PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
November 2, 2006
The meeting opened at 7:10pm with the following members in attendance: Helmut Busack, Chairman; Don Bormes, Vice Chair; Dick Gardner, Member; Carmine Cioffi, Alternate and Bob Ward, Planner.
1. Role Call
As listed above. Absent were Ralph Carter, Member; Cindy Merchant, Alternate and Andrew Livernois, Selectman’s Representative.
2. Seating of Alternates
Carmine Cioffi was seated for Ralph Carter
3. Action on Minutes
a. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the minutes of September 7, 2006. 2nd by Carmine Cioffi. After discussion and amendments/corrections, all were in favor. Minutes approved with corrections
b. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the minutes of September 19, 2006, 2nd by Dick Gardner. After discussion and amendments/corrections, all were in favor. Minutes approved with corrections.
c. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the minutes of September 21, 2006, 2nd by Carmine Cioffi. After discussion and amendments/corrections, all were in favor. Minutes approved with corrections.
d. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the minutes of October 5, 2006, 2nd by Carmine Cioffi. After discussion and amendments/corrections, all were in favor. Minutes approved with corrections.
e. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the minutes of October 19, 2006, 2nd by Carmine Cioffi. After discussion and amendments/corrections, all were in favor. Minutes approved with corrections.
4. Old Business
a. Discussion concerning charge for Master Plan.
Bob Ward reviewed previous discussion concerning pricing for the Master Plan and explained pricing quotes he obtained from Staples for printing costs. Mr. Ward stated that he had gotten quotes on printing the Master Plan in three quantities. All quotes fell between $16 and $18. The current price charged is $15. Dick Gardner suggested keeping the price as it is and stressed the importance of having all documents digitized. Bob Ward suggested placing the Master Plan on the Town’s website. Chair Busack stated that most Towns do not have their Master Plans published on the web. Bob Ward agreed to check on pricing to have the document digitized and to also check surrounding Towns web sites to see if their Master Plans are available in this format. Vice Chair
Bormes made a motion to accept the charge for Land Use Regulations Schedule with no change to the Master Plan pricing, 2nd by Dick Gardner, all in favor. Planning Board Document Fee Schedule adopted as previously amended.
b. Discussion concerning proposed amendments to the subdivision application.
Bob Ward reviewed the Board’s previous discussion from 10/19/06 and pointed out the two minor revisions made to the application and asked for the Board to adopt the amended application. Chair Busack asked for clarification of the revision to the application fee for major subdivisions. Mr. Ward explained that the change was in the wording to better clarify the pricing. Chair Busack stated that he feels that all major subdivisions should be priced at $75 per lot as they require a lot more work than a minor subdivision. Bob Ward stated that he agrees with the Chairman and explained that the fee schedule can be changed by the Planning Board at any time and does not require a public hearing. Chair Busack further explained that his position is based on
the fact that a 2 lot subdivision is $75 per lot so all other subdivisions should be the same, he would like to see what other surrounding towns are charging. Dick Gardner expressed the need to be fair and equitable and does not see the need to increase pricing at this time. Bob Ward stated that the Planning Board has the right to require additional fees if the review of the subdivision is expansive. Carmine Cioffi suggested charging a set fee per lot for all subdivisions. Chair Busack asked if this could be tabled for a future meeting so research could be done on surrounding towns based on their subdivision application fees. Bob Ward suggested adopting the current revised application and amend the subdivision fees at a future workshop. Vice Chair Bormes stated that he would like to see an amendment to the requirements which states that after a review of plans, the Planning Board would have the right to enter onto the property and for the Town to
provide Id’s to the Board for this purpose. It was pointed out that this does already appear in the current application. Bob Ward suggested adding such a provision in the body of the subdivision regulations because the application form, technically, is not part of the regulations. He also stated that advertised and unadvertised meeting requirements would need to be addressed because if a majority of the Planning Board members go out to a site, it legally constitutes a meeting as it falls under the regulations of notice and what can be discussed. Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to accept the Subdivision Application as drafted, 2nd by Dick Gardner. Chair Busack made a motion to amend to say that major subdivisions will cost $75 per lot, 2nd failed, amendment failed. All in favor of original motion. Subdivision application accepted as drafted.
Dick Gardner called a point of order regarding the expansion of Steele Hill Resort. Bob Ward responded stating that the original, accepted plans are in the file and that he has contacted Deputy Fire Chief Taylor and invited him to come in and review them. To date, Deputy Chief Taylor has not been in to do so.
c. Discussion regarding subdivision applications.
Dick Gardner requested an update of subdivision applications that have already come before the Board. Bob Ward pointed out that an updated listing of this information has been provided to the Board for this meeting. He further stated that this document will be made available on the website.
d. Discussion concerning changes to the Subdivision Regulations sections 1-4.
Bob Ward reviewed the proposed changes to the subdivision regulations. He pointed out that in sections 1-3 changes only involved consistency in terminology to the rest of the document and some grammatical corrections. Section 4, definitions, required several revisions. Mr. Ward explained that this section is very critical from a legal standpoint. The definitions have been cleaned up to include wording from the RSA’s and reference to the RSA’s when applicable. There was discussion concerning several definitions and wording to effectively tailor the document for legal purposes and consistency. It was agreed that this process would continue at the next workshop.
5. New Business
a. Review and approve 2007 meeting schedule
Bob Ward presented the Board with a proposed meeting schedule for 2007. He requests permission to post this schedule as soon as possible. He pointed out that there are no conflicts with any holidays. Chair Busack made a motion to accept the 2007 meeting schedule, 2nd by Carmine Cioffi. All in favor.
b. Discuss “Holiday Season” meeting schedule.
Bob Ward requested that the Board review the dates of the meetings scheduled during the 2006 holiday season and asked that it be amended as needed. He stated that the meeting scheduled for December 21, 2006 falls very closely to Christmas. He also stated that the statutes only required the Planning Board to meet once a month. The Board discussed this issue and agreed to cancel the December 21, 2006 meeting and to keep the December 7, 2006 meeting as a workshop. Bob Ward stated that he will post this notice on the Town’s web site.
6. Other Business
a. Discussion re: legal expenses on Planning Board Budget
b. Input from Attorney Waugh re: Zoning amendment process
Chair Busack explained that the Town’s voting will now ne in May and not March. There is a 120 day period in which the Planning Board can accept changes to the Zoning Ordinance for the warrant. The law does not specify if the Board can hold hearings prior to that 120 days for it’s own items. The question he is putting before the Board is if it is ok to check with council to clarify this the Board of Selectmen would like the Planning Board to contact the Town Council regarding this. The Board of Selectmen further stated to Chair Busack that questions concerning control of growth should be discussed with Attorney Waugh. Chair BUsack stated that the question he would like to address with Attorney Waugh is a potential regulation which would limit
subdivisions to one per year per lot. This would allow for a gradual progression of a subdivision. Chair Busack asked for the Boards input and approval regarding this issue. Dick Gardner stated that he is fine with the questions being brought before the attorneys as long as there is approval from the Board of Selectmen. Bob Ward stated that the other matter to be brought to the Attorney Waugh has to do with land conservation set asides. He explained that the regulations right now state that for any subdivision with a total lot area greater than 10 acres, 5% of that total area shall be set aside for land conservation. This produces small, spread out pockets of land. The question that needs to be addressed with the attorney is if this should apply to all subdivisions or could the Board specify this to exclude minor subdivisions. Dick Gardner stated that this is fairly standard practice in most towns. The next questions is whether
fees in lieu of acreage set asides would be legal. This would give the Town options. The Board agreed to bring these questions to the respective attorneys for their input.
c. Discussion re: appointment of alternate to Planning Board
Bob Ward stated that a letter of inquiry had been received from Sandra Leighton. Carmine Cioffi stated that there is another individual interested in being an alternate. Dick Gardner expressed the importance of Boards and Commissions representing a cross section of the community.
7. Planners Update
1. Bob Ward notified the Board that he received a 91A request through the Planning Board for all records and documents pertaining to Hersh, McNamare and Plonski. Once this request comes in there are only 5 business days to respond under the States Right to Know Law. These documents were mailed on November 2, 2006 in response to that request.
2. Bob Ward explained that Mr. Golde, representing Elm Farm Estates has withdrawn his previous plan and is submitting a simple 2 lot subdivision application on Bay Road. A public hearing has been scheduled for November 16, 2006.
8. Meeting Adjourned
Vice Chair Bormes made a motion to adjourn, 2nd by Dick Gardner. All in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 9:52pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Carole Chase
Recording Secretary
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