Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes - Draft

February 6, 2018

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Camp Morgan Lodge

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Dulac and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: None

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Crandall, Kluk, Williams, Terani and Russell

0.4       Visitors: Gwen and Jim Gaskell, Vivian Clark

Hatch called the Public Hearing to order at 6:30 PM.

1.0       Public Hearing on Robert and Marian Blackwell application for business and sign permits for Mimi’s Attic –

            Hatch said that a site visit was done in December and we had reviewed the site plan and business permit application at our previous meeting. The only open items were the locations of the well and septic system on the map and Schwartz said the Blackwell’s had added these to the map. Hatch said that the parking was moved to accommodate the setbacks in the LUO. Hatch asked for comments or questions from those present. Clark asked where the business would be on the property. Schwartz answered it would be in the attached carriage house. Hatch said that the business would be open mostly spring, summer and fall but they also have a presence and sell items on the web. Jim Gaskell said he wants to encourage this kind of business. Hatch said the Blackwell’s were unable to be here tonight due to a conflict but they asked us to go ahead and hold the hearing. Hatch asked for any other comments. Schwartz said that she heard from Granite State Communications, who is also their abutter and they expressed their support for the business. There being no other comments, he closed the hearing at 6:37pm.

Hatch opened the regular meeting at 6:38 PM.

2.0       Minutes:

January 2^nd meeting – Hatch had a few typo corrections and Schwartz will make the corrections. Dulac had a question about the ZBA issue for Hatch. Hatch said that the issue is an item on the agenda later in the meeting and we can discuss it then. Dulac made a motion to approve as corrected, Hatch seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

3.0       New Business: No new business

4.0 Old Business:

4.1 Robert and Marian Blackwell, Mimi’s Attic – Business Permit application, Site Plan Review and Sign Permit applications for a retail antique doll and dollhouse business at 34 South Main Street. Dulac made a motion to approve the applications for the business permit and sign permits, Hatch seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Hatch signed the permits and Schwartz will send the Blackwell’s their permits.

4.2       Review and approve documents for the Budget Hearing – Schwartz handed out the documents needing approval for handout at the Budget Hearing. There was one explaining the LUO changes and another about the Town Center Future Vision project. Hatch said that we thought it would be a good opportunity to let people know what was on our ballot at Town Meeting and put out information about the upcoming initiative on the Town Center Visioning project. Hatch said he didn’t have any problem with the documents. Dulac asked if we had spoken to Barbara Gaskell about what we can do at Town Meeting. Schwartz said we haven’t yet but she will send Barbara a copy of the documents and Crandall will speak with her. Hatch spoke about Town Meeting and voting being on the same day this year and we will have the documents available for any public meetings before and at Town Meeting. Dulac asked if people could ask questions. Schwartz said it is up to Barbara and we will talk to her about it. Dulac suggested simplifying the 4^th paragraph because he found it confusing. Hatch suggested flipping the sentence and remove “visitor”, we agreed. Dulac suggested making the last sentence less wordy, and suggested just saying it is a multi-year project. All agreed. J. Gaskell asked if we are thinking of doing a historic district. Hatch said no, not at this point. Dulac said we are just trying to make it convenient and nice for visitors. We want to get people involved and figure out what we can do. Hatch said that there are lots of new people, artisans and businesses happening in the Town Center. Clark said there are many more people using the M•S Greenway these days and traveling through town.

4.3 Municipal Buildings project update:

            Williams wasn’t present to update us but Schwartz said that the doors are now on the Safety building and some work is being done inside. On the Town Hall the annex is closed in but the siding isn’t on it yet. She read that the sills were being worked on and insulation was being done. J. Gaskell spoke about the need for a public bathroom in the center of town. He suggested making a Town Hall bathroom open for use and locking off the Town Hall off when it isn’t open (nights and weekends). He said the BoS were not open to his suggestion. Hatch said maybe there is a fear of vandalism. Schwartz suggested a port a potty could be made available year round but it would need to be maintained. Dulac is concerned about the Schoolhouse and wants to know if the BoS will let us know what they plan to do at Town Meeting. He thinks the town expects to put more money in for the Schoolhouse and wants a plan for working on it. J. Gaskell asked about the old Town Garage and why it isn’t being painted and maintained better. Dulac said there is money in the CIP accounts for maintenance.

4.4       Master Plan – this is a placeholder.

4.5       Collection of data from ZBA on non-conforming lots and setback information from other towns – Hatch said that the ZBA didn’t meet last week but he met with Deb to get an idea of where the archives and minutes are for ZBA, she said they are in the Town Hall and unavailable right now. She said the vast majority of ZBA cases are concerning setbacks, not much else is considered by them. Hatch said we could get an idea from the BoS minutes because they send the cases to ZBA when they reject a building permit. Dulac said he has received 8 variances for his property, it is a small lot and setbacks were impossible to meet. He said that he found nothing but flexibility from the ZBA, who he worked with closely to come up with solutions. He feels the setbacks in the LUO are reasonable. Hatch said that we didn’t increase the setbacks when we increased the lots sizes; they are the same as they always have been. He said there are some areas where the ZBA would like more guidance; maybe consider a percentage of sizes that they can reasonably lower the setback to. Schwartz said we would be happy to meet with the ZBA to have a conversation about the issues. Hatch said that ZBA will meet later this month and he will speak with Jack Sheehy. Schwartz said she will keep gathering information from other towns on their setbacks and we will discuss at our March and April meetings.

5.0 Driveway Permits: None

6.0 Mergers: None

7.0 Communications:

7.1       Project review from NH Division of Historical Resources for Ayers Pond Road bridge replacement project

8.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting, March 6, 2018, at 6:30 PM at Camp Morgan Lodge (CML).

9.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 7:27PM

            Motioned by Dulac, seconded by Hatch, all voted in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz