Washington Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
February 2, 2021
0.0 Assembly: 6:30PM, conducted on Zoom
0.1 Members
present: Hatch, Kluk, Crandall, Revane and Schwartz
0.2 Alternates
present: None
0.3 Members
and Alternates Absent: Terani and Chidester
0.4 Visitors:
Sandy Eccard, Peter Mellen, Meghan Tweedy
Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30PM.
1.0 Minutes: January 5th meeting – Hatch asked if there were any changes needed, Kluk made a motion to approve as corrected, Revane seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
2.0 New
Business:
2.1 Eccardt
Farm – Hatch said that he and Sandy
had spoken about the FarmÕs request to have food trucks on site added to their
business permit. Sandy said she spoke with the state agency and they said that
the food truck owners would be responsible to have their licenses current and
meet the stateÕs requirements. Sandy would take a copy of their licenses to
have on hand. She ran through their plans (weekends from May to October) and
location (by the pond). They would have a port-o-potty on site and provide a
water hose and electricity. Kluk asked about parking and Sandy said they would
utilize existing parking spots and keep people from parking on the corner.
Hatch asked if they were going to charge rent and Sandy said they would just
cover utilities. She sees this as a way to bring people to the farm to promote
agriculture and educate. Schwartz said the Farm has had their business permit
since 1986 and added the farm store a few years ago; this would be an addition
to their existing permit. Hatch made a motion to add this to the Eccardt FarmÕs
permit, Schwartz seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
2.2 Peter
Mellen, Proposed subdivision
– Mellen went over his plans for a 6-lot subdivision on Rte. 31 and
Lempster Mountain Road. This is a 90-acre (on two lots) parcel that meets the
criteria for an exemption to a cluster development. Three parcels are 12 acres,
one is 13.5 acres, one is 15 acres and one is 25 acres and the deeds will state
that no further subdivision can be done on them, as per LUO section #310
(Cluster Development). Crandall asked about driveways. Mellen said they havenÕt
designated any yet and suggested a site walk to look at driveway placement. He
said test pits have been done for all lots. He provided a waiver letter to the
board. We decided since we received the application materials just yesterday we
would review them and send Schwartz any questions to relay to Mellen. We
discussed whether this was a preliminary or the formal application
presentation. We consider this the preliminary and will formally review the
application for completeness at the March 2nd meeting. We will
schedule the Public Hearing for April 6th if it is considered
complete next month.
2.3 Town
Meeting Ballot review
– We looked over the ballot for the updates to the LUO for Town Meeting.
No changes were requested. Crandall asked if this ballot goes out along with
the election ballot to absentee voters. Kluk said it does. Kluk made a motion
to accept the ballot as written, Crandall seconded and all voted in favor.
Schwartz asked Hatch if he would speak briefly on the ballot questions at the
Budget Hearing. He said that he would do so.
Hatch
mentioned that Town Meeting is being put off until later in the spring/early
summer but the voting portion will take place on March 9th at Camp
Morgan Lodge. Next Wednesday
night, February 10th is the Budget Hearing and Meet the Candidates
Night, which will be conducted over Zoom. Revane said the postponement for the
meeting means they have to live with a default budget and have to wait on doing
or purchasing anything that was a warrant article. Kluk asked about the Library
land purchase, Revane said they are going to meet with the owners this week.
2.4 Lucky Seven
Farm – Schwartz said
she got a call about a farm on the backside of Ashuelot Pond asking whether they
had a business permit from the town. She suggested we all look at their website
to become familiar with their operation. It was decided that Schwartz will
write a letter to them requesting that they apply for a business license.
3.0 Old
Business:
3.1 RV Park plan for East Washington Road – Kluk said that Hatch, Kluk and Schwartz attended the Hillsboro PB meeting online and gave some input on the plans. Schwartz said she subsequently sent another comment letter to help clear up some confusion about East Washington from their Regional Planning Commission. We will stay in touch as they move forward with their application.
3.2 Tiny Homes discussion – Kluk said she hasnÕt done any more research this month. We will keep this on our agenda.
3.3 Town Center Vision project – Hatch said that at this point we are waiting until spring to do site walks and come up with new plans for driveways and access. Kluk asked about the signs and Schwartz said she has some designs but has put these on hold for the moment, as there was not much support from the BoS to move forward right now. We have some money in our budget that we could use for signs if we decide to go ahead this year.
3.4 Old Schoolhouse project update – Revane said they will move ahead with more work on the OSH this year if the warrant article asking for money is passed at Town Meeting.
3.5 Master Plan – this is a placeholder.
3.6 ZBA Report – Hatch said the ZBA didnÕt meet in January but will meet in late February. He said he was on a call with ZBA members and the BoS talking about a recent decision on an application. The ZBA has offered to help the BoS on preliminary site visits and measuring on applications that require it, providing another set of eyes. The BoS was happy to have their assistance. They also want to bring us in the loop on any LUO issues that we can work to tighten up. Revane thinks we need to look at section 3.04 and look at the Certificate of Occupancy. We will look at these this year.
3.7 UVLSRPC – Hatch said he had a call with Penelope (Penny) Whitman, who is working with the UVLSRPC about serving towns better. He talked with her about the TVC progress and her new initiative to brand the upper valley as the Sugar River Region. He is planning on attending their next meeting, in February.
Hatch mentioned that he has fielded several calls from potential land buyers asking questions about restrictions to building, etc. He said the RPC has asked what towns are seeing in terms of increases in building permits and purchases of property. Revane said the BoS has been getting lots of calls about building on Class VI roads or close to where it turns to Class VI. The question is how do we handle it. Hatch said all boards are in agreement and there should be no mixed messaging.
4.0 Driveway Permits:
4.1 Craig Bell, 371 Dole Schoolhouse Rd., adding a second entrance to existing drive, Ed checked and signed the permit, Andrew checked and spoke with the owner who clarified that this would be an additional entry and meet the other drive in front of the house. Hatch will sign the permit.
5.0 Mergers:
5.1 Steve Boyce, Coolidge Drive, TM 14-364 and TM 14-393, merging a lot to a previously merged lot, deeds provided, fee paid. Kluk made a motion to approve the merger, Crandall seconded and all voted in favor. The new lot will be TM 14-364, Hatch will sign the application and Schwartz will send to the Registry of Deeds.
5.2 Stephen and Carol Snow, 107 Stowell Drive, TM 14-80 and 14-87, deeds provided, fee paid. Crandall made a motion to approve the merger, Kluk seconded the motion and all voted in favor. The new lot will be TM 14-80, Hatch will sign the application and Schwartz will send to the Registry of Deeds.
6.0 Communications: None
7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – March 2, 2021, at 6:30 PM, we will probably meet by Zoom.
8.0 Adjournment: Time: 8:00PM
Motioned by Kluk, Crandall seconded, all voted in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nan Schwartz