinking of adding a fresh bakery and coffee shop. asked about the size of the buildings proposed.
Ch. Miller pointed out that while they are in the conceptual phase there are a few serious conflicts with what is allowed in the zoning ordinance. The first being frontage, frontage is defined in the ordinance as on a town maintained road of Class V or better. While the ROW may be built to Class V standard it is not likely to be a town road accepted by a town vote. The only alternative would be to have the Selectboard lay out the road and have the town vote on whether to accept it as a town road. The housing units are restricted by definition of a multifamily unit as being one building on one lot, it shall not be more than 3 stories and there are density limitations as well. Mr. Sawyer asked about the residential overlay district. Ch. Miller said one of the requirements is for it to be on no less than 10 acres of land. Mr. Franks said the housing is designed to be one continuous building with foyers between the sections to be used as utility and elevator areas and the sprinkling system. Ch. Miller asked if they were apartments? Answer was no, to be sold as condominiums. Ch. Miller said the town does not allow condominiums because a condominium is a single-family dwelling and the town allows one single or two-family home per lot or one multi-family building per lot. Mr. Duffield said then the definition of multi-family is not multi-family ownership? Ch. Miller answered “correct”. Mr. Franks said then condominium projects are not allowed in Walpole, answer was “correct”.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 4
Mr. Duffield asked if the ROW could be considered a public way privately owned and maintained? Ch. Miller said it could not be used to meet frontage requirements for subdivision purposes because it is not a town maintained Class V road. Mr. Duffield thought the ROW could be considered a newly proposed road layout as part of the 3 Lot subdivision proposal. He said it’s standard procedure to design a road to access newly created lots using the proposed road built to Class V standards as viable frontage for the lots even before the road is accepted by the town, which the Selectboard has the authority to accept without a town vote. Ch. Miller said the road has to already be a town maintained road in order to count as frontage. Mr. Sawyer said the Selectboard has not accepted a new town road without the vote of the entire town at a town meeting and questions whether it would pass. Mr. Duffield said they could work with the Rte. 12 frontage but the lots will have easements over them. Mr. Sawyer said Pinnacle View had to do some creative designing to achieve what they did. Ch. Miller said if the dead end ROW is greater than 600 ft. that also is not allowed in the ordinance.
Mr. DeCoste thought it would be better to have the lots configured more uniformly, if the road could be accepted by the town it would be better. Ch. Miller agreed but said the current zoning and policy of the Selectboard prevents the use of the ROW for frontage. Mr. DeCoste asked if an exception could be made? Answer was no, a variance would not apply either. Mr. Daviss asked if the retirement housing could legally be restricted to 55 and over? Mr. Franks said he needed to study that further. Ch. Miller said the senior housing overlay district had to address that issue also and they arrived at 62 to meet guidelines.
Mr. Bob Miller found it interesting that Mr. Franks was able to find a grocer that would be satisfied with a 40,000 sq. ft. store, the board has been under the assumption that 70 or 80,000 sq. ft. was needed. Mr. Franks and Mr. Duffield agreed and have found that 40,000 sq. feet is a viable size from the grocers they spoke with. Mr. Duffield said the new store in Peterborough is a 40,000 sq. ft. store. Mr. Franks said there is a great interest in a smaller down sized store because the community can support it and the grocer can afford it more easily.
Mr. Duffield thought the available infrastructure; capacity, commercial location and compatibility with the Tractor Supply site are all positives. Clearly they have issues with the condominium portion and road. They would need to coordinate with Tractor Supply as far as the ROW, match their curb cuts and center the road between the parcels. Ms. Aslinger asked if the parcel is still under the ownership of 504 Main St. LLC and do they plan on purchasing the parcel? Answer was yes. She said so this is very conceptual but asked if they expected the planning board to grant a site plan review before they purchase the property? Mr. Franks said he would like to know where they stand according to what is allowed so they can do due diligence to see if what he is proposing fits before he invests a substantial amount of money in the property. He hopes the board and community sees the value of the proposal so they can work together.
Ch. Miller thought the two main issues were the housing and frontage. Mr. Merklein asked about having housing in the back of the property and having only one access in and out. Ch. Miller agreed saying the regulations allows a dead end road to be no greater than 600 ft. with a cul de sac turn around. Mr. Duffield said the road is slightly less than 600 feet. If they need a second access for emergency access they could work with the State, there will be a traffic study no doubt, they would be open to an emergency access with possibly gates and bars. He said Mr. Franks was in the fact finding phase doing due diligence to find out what permits he would need and criteria to meet before finalizing any purchase including paying a current use tax. Mr. Sawyer thought the project had merit and seemed to address some needs he is aware of from the citizens.
Mr. Franks asked if the board needed any further information or what steps he needed to take. Ch. Miller said to address the concerns raised and return to the board with information as it becomes available.
II. C. Other new business: Mr. Cliff Harper, of Harper Environmental approached the board with the intention of submitting a site plan review application on the Potato Barn project. He said they have met with Mark Houghton and an electrician in regard to bringing temporary power to the building and water from the caretaker’s house. He said the application is being filed contingent on a meeting with the Selectboard Thursday 3/11 to resolve the septic system issue. He would like to move forward with the application because timing for construction is running out. Ch. Miller suggested rather than submitting the application for processing and running the risk of being delayed until the May meeting to go ahead and meet with the Selectboard prior to formally submitting the application, he thinks there are several complications that need to be resolved that pertain to the Selectboard’s issues that must be taken up before
the planning board can review the application. Mr. Harper said he didn’t want to loose another month.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes 3/09/10 page 5
Mr. Sawyer said they may have some federal requirements to meet and may need to do further investigation in order to be fair to the applicant and town. Mr. Harper said if they are delayed the project
may be on hold for another year because they won’t be able to do the construction in time for a potential tenant to open a gallery in June. Ch. Miller thought it was unrealistic to think they could construct the road off of Rte. 12 and prepare the space for a tenant by June. Mr. Harper said they weren’t planning on putting in the road in phase one of the project. Ch. Miller was concerned that not having access of Rte. 12 changed the original intent of the board’s consideration of the project a full reconsideration of the project may result. He said the development of the property counted on the access to Rte. 12 and the town actually voted on the access in and out. Mr. Sawyer read the Article that was voted on: “To see whether the Town will vote to advise the Board of Selectmen to lay out a new town road off Rte 12 just south of the old potato barn. This dead end road would provide access to the proposed parking lot of the barn would engineered constructed and maintained by the barns developer and would not be constructed until the financing of the barn project be insured.”
Mr. Harper asked if it was designed by the State DOT’s engineer assessment? Mr. Sawyer said it was his understanding at the time the Town could have one access to Rte. 12 when they put the bypass in and that’s the one that was approved. Ch. Miller said the board determined because of the amount of activity the barn project would create under the original plan it was decided to direct the traffic out of the residential area behind the barn, so it was the main reason the scale of the project was allowed. Mr. Sawyer said there might be an old ROW granted just for the use of potato storage. Mr. DeCoste asked if the new septic system is large enough to cover the scale of their entire project? Mr. Harper said it was designed for 30 persons, if they go beyond that they could tie into the municipal system possibly. Mr. Sawyer said he hasn’t had enough time to look at all aspects of the issues regarding the sewer connection but one area of concern is whether the grant of money to put in the town system that was federally funded is under a strict agreement that anyone within 100 ft. of the line regardless of when they installed a septic system you must tie in, the bond is still in effect. That needs to be resolved before the Selectboard can make a determination. Ch. Miller strongly recommended allowing the Selectboard to do their research in order to be fair to Mr. Harper and the town. Mr. Harper thanked the board and will meet with the Selectboard on Thursday as scheduled.
- Discussion: Ch. Miller called for any other new business and recognized Mr. Hurlburt regarding the need to sprinkle their proposed building. He said his concern isn’t necessarily the building but it is a life safety factor for the occupants of the building and his fire fighters. As far as he’s concerned the protection of the building is minute compared to the persons who respond to a fire, they are our neighbors and friends. Every developer factors in cost of maintenance. It also provides for the extension of the water line whether a developer does it or the town to serve a growing area. The codes he talks about are minimum requirements, they (Hutton) won’t go into a larger town like Keene without meeting sprinkling requirements such as Uno’s or Applebee’s that are 6 and 8000 sq. ft. buildings. He said the State adds a few tidbits to the National code but since they can’t enforce it they “deed the authority having jurisdiction” which is 99% of the time the Fire Chief who then has the authority to make the request. He likes the idea that development is happening in Walpole but feels the safety of persons in the building and our firefighters is paramount to whatever costs are incurred, whether it be $80,000.00 to bring town water to the site or the cost of $2.00 per sq. ft. for the sprinkler system. explained his discussions at the back of the hall with Mr.
Ch. Miller said the report from the Fire Chief according to the site plan regulations mainly addresses whether there is an adequate source of water to protect the building/site. Mr. Hurlburtt said the Keefe property is heavily watered so it shouldn’t be a problem locating a well. In addition Tractor Supply is bringing the 10” water lines to the bottom of Ballam Farm with a hydrant and “t”, they will cross the road and install another hydrant that will serve their sprinkled building, it was their idea and didn’t blink at the cost. He thinks Mr. Hurd needs to take another look at whether they can afford not to sprinkle the building.
- Discussion: Mr. Sawyer mentioned his concern that while the minutes from the last meeting are written correctly he doesn’t want to place blame associated with the Potato Barn question regarding their septic system passing through the Selectmen’s office staff. He thinks it was an honest miscommunication perhaps the question was not as specific as it could have been. Ch. Miller agreed to have it so noted.
Walpole Planning Board Minutes 3/9/10 page 6
III. Planning Discussion
A. Master Plan Update - Sec. Aslinger and Ch. Miller have spoken with Lisa Murphy, she would like to appear before the board at the April meeting to submit a draft. She’s had some conflict with Avatar trying to come up with current data to fill in the charts but should have some results or an alternative. Board suggestions to the rough draft are to be discussed at the work session 3/23/10. Mr. Sawyer noted that it was recently discovered that the current zoning ordinance is conflicted under some of the road names and designations due to implementing 911, but until a housekeeping amendment can be made in 2011 the boards will need to be aware of the areas and work under the old map and ordinance as it’s written.
B. The work session is scheduled for March 23, 2010, Mr. Daviss reports that there will be a special guest, Eric Smith from SWRPC to talk about “Creative Economy” the arts and crafts economy brings about 16 million dollars into the State and about 500 jobs. He’ll talk about how our area can capitalize on it and tie it in with economic development.
C. Mr. Sawyer attended a DOT transportation committee meeting regarding busing mostly directed at larger municipalities such as Nashua.
IV. Communications and Miscellaneous
A. Handout - OEP Spring Planning and Zoning Conference for Saturday May 8
B. Sec. Aslinger announced that she is resigning as Secretary and Regina Borden will take over her duties as of April 1st. She has been the boards back up secretary and is the Selectboard’s Members thanked Mr. Aslinger for her contribution to the board over the past 5 years. recording secretary so she is well versed in town matters.
C. Ch. Miller announced a meeting Tuesday March 16th for the SWRPC at Papagallo’s for anyone that wants to attend. Sheldon and Whitney are planning to go.
D. Eric Merklein announced his departure from the board after many years and wished the newly elected Peter Kinney good luck on joining the board. He asked if he could be considered for an alternate. Mr. Sawyer said two persons had approached him as well for consideration, Ed Potter and Jeff Michaud.
Mr. Daviss asked how many alternate seats are open? Answer is two if Mr. Lounsbury remains.
Membership will be discussed and election of officers will take place at the April meeting.
V. Meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm
