Planning Board Meeting Minutes - March 14, 2007

PUBLIC HEARING Lincoln Town Hall Conference Room Main Street, Lincoln, New Hampshire Present: Chairman Pat Romprey, Selectmen's Representative Peter Moore, Vice Chairman Joe Chenard, Member John Hettinger, Clerk Jim Spanos, Alternate Edwin Fredie, Alternate Charlie Cook and Alternate Mike Bovarnick Staff Present: Stacey Havlock - Administrator, Ted Sutton - Town Manager Others Present: Ed Brisson, Liz Lambregtse, Steve LaFrance, Pat Bahr, Stan Duda, Chester Kahn, Susan Chenard, Mike Scisciani, Patricia McTeague, Chris Mulleavey, Robert Trzepacz, Wally Rennie, Peter, McGrath, Mike Peloso, Thomas Smith, Darlene Smith and Tom Adams 6:12 PM CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Romprey; announcement of excused absences, if any, and seating of alternates(s), if necessary. Chairman Romprey called the meeting to order and welcomed those present. Full quorum present. 6:12 PM CONSIDERATION of Draft Meeting Minutes for February 28th, 2007 Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to approve the minutes of February 28th as amended; seconded by Vice Chairman Chenard. Vote was unanimous. Chairman Romprey and Alternate Cook abstained, as they were not present for the meeting. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to reconsider the language for the approval of the traffic plan written at the 2/28/2007 meeting, as the language was insufficient; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. Selectmen's Representative Moore said Member Hettinger had expressed a concern regarding the traffic at the South Mountain Drive intersection and that there were concerns regarding who would bear the cost of future changes in the traffic plan. There was a discussion whether it was legal to make changes to a motion to clarify language. Mr. Sutton said he had spoken with the Town's attorney, Peter Malia, who said it would be legal to make the changes. It was asked whether Attorney Malia's opinion was received in writing and Mr. Sutton said it was verbal but he could get something in writing if the Board preferred. Alternate Cook recommended sending a notice to all of the abutters stating there had been a change to the language. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to change the language of the original approval of the traffic plan as approved on 2/28/2007; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote passed with one nay. The motion was clarified to read: Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to approve and implement the Main Street traffic plan as presented conditional upon the need for future revisions to include any traffic mitigations required at the intersections of Route 112 and South Mountain Drive and Route 112 and Cooper Memorial Drive. The cost of such mitigation to be borne by proportionate fair share by the developments or other entities that are responsible for the increase in traffic; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote passed with one nay. 6:32 PM CONTINUATION of application for Subdivision submitted by Steve LaFrance for Lincoln South Mountain Partners (Tax Map 16 Lot 310) Proposal: To subdivide a parcel into 38 lots. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Subdivision Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Subdivision Application. Mr. LaFrance stated there were some changes to the plans originally submitted and he would like to discuss this application later in the meeting. A discussion on some of the changes followed. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to pass this item to later in the meeting; seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. 6:47 PM CONTINUATION of application for Subdivision submitted by Steve LaFrance for Centex Destination Properties (Tax Map 2 Lot 3.2) Proposal: To subdivide two sections of an approved Master Plan for a proposed 63-unit condominium building to be built in two sections. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Subdivision Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Subdivision Application. Mr. LaFrance said at the previous meeting it was noted the subdivision application would need ZBA approval for a variance from the Land Use Plan Ordinance (LUPO) set back requirements. Mr. LaFrance said at a meeting held earlier tonight with the ZBA the variance was granted. Vice Chairman Chenard confirmed this. Clerk Spanos made a motion to open the public hearing; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. There was no discussion. Member Hettinger made a motion to close the public hearing; seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. Clerk Spanos made a motion to approve the application as presented; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. 6:52 PM CONTINUATION of application for Site Plan Review submitted by Steve LaFrance for Centex Destination Properties (Tax Map 2 Lots 3.1, 3.2, 3.2 and 9) Proposal: To construct a 63-unit condominium building (H1 building), day skier parking areas, beginner ski trail and lift, ski back trail, skier drop-off area, connector lift, roadways, utilities, drainage improvements, conceptual approval of the Club, buildings H2 through H5, Equestrian Center and Loon Maintenance Facility. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Site Plan Review Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Site Plan Review Application. Mr. LaFrance said at the past meeting comments were given to Board members that each of the engineers had. He said a revised list had been received this morning from the Town's engineers, Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, which he had yet to completely review. He did note that an agreement on concerns expressed at a previous meeting had been reached by the engineers representing the town and the developer. Mr. Mulleavey, from HTA, agreed that most of the concerns had been addressed but the biggest concerns are wastewater and potable water. He said those fields are in Mr. Trzepacz's area of expertise and he would review them with the Board. Mr. Trzepacz reviewed the concerns with the Board members and answered a few questions that were asked. Copies of these concerns are on file at Town Hall. Alternate Bovarnick asked if there was enough water for the project being presented. Mr. Trzepacz said he did not have enough information at this time to answer that question. Chairman Romprey asked if there were 1,100 units in this development and with the proposed water usage of 250 gallons per day for each of the units would the town run out of water without a storage tank in the South Mountain area. Mr. Trzepacz said it would depend on the hydraulics of the water system, which has only been preliminarily looked at. Mr. Sutton said he has spoken with the Superintendent of Public Works, William Willey, and he feels there is a need for a larger tank to be put in the area of South Mountain. Chairman Romprey said the infrastructure will have to be designed to accommodate whatever size storage tank is proposed to be put in that area. Vice Chairman Chenard asked if putting in a 250,000-gallon storage tank was mentioned at the start of this whole project. Mr. Brisson said that was correct. Mr. Sutton said it has been noted that the tank should be larger than needed but the proportion of that which will be Centex's fair share will have to be figured out but questioned whether or not this phase of the development should be held up for questions regarding the whole development's water usage. Chairman Romprey asked if Mr. Trzepacz thought the proposed project of the H1 building would be an impact on the Town's water supply, which will use 15,000 gallons per day. Mr. Trzepacz said he would like to see the infrastructure for H1 meets pressure requirements dictated by the State and that it is capable of meeting demands. Mr. Mulleavey said the problem is they do not know what the Town wide model is. HTA was asked to review the plans proposed and they need the information regarding the usage with accurate numbers to give an answer to that question. A 5-minute recess was taken. 7:38 PM meeting was called back to order. Mr. LaFrance said he didn't feel that the concerns that Mr. Mulleavey and Mr. Trzepacz had would be difficult to resolve. He said it is very important for Mr. LaFrance and the applicant to get approval for the proposed phase for the H1 building so they can continue with the steps they would have to take for the start of construction such as approval from the Attorney Generals office. He feels confident the current system could accommodate the whole development but if a mistake were made in calculations for water usage it would not be the responsibility of the Town. Member Hettinger said he believes what the Town is looking for is reassurance that these units would not impact the rest of the Town. Mr. LaFrance said the 63-unit building's water usage will not impact the rest of the Town and approvals for the other buildings H2 - H5 and the other proposed buildings will have the water requirements rectified with HTA prior to those being put in front of the Board for approvals. Selectmen's Representative Moore said the Board needs confirmation from HTA and if the infrastructure is put in the ground for water usage they would like to know that it is going to work. Mr. LaFrance said that when they come before the Board for each subsequent phase, which they are required to do, if they cannot prove that they can provide water to the next phase they will not be able to build it as approvals would not be obtained. Mr. Sutton said due to everyone's concerns with the water usage it would be recommended for Mr. Mulleavey and Mr. Trzepacz to meet with Mr. LaFrance and possibly Mr. Willey to review questions involving the water supply. Mr. Trzepacz agreed that they should sit down to resolve the issues noted in the comments. Mr. Brisson said the Board needed to separate the Town water supply issues from what is required for this development. He said there has been a lot of talk regarding a water storage tank and the size it needs to be. He said the Master Plan has not changed since it was submitted for approval. The only thing that has changed is they have gotten smarter about some of their building. He said the information is out there for the full projected build-out of this development and it is hard to believe that one would say there is water issues this early in the building stage. If there are Town problems with water capacity such as Forest Ridge because of elevations he said they are amenable to do their fair share to provide water to the upper units as they know the Town does not have the pressure to serve the upper lots of the development and it is Centex's responsibility to put in the tank, which they feel would require 250,000 gallons to service those upper lots. He said if it's beneficial to the town to make that tank a half of million gallon tank versus a quarter of a million gallon tank they are willing to cooperate with the Town on a fair share basis and the maintenance issues involved with the tank would have to be discussed as it would be unfair for the master association to pay for all of those costs especially when it would service other areas, but they are definitely willing to work with the town in whatever is needed. Mr. Sutton agreed with Mr. Brisson and said all of the things mentioned can be worked though. There was further discussion on the water studies that have been done in the past as well as the numbers that have been proposed for water usage for the development. Vice Chairman Chenard said there should be enough water to accommodate the project being presented and if there is a problem with water during their other development phases they will have to shut down the development until they can resolve the water issues. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to accept the application as presented as complete; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to open the public hearing; seconded by Vice Chairman Chenard. Vote was unanimous. Mr. Adams believes when information is presented, such as these comments from the engineers, it should be a point to make sure there are enough copies for the audience members as well so they can review them. He also said he doesn't feel this plan could be approved until all the roads and water issues have been discussed and resolved. Mr. Kahn said he believes this brings up the bigger issue and that is the Town's need for a certified, licensed planner so that all the plans are properly reviewed before being submitted to the Board especially with all of the potential development in town. Vice Chairman Chenard made a motion to close the public hearing; seconded by Selectmen's Representative Moore. Vote was unanimous. Selectmen's Representative Moore said before the Board could consider approval on this application the engineers need to get together and resolve all the issues so the Board isn't left making an approval with a complex condition list. Vice Chairman Chenard made a motion to continue this application until the March 28th meeting; seconded by Selectmen's Representative Moore. Vote was unanimous. 8:44 PM REVIEW AND COMMENT on the MATRIX REPORTS and OPEN FILES pertaining to: A. Land Use Subdivision and Site Plan Applications/Approvals B. Building Permit Applications C. Sign Permit Applications There were no comments 8:44 PM CONTINUING & OTHER BUSINESS (Staff and Planning Board Member/Alternates) Mr. McGrath and Mr. Rennie addressed the Board and said Mr. McGrath would like to put a 2-bay car wash in at the old dairy bar at Map 19, Lot 027.0001, located on Route 3 owned by Mr. Rennie. It was noted this was an allowed use in that area and Site Plan Review would be required for the change of use. 9:01 PM CONTINUATION of application for Subdivision submitted by Steve LaFrance for Lincoln South Mountain Partners (Tax Map 16 Lot 310) Proposal: To subdivide a parcel into 38 lots. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Subdivision Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Subdivision Application. Mr. LaFrance reviewed the changes to the plans with the Board. There was a discussion as to whether the hearing could be continued but because of the changes made it was decided the application could not be continued as the abutters had not had a chance to review the revised plans. Mr. LaFrance said he would like to withdraw the application at this time and re-submit it at a later date. 9:14 PM PUBLIC INPUT on Specific Issues - There was none. 9:14 PM ADJOURNMENT Clerk Spanos made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Vice Chairman Chenard. Vote was unanimous. Dated: March 28, 2007 Pat Romprey, Chairman