Planning Board Meeting Minutes - May 23, 2007

PUBLIC HEARING Lincoln Town Hall Conference Room Main Street, Lincoln, New Hampshire Present: Chairman Pat Romprey, Vice Chairman Joe Chenard (6:13 pm), Member John Hettinger, Clerk Jim Spanos, Selectmen's Representative Peter Moore and Alternate Deanne Chrystal Staff Present: Stacey Havlock - Administrator Others Present: Chester Kahn, Russ Cooley, Rick Kelley, Rob Trzepacz, Susan Chenard, Liz Lambregtse, Steve LaFrance, Peter McGrath, Brent Drouin, Glen Featherstone, Wally Rennie, Kevin McNamara, Tom Tremblay, Wes Graves, Walt Rogers and other unidentified members of the audience 6:03 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. Chairman Romprey noted Vice Chairman Chenard would be arriving late. Alternates Cook and Fredie were excused. 6:03 PM CONSIDERATION of Draft Meeting Minutes for May 9th, 2007 Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to approve the minutes of May 9th as presented; seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. 6:04 PM CONTINUATION of application for Site Plan Review submitted by Jeffrey Lewis for Loon Mountain Car Wash, LLC (Tax Map 19 Lot 27-1) Proposal: To convert an existing business in the general use zone to a 2-bay car wash. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Site Plan Review Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Site Plan Review Application. Clerk Spanos stepped down for this application and Alternate Chrystal was seated. Mr. McGrath said he had a revised set of plans since the last meeting showing a reclamation system for the water, a 5 foot fence between his property and Mr. Wakefield's and a note on the plans stating the business hours would be from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm 7 days a week. Member Hettinger made a motion to open the public hearing; seconded by Selectmen's Representative Moore. Vote was unanimous. Selectmen's Representative Moore asked if Mr. Wakefield was present for tonight's meeting. Mr. McGrath said he has spoken with Mr. Wakefield prior to this meeting and Mr. Wakefield supports the project with the changes that have been made. Member Hettinger made a motion to close the public hearing; seconded by Alternate Chrystal. Vote was unanimous. Selectmen's Representative Moore made a motion to approve the application as presented; seconded by Alternate Chrystal. Vote was unanimous. Clerk Spanos was reseated. 6:12 PM CONSIDERATION of application for Subdivision submitted by Steve LaFrance for Lincoln South Mountain Partners (Tax Map 16 Lot 310) Proposal: Seeks approval to subdivide a 25-acre parcel of land for a 78-unit resort residential development. Planning Board: Acceptance of the Completed Subdivision Application. Public Hearing: Approve or Disapprove the Completed Subdivision Application. Mr. LaFrance said there had been a meeting or two with the town's engineers, Bill Willey, Ted Sutton, Russ Cooley and himself since the last meeting. He said there were some things that still need to be sorted out. *Copies of those lists will be attached to the minutes for tonight's meeting. Clerk Spanos made a motion to accept the application as presented as complete; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. Mr. LaFrance reviewed the plans with everyone noting there have been 3 (three) public access easements added to the plan; each to include a 15 foot wide permanent easement with an additional 10 feet for construction, (1) Along frontage of Route 112 (2) Easement across the top of the dike to get to the old swimming hole and (3) the existing open space easements will stay that connect out to road A. He said they were still working on the exact language for the easements but it would be on the plans that are to be recorded. Clerk Spanos asked if the perpetual open space easement for the Links had been deducted from the density calculations. Mr. LaFrance responded yes. Member Hettinger made a motion to open the public hearing; seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. Mr. Kahn asked if an environmental site assessment was done, or test pits shown on the plans. Mr. LaFrance stated the site assessment was done. Mr. Kahn said he didn't see on the plans where it had been designated for any of the test pits. Mr. LaFrance said that information was not put on the plans however they did have the information if the Board would like it. Chairman Romprey requested Mr. LaFrance to submit that information to the Board for review. Mr. Kahn asked about the "seasonal" stream that he believes is a perpetual stream as he has walked by it a number of times and has never seen it dry. He has a problem with the request for a setback change on a stream that might be within the wetlands. Vice Chairman Chenard arrived at 6:22 pm. Chairman Romprey asked Mr. LaFrance what criterion was used to make the determination that the stream in question was seasonal. Mr. LaFrance said their own wetland scientist does the delineations and they are noted on the plan. He said the streams that are on the property with the exception of the East Branch of the Pemi River are classified as intermittent streams. Chairman Romprey asked if that information could be submitted to the Board. Mr. LaFrance said it was noted on the plans but there really was not a report on this information. Mr. Kahn said he was not an expert on the subject, however he has never seen that stream dry so does not feel it can be counted as a seasonal stream. Mr. Trzepacz said DES has received the wetlands permits and they would be offering their thoughts on the stream as well as the whole development area. Mr. Kahn said he has a problem with a 400-foot dead end water line, as he doesn't want stagnant water in the area. Mr. LaFrance said there was currently a dead end line on Bunker Lane that was approximately 100-feet in length. He said they were actually making it shorter and looping the water line around and cutting it off at 400-feet. Mr. LaFrance said he has spoken with Mr. Willey regarding this line and he is fine with it as long as it is flushed out periodically. A hydrant has been put beyond the last service connection for this purpose. Mr. Kahn asked if the meetings that were held between the engineers, other members of the Planning Board and other town officials/employees were public meetings. It was responded there was only one member of the Planning Board at these meetings so therefore they do not have to be noticed and were not considered public meetings but work sessions for the engineers. There was discussion about having the trenches backfilled on the property and whether or not there would be anyone on site supervising this project. DES would be checking into the materials on site to see which ones would or would not be suitable for use to fill the trenches. Alternate Chrystal departed the meeting at 6:36 pm. Mr. LaFrance stated that as part of the environmental study he had a discussion with someone at DES who said the best way to dispose of the "unwanted fill" on the development site would be to just leave it on the site as long as it wasn't interfering with anything. Mr. Trzepacz asked if there was anything in writing regarding the conversation Mr. LaFrance had with DES. Mr. LaFrance stated there was not and Chairman Romprey asked him to obtain something in writing and submit it to the Board. Selectmen's Representative Moore said if the test pits show permissible amounts it would be fine to use anywhere. Ms. Lambregtse asked who was responsible for repairs on Cooper Memorial Drive and who was supposed to maintain the brush in that area. Mr. Kelley said Loon was responsible for plowing and sanding the road but the road is owned by a couple of different associations that would be responsible for repairs. Chairman Romprey said this needed to be brought up under other business, as it really had nothing to do with the case at hand. Clerk Spanos made a motion to close the public hearing; seconded by Member Hettinger. Vote was unanimous. Vice Chairman Chenard made a motion to continue the hearing until the June 13th meeting; seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. Mr. LaFrance asked the Board for its opinion on whether or not the applicant would have to go before the ZBA for approval for the setbacks. Selectmen's Representative Moore read an email Mr. Sutton received from the Town's counsel addressing his thoughts on the setback impacts. **A copy of that will be attached to the minutes of tonight's meeting. There was a brief discussion regarding the number of building that were shown on the plans to be encroaching on the wetland setback area and how the measurements were determined. Chairman Romprey said because of the questions on the stream the meeting would open in the parking lot on the 13th of June at which time the Board would visit the water body in question. A 5-minute recess was taken. 7:16 PM CONTINUING & OTHER BUSINESS (Staff and Planning Board Member/Alternates) Ms. Lambregtse expressed her concerns regarding Cooper Memorial Drive and who would be responsible for repairing the road. Mr. Kahn stated it was a temporary road but it is his understanding that it will be used for the South Peak Development. It was stated that Rivergreen, Loon, West Finch and Lincoln South Mountain Partners were the current "owners" of the road and responsible for repairs and upkeep. There were also concerns expressed about the speed people drive down that road and the trees that were getting overgrown and making it hard to see in certain areas of travel on Cooper Memorial Drive. Mr. Tremblay said if it continues to get ignored it will look like the road entering Beechwood and that road is a disgrace. Mr. Kelley said that even though Loon's only responsibility for Cooper Memorial Drive was to plow and sand the road he would have the bushes and trees cut back for better visibility this one time only. Chairman Romprey thanked him. Chairman Romprey said a letter would get sent out to all of the possible owners of Cooper Memorial Drive asking them for their maintenance plan for the road. 7:25 PM CONTINUING & OTHER BUSINESS (Staff and Planning Board Member/Alternates) Mr. Tremblay addressed the Board with a proposed idea that a homeowner has for some development on Route 3. Once the plan was reviewed by the Board it was determined that the property would only accommodate (2) two duplexes on the parcel of land versus the (4) four shown on the proposal. 7:29 PM CONTINUING & OTHER BUSINESS (Staff and Planning Board Member/Alternates) Selectmen's Representative Moore said he would like the Board to review the revised sign ordinance again as well as take a look at what types of renovations would qualify for someone to obtain a building permit. Chairman Romprey said these items could be addressed at the next Board meeting on the 13th of June. 7:36 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 Miss Havlock asked the Board's opinion on a sign permit submitted by Aubuchon Hardware who wants to put an additional sign up for the extra store space they have expanded into. It was determined by the Board that the sign could be put up at long as it was named something different such as "Aubuchon Paints" or whatever the applicant sees fit other than "hardware". 7:42 PM PUBLIC INPUT on Specific Issues - There was none. 7:42 PM ADJOURNMENT Vice Chairman Chenard made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Clerk Spanos. Vote was unanimous. Dated: June 13, 2007 Pat Romprey, Chairman