Washington Planning Board
Meeting Minutes - Draft
September 7, 2021
0.0 Assembly: 6:30PM, on 2nd floor of Town Hall
0.1 Members present: Hatch, Crandall, Revane and Schwartz
0.2 Alternates present: Kapteyn
0.3 Members and Alternates Absent: Kluk (attended by phone, non-voting), Terani and Chidester
0.4 Visitors: Cynthia and Rick Niven, Kathryn & Steve Becker, Jane Shamaly, Frank Musmanno, Tom Clark, Jim & Bernadette Allan. Roger Cullen
Hatch made a motion to put Alternate member Paul Kapteyn in for Kluk, who was out of town but attending by phone. Schwartz seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
Hatch opened the Public Hearing at 6:30PM.
1.0 Public Hearing on Niven Annexation - Schwartz put out several copies of the annexation plan for the members and public to look over. Hatch asked if there were questions. Frank Musmanno spoke on his concern that his and othersÕ houses are on Wild Acre Drive and asked if their deeded right of way to the road would be impacted by the annexation. Rick Niven explained the right of way road is staying with his property (lot 45) and there will be no change to the access. The sugarhouse has been added to lot 45, as well as the power line road. The large lot (+/-135 acres) of backland is being sold but nothing will change for the abutters. There were no other questions from the board or the public and Hatch closed the hearing at 6:38PM.
Hatch then opened the regular meeting at 6:39PM.
2.0 Minutes: August 10th meeting – Hatch asked if there were any changes needed to the minutes, Kluk suggested that we clarify 2.3 as a further discussion on Shooting Ranges, Schwartz will make the change. Crandall made a motion to approve as amended, Revane seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
3.0 New Business –
3.1 Kathryn & Steve Becker and Jane Shamaly – The BeckerÕs and Shamaly spoke about their desire to annex a piece of ShamalyÕs lot, TM 7-30, where the leach field is for ShamalyÕs house lot (TM 7-31), to that lot (7-31) and annex the remainder of TM 7-30 to TM 7-29 (the BeckerÕs lot). The result of the annexation would make ShamalyÕs lot slightly larger (with the leach field now residing on her lot) and the BeckerÕs lot larger. The BeckerÕs had a survey plan that was done previously by Meridian, which showed what they are trying to do. We didnÕt see any problems with their plan to annex. We said they needed a new plan done that also showed the BeckerÕs lot and they needed to fill out the application for annexation. They will return to the board when these are done.
3.2 Roger Cullen – Cullen came in to talk to the board about a new business plan he has. He sees the town expanding and there are lots of complaints about trashy yards. He has bought a 13-acre lot on Rte. 31 North and would like to put in an area for storage and boat/RV parking. He thinks it would be a huge benefit for the town and not an eyesore. He envisions multiple buildings with one building (a 100 foot one-story building) oriented to serve as a fence parallel to Rte. 31 and park boats and vehicles behind the building to obscure them from the road. He would only allow registered RVs, snowmobiles, trailers and boats. We discussed commercial setbacks with him and using plantings/landscaping to help screen. We discussed his phasing of the project and his plan to expand with demand. We discussed the 10,000 sqft limits on building size; anything larger would require a vote at Town Meeting to approve. Revane brought up using down lighting. Schwartz wants assurances in his permit that the business will not start to look junky. We talked about security needs and getting input from FD on life/safety issues. We discussed the process with Cullen, which requires both a business permit application and a Site Plan Review application and then construction permits from the BoS. We thanked Cullen for coming in for a conceptual discussion and he will return with his applications and plans.
3.3 New Mapping Tool – Hatch spoke about the interactive mapping tool that Mark Florence has developed for the town. Schwartz sent a link to it and everyone had looked at it. Schwartz commented that it works best on certain browsers. She commented that conservation lands were missing except for State Park land and Town Forests. She will let Mark know to add them. Revane said Florence is working with the Assessors and updating constantly. Schwartz asked if the BoS are still interested in contracting with CAI to do the parcel/deed delineation. Revane is not sure it is needed at this point. She asked about the assessorÕs maps and the contract with Avatar and TerraMaps. Revane wasnÕt sure of any conflict. Hatch said the town is looking for feedback from the departments (Fire, DPW, ZBA, PB, etc.) about their needs and whether paper maps ($150 a piece) or online is adequate. Kapteyn asked about tech support, whether Florence is working alone and the proprietary nature of the app. Revane said that right now he is working for no compensation but they have offered to reimburse him for expenses. Hatch said we are intrigued and Florence will be happy to meet with us next month.
3.4 Virtual Land Use Law Conference, Saturday 9am-4pm, Saturday September 18th, info here: https://www.nhmunicipal.org/event/registration-open-2021-municipal-land-use-law-virtual-conference. Hatch asked if anyone was interested in attending and getting access to the conference recordings for 6 months. Kapteyn said he was interested. Hatch will speak with Deb about signing him up and paying the fee for attending.
4.0 Old Business:
4.1 Niven Annexation – Hatch asked if there needs to be any further discussion on the annexation, there being none Crandall made a motion to approve the annexation as presented, Kapteyn seconded the motion and all voted in favor. We will wait for the requested mylars and then Hatch will sign them and Schwartz will bring them to the Registry of Deeds.
4.2 Georgann Casey – Schwartz said that Casey did not send the requested letter from her lawyer so we didnÕt speak with the Town Attorney. She called the Registry of Deeds and spoke with them about their requirements to undo a merger. They agreed that a subdivision needed to be done and they require a survey plan signed by a licensed surveyor to register it. Revane will be speaking with the Town Attorney soon and will ask him for his take. Hatch said we will sit tight and wait to hear from her.
4.3 Town Center Vision project and Old Schoolhouse project update – Crandall said they are waiting on Costello about adding some parking behind the buildings on the leach field. They are working on locating the bounds of the leach field and what is possible for parking. Revane said the power lines (behind the Town Hall/SH) are now underground, the communications lines are still there and are waiting for Granite State to pull fiber to the SH and Church in underground conduit they installed previously. The plumbing and bathroom installs for the SH are going to be done and they are working on cleaning out files, books and weight equipment that wasnÕt removed earlier. The Library Trustees are working with Costello to design a handicap access to the Library building and are working with DPW on the parking for the new lot. Schwartz asked about Wayside Park. Revane said they have a big donor they are working with to set up a trust fund with Parks & Rec, Trustees of the Trust Funds and BoS. The fund is for extras needed for the park and not regular maintenance.
4.4 Master Plan – this is a placeholder.
4.5 ZBA Report – Hatch shared the updated draft application for variance that they have been working on. They sent it to the Town Attorney who made a few tweaks and added a disclaimer to protect the town, but he thought it was excellent. He also read over their new Rules of Procedure and approved. Hatch said they were contacted by Highland Lake Association, who were contacted by people living out there, asking for the Association to oversee setbacks in the association instead of the Town. HLA let the ZBA know they are not interested in doing that and recognize the responsibility is not theirs.
4.6 UVLSRPC – Hatch said they held a meeting but he was only able to listen in to it. He mentioned the transportation committee they were seeking to pull together but nothing has been scheduled yet.
4.7 LUO Issues - We have identified issues we need to research and discuss this year; Tiny Houses, other LUO update needs, section 200.4, 304 and Certificate of Occupancy, camping, dwellings, non-dwellings and seasonal uses and overlay zoning possibilities and commercial shooting ranges. Kluk suggested we schedule a working meeting to discuss these issues. We scheduled October 15th, Friday at 9AM at Town Hall. Kapteyn had done some research asked how to share the information with members. We decided he should email out the links/information.
Discussion - Crandall said that there are DES rules regarding the sale of waterfront properties and the requirement (since 1993) for a septic inspection prior to the sale. The inspection is to determine if the system is in compliance with current NH codes and must be a part of a purchase and sale agreement. He does not feel many realtors are aware of this. He feels the Town should have some regulations on this in order to protect our lake. Kluk thinks that this was in the contract when she bought her property. He wanted to know if there was any stage in the process where this might be caught by the town. Revane said that they learn about a sale when they receive a transfer of property form, which is after the sale and closing. We suggested Crandall send a copy of the DES rules to the realtor.
Kluk asked Revane about the 10,000 sqft limits on commercial development in the LUO and the need for TM approval. He said he would check with the Town Attorney on that subject.
5.0 Driveway Permits:
5.1 Peter Mellen, Lempster Mountain Road, TM 11-27-6, access to property. Thayer inspected and made recommendations; Hatch inspected and signed off on it. Schwartz sent Mellen a copy and asked him if he was willing to speak with the Fire Chief and DPW about siting a cistern on the property, if the town decides there is a need.
6.0 Mergers:
6.1 Kyle and Donna Stone, 1015 South Main Street, TM 16-71-3 and TM 16-71-4, deeds provided, fee paid. Hatch made a motion to approve the merger, Crandall seconded the motion and all voted in favor. The new lot number will be TM 16-71-4, Hatch signed the merger and Schwartz will send to the Registry of Deeds.
7.0 Communications:
7.1 Copy of boundary survey for a conservation easement with NRCS for Dole EW Trust, TM 6-4, 4-1 & 8, Ayers Pond Road
8.0 Meeting date for next Planning Board meeting – October 5, 2021, at 6:30 PM, at 2nd Floor at Town Hall.
9.0 Adjournment: Time: 9:02PM
Motioned by Crandall, seconded by Hatch, all voted in favor.
Respectfully Submitted, Nan Schwartz