Washington Planning Board

Meeting Minutes - Draft

June 4, 2019

0.0       Assembly:  6:30PM, Town Hall

0.1       Members present: Hatch, Crandall, Revane and Schwartz

            0.2       Alternates present: None

0.3       Members and Alternates Absent: Dulac, Kluk, Terani, Chidester and Shifflett

0.4       Visitors: Harlan Bean, Jon Gibson, and Camille Gibson

Hatch opened the meeting at 6:30 PM

1.0       Minutes: May 14^th meeting – Hatch asked if there were any comments on the minutes, there being none Crandall made a motion to approve as written, Hatch seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

2.0       New Business:

2.1 Harlan Bean – Bean came in to speak with us about what he plans to do with his property. He recently bought an abutting lot that has a small cabin on it on Hemlock Circle and both lots are non-conforming. He said there is a septic design for the second lot but none was installed. He wants to build a garage on the abutting lot but had questions about what he could do. He knows you can’t merge two lots if they both have houses on them. The cabin on the second lot is about 26’x24’ in an L shape and he wants to take this building down and make a garage on the same footprint. Schwartz said he would have 2 years to complete that if he opted to do that. Ravane suggested he square the new garage to his back line after merging the properties because he could then meet the setbacks. Bean had a question about the septic system design and how long the plan was good for, he might want to execute the plan for his abutting property/cabin in the future, Schwartz said he should check with DES and the septic design was done by a local guy and he could update it for him if necessary. Hatch said that if Bean got his merger application paperwork done and submitted by our next meeting, July 2^nd, we will get the merger done then.

2.2       Jon and Camille Gibson – The Gibson’s came in to discuss using their winter showroom as a year round artists’ gallery space. Gibson said that his original approval was for the barn space with use of the family room during the winter. He said he is back in the barn now so the other space could be used to showcase Camille’s work along with other local artists. They have parking for 7 to 9 cars that can be used for both spaces. Camille will display art works and they will hold small receptions now and then. They will have a sign for the gallery under the umbrella of Gibson’s Pewter. Hatch asked them to articulate the plan in a letter and we will add it to their business permit file. Schwartz said that the board is very supportive of what they are doing with the space. Hatch said we are trying to tighten up signs in the center. Camille stated that she would have an open studio sign and an open flag that she will put out and take in.

3.0       Old Business:

3.1       Business Permit, Chidester – We have a site visit scheduled for Noah Chidester and will go over the application during that visit. The visit is scheduled for Saturday, June 8^th at 10AM.

3.2       Business Permit, Shifflett – Shifflett provided a business permit application for his farm business last month. We discussed that this is just a new name for an existing farm business. Schwartz said we should have Shifflett write a statement that nothing has changed with the business and we can transfer the permit for him. Hatch will contact the Shiffletts to get a statement from them and we won’t need a site visit if nothing has changed.

3.3       LUO list priorities – Hatch stated that we were tasked with looking at Article I for this month’s discussion. Hatch read the article aloud. In section 1.01 Schwartz commented that it should read Zoning Board of Adjustment to be accurate. Under Purpose Hatch came up with “Safe disposal of solid waste and sewage” he suggested changing the word “assure” to “ensure”. We agreed. He asked us to tackle Article II for next month and this will cover numbers 3 and 8 on the list. Schwartz said that she and Kluk are going to tackle numbers 1 and 2 on the list concerning the alignment of the Subdivision regulations and LUO. Hatch wants to go through the LUO methodically and deal with things as they come up. We will all read through Article II for next month.

3.4       Town Center Vision Committee – Hatch said the small groups have not met yet. Schwartz said that she and Gilbert were meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss their assignments. She thinks a full subcommittee meeting could happen mid to late June.

3.5 25^th Annual Spring Planning and Zoning Conference – Hatch said that he signed up for the conference and offered his spot to PB and ZBA members when he couldn’t attend. No one else could attend so he spoke with NHOEP who were glad to have the spot back for their waitlist and they will reimburse the town.

3.6       Municipal Buildings project update – Revane said that the reception for donors and the Open House for the public happened recently and there was a story in the paper about it. The town received a preservation award for the work done on the building. The Schoolhouse is an active project, the proposals are back on lifting and excavating, they are getting an estimate on demoing the rear annex, there is a plan for rerouting the water and electric. Revane said the schedule is to do the demolition in late June/early July, lift the building in mid July, August the foundation work will be done and it will be capped for winter. Crandall suggested using the excavated material to fill and expand the municipal parking lot at the Library. Schwartz asked where the sideline was for that property. Crandall will investigate. Revane said the PD is moving on June 17^th to the Safety building. Hatch asked about the change in height for the cellar and Revane said they have planned for that lower height, they are also considering and looking into using the cistern to cover both TH and SH for sprinkler systems. Hatch asked about having the architect map out the phases. Revane said he hasn’t done that yet but it is part of his contract.

3.7       Master Plan – This is a placeholder.

3.8       ZBA report – Hatch said they have 3 public hearings, 1 rehearing that was approved 3-2, for a deck too close to the water with the stipulation that the deck would not be covered, and 2 new applications. Crandall commented that things seemed to be approved these days, is there something different going on. Hatch said that they are using their new process and it is going well, there is no rubberstamping going on. They want to hear from abutters about concerns and there is more room for conversation and coming to a better resolution on applications. They have 2 hearings next month. Schwartz asked if applications are public and can be looked at. Hatch said that once an application is accepted as complete it should be available (Deb has them). Hatch said Gary Carney has joined the board as a member. Revane said that an issue came up with the ZBA concerning an RV on a non-conforming lot. The BoS denied a permit because they couldn’t meet the setbacks but there is no appeals process for a variance in the LUO because it is a mobile structure (not a building). We concur that there is no appeals process for something like this.

3.9       UVLSRPC – Dulac was not in attendance to report.

3.10     Noise Ordinance – Schwartz had sent another version of the noise ordinance for us to consider, taking into account the comments from last month. She adjusted the hours and the other items. Crandall commented that the regulations don’t apply during the day and most only apply at night. Schwartz said she added day hours to the general provisions. Hatch said there is room for complaint during the day, we have gotten rid of the decibels and given context for citing someone with fines for repeat offenses. Crandall thinks cannons and fireworks can be shot off during the day. Hatch said that the general advice was that we should be broad. Schwartz said she would run it by Chief Murdough and get his feedback. Hatch asked if it has to go before Town Meeting and Schwartz said yes, it is an ordinance.

3.11     Building Permit – Schwartz and Kluk worked on another version and added a chart for setbacks. Kluk wants to add another chart for computing total square footage to aid in figuring out the cost of the permit. They will work on that when Kluk gets back. Hatch asked about whether anyone had applied for a permit for a small structure and Revane said yes for a chicken coop. They charged $20 for the permit, as we had suggested. Crandall suggested we change the wording on the fine section to include “or removal of structure”, all agreed.

4.0 Driveway Permits: None

5.0      Mergers:

5.1 Desclos  - Schwartz said that the Declos’ have 2 lots on King Street, TM 19-27 and 19-26, that they wish to merge (this is on the class VI section of King Street). Their cabin is on the smaller lot and in order to build a garage they are merging the two lots into one larger lot. The deeds were provided and the fee paid. Hatch made a motion to approve the merger, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Hatch signed the paperwork and Schwartz will send to the registry.

6.0 Communications:

            6.1       Copy of wetland permit for Camp Morgan beach and field project.

            6.2       Copy of wetland permit for Ofman driveway project.

7.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – July 2, 2019, at 6:30 PM, at the Town Hall. The Chidester public hearing will be at 6:30pm, followed by the regular monthly meeting.

8.0 Adjournment:                       Time: 8:45 PM

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

Respectfully Submitted,

Nan Schwartz