Washington Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
March 5, 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: Aaron Wechsler, Peter Mellen, and Meghan Tweedy
Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30PM.
1.0 Minutes: February 2nd meeting – Hatch asked if there were any changes needed, Kluk made a suggestion to refer to the LUO section in 2.2, Schwartz will add this. Kluk made a motion to approve as corrected, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
2.0 New Business:
2.1 Lucky 7 Farm – Schwartz read the application for a business permit to the board. We determined that a site Plan Review would be required. Schwartz will send the application form to them to fill out and return. We will schedule a site walk at a later date.
2.2 Aaron Wechsler, Aspen Environmental Consultants LLC, business permit application and Site Plan Review exemption – Wechsler spoke about his consulting business, which is done from his home office. He is a sole proprietor and his work is done on computer and in the field. We reviewed the application and exemption application and determined that he met the criteria for a minor home occupation as described in LUO section 200.2 . Kluk made a motion to approve his application, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
3.0 Old Business:
3.1 Tweedy Subdivision, Peter Mellen – Hatch asked if anything had changed since we received the subdivision plan last month. Mellen said nothing was changed. We went through the application checklist to check for completeness. Hatch read through the checklist items. We granted several requested waivers and found some items were not applicable to the plan. All other items were provided. The survey markers will be set and the mylars will be provided after the plan is approved following the Public Hearing. Kluk made a motion to accept the application as complete, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor. We scheduled the Public Hearing for April 6th at 6:30pm with our monthly meeting to follow. Schwartz will notice the abutters and newspaper.
3.2 March 9th Ballot review – Hatch commented that there was a letter to the editor in local papers concerning perc test witnessing. He chose not to answer the letter with one of his own. Kluk said she had conversations with several people on the matter. We feel because there is little oversight at the state level the responsibility is being pushed down on the town, so we added this to the LUO. Kluk said that the state might change its rules and move to soil testing as an alternative.
3.3 RV Park plan for East Washington Road – There is no news on this but Schwartz is keeping this on the agenda, as it is still an ongoing issue.
3.4 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.
3.5 Old Schoolhouse project update – Revane said they would move ahead with more work on the OSH this year if the warrant article asking for money is passed at Town Meeting. They plan on using money left from this year as a down payment on the heating system and get the windows refurbished. Hatch said that money may be available for weatherproofing and heat pumps and they should check with Eversource on what is available to the Town.
3.6 Master Plan – this is a placeholder.
3.7 ZBA Report – Hatch said the ZBA met in February and had 4 applications to consider. They rejected 2 for incompleteness but are moving forward with 2 at a Public hearing in late March.
3.8 UVLSRPC – Hatch said the group met in February and the meeting was administrative in nature. He said that Meghan Butts is the new Executive Director and she has worked on energy and climate issues among many other things. She is interested in helping the towns in the commissionŐs area.
4.0 Driveway Permits: None
5.0 Mergers:
5.1 Thomas & Corrine Tetrault, 70 Lincoln Drive, TM 14-295 and TM 14-298, fee paid, deeds provided. Town is registering a corrective deed on one lot because the address of the lot was incorrect. Schwartz said we can approve prior to receipt of new deed. Kluk made a motion to approve the merger, Crandall seconded and all voted in favor. The new lot will be TM 14-295, Hatch will sign the application when the deed is registered and Schwartz will send the paperwork to the Registry of Deeds.
5.2 Elizabeth Tilton-Wahlert, 587 Presidential Drive, TM 14-222 and 14-227, deeds provided, fee paid. Schwartz said that she had to send the application back to get notarized but that we can approve pending the application being returned. Kluk made a motion to approve the merger, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor. The new lot will be TM 14-222, Hatch will sign the application and Schwartz will send to the Registry of Deeds when the paperwork is returned.
Kluk asked that we add a few items to Old Business on the agenda – She wants to keep tiny homes, campgrounds in discussion and take another look at LUO section 200.4 this year. The BoS also wants 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 and Permit for Construction. He thinks that wording on siding needs to be updated and clarified.
Hatch mentioned the meeting attended by Schwartz and Revane with a mapping company and their proposal to update all the tax maps. Schwartz encouraged the board to support the BoS in moving forward with this proposal. Revane said the BoS will speak about it at Town Meeting and get the community on board with the idea of doing this. It is a three-year project and will take care of the extensive problems with the tax maps.
6.0 Communications: None
7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – April 6, 2021, at 6:30 PM, we will probably meet by Zoom. The Public Hearing will precede the regular monthly meeting.
8.0 Adjournment: Time: 8:02PM
Motioned by Crandall, seconded by Revane, all voted in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nan Schwartz