Washington Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
May 5, 2020
0.0 Assembly: 6:30PM, Zoom Meeting
0.1 Members
present: Hatch, Revane, Kluk, Crandall and Schwartz
0.2 Alternates
present:
0.3 Members
and Alternates Absent: Chidester and Terani
0.4 Visitors:
None
Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30 PM.
1.0 Minutes: March 3rd meeting – There were few changes requested by Kluk, Crandall made a motion to approve as corrected, Hatch
seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
2.0 New
Business:
2.1 Election of
Officers – Kluk nominated Hatch as
the Chair, Revane seconded the nomination and all but Hatch voted in favor.
Hatch nominated Schwartz to continue as Secretary, Kluk seconded the nomination
and all but Schwartz voted in favor. Schwartz nominated Kluk as Vice Chair,
Revane seconded the nomination and all but Kluk voted in favor. The officers
will serve until next Town Meeting.
2.2 LUO Question – Schwartz said that
she received a question from Deb regarding whether a non-conforming building
that was removed from a property before a sale can be rebuilt by the new owner
within the 2-year period stated in the LUO or is the grandfathered period gone
when the property changes hands. Hatch said we received several comments by
members prior to the meeting in response to the question. Crandall asked if
this was a PB question, but commented that he thinks it goes with the land.
Hatch agreed and said that Kluk and Revane said this also; all agreed that we
are on the same page. Kluk added that if the structure was a legally non-conforming
building built before 1974 (March) or that a building permit was approved for
it (with any variances needed) that maybe this is a SelectmenÕs call. Hatch
said it is a shed and asked if the problem was setbacks.
Schwartz
said that she thinks it could be a non-conforming use. Revane said that they
would still need a building permit to rebuild and variances if needed. Hatch made
a motion that we are all in agreement that the grandfathering goes with the
land, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor. He said the property
owner should go to the BoS and ZBA, if needed.
2.3 Letter from
Health Officer: Revane said he received a
letter from Bruce Carpenter that he will pass on to us. It is concerning issues
with the General Store. He said the State Health Department came a checked the
store for COVID-19 violations after an anonymous complaint and found none. It
was suggested that we check conditions with all the active business permits
every 2 years. Crandall said he has been pushing for business permit reviews
for a while. Kluk wants to look at the LUO relative to business permits and she
will look at what other towns do. We will meet with Carpenter at our next
monthly meeting.
3.0 Old
Business:
3.1 Change to RV section - Schwartz we have not heard from the petitioners and will wait until
they contact us.
3.2 LUO review –
Hatch said that
Schwartz sent a document out that had all the changes we had discussed so far.
Schwartz brought up the fact that we havenÕt yet reviewed the definitions. Hatch
said we did look at them earlier in relation to a question from the BoS. Kluk
agreed but said that we only looked at specific definitions.
Hatch thinks we review them when we add or change an LUO section. Kluk asked
what our priorities are to work on this year for the LUO in general. Hatch said
to work on the 2 sections we identified as needing to be added, i.e. steep
slopes and septic systems. He feels a subcommittee can work through them and
bring it back to the board. We will work toward bringing them to the public in
the fall and to Town Meeting next year. We will do some research on these and
discuss next month how to move forward.
3.3 Town Center Vision project – Schwartz said the TCV subcommittee has not met and that the Historical Society has taken over the historical tour that the committee initiated. Crandall said that he got some negative feedback on the Town Building ideas presented at Town Meeting. Schwartz has to put together the comments from the boxes.
3.4 Old Schoolhouse project update – Hatch said that they should have the audit report done by Margaret Dillon and Doug Waite next week. Then they will have the HVAC and insulation recommendations and Eversource will pay some of the cost of the project. Revane said the contractor for the annex is going to start soon, doing the annex construction, new roof and exterior siding. They are concentrating on the exterior this year. Crandall asked about the sprinkler system. Revane said they got a quote and after construction they will run the pipe between the Town Hall and Schoolhouse.
3.5 Master Plan – this is a placeholder.
3.6 ZBA Report – Hatch said the ZBA is meeting on May 27th to consider 4 cases. They are deciding on the form the meeting will take for the public hearings.
3.7 UVLSRPC – Hatch said he hasnÕt taken any
action on that yet.
4.0 Driveway Permits:
4.1 Barkie – 893 Valley Road, relocation of existing drive, TM 15-15, Ed checked, Hatch checked and signed, fee paid. This is a relocation of a driveway we approved in March. The buyer of the property asked Barkie to move the driveway, build a garage and add an ADU.
4.2 Gilman – 2230 E. Washington Road, TM 23-17, expansion of parking area and driveway, Ed checked, Hatch checked and signed, fee paid. This was an expansion of a parking/driveway area in front of their barn. Hatch saw no issues so he signed the permit. No new 911 number is needed.
5.0 Mergers:
5.1 Harlan Bean – 41 Hemlock Circle, TM 25-72 and 25-73, deeds provided, fee paid. Schwartz said the deeds are all in order, as well as the paperwork. Crandall made a motion to approve, Hatch seconded and all voted in favor. Schwartz will send the paperwork to Hatch to sign and then send on to the Registry of Deeds.
Revane brought up the need for a Permit of Completion for construction projects. Schwartz asked if the Assessors go out each year on an open building permit to assess what has been built. Kluk is concerned that buildings are going up but not being taxed until they apply for an Occupancy Permit. Revane said they are trying to figure out the best way to look at these issues and deal with it so he is bringing it up with the PB. We are happy to help figure out a good system with BoS.
6.0 Communications:
6.1 UVLSRPC
– Ten-year transportation plan, request for letters of intent, June 15th
deadline
7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board
meeting – June 2, 2020, at 6:30 PM, meeting location TBD.
8.0 Adjournment: Time: 7:45PM
Motioned by Crandall, seconded by Kluk, all voted in favor.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nan Schwartz