May 11, 2021 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD Approved Meeting Minutes for Tuesday May 11, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Wells called the meeting to order at 7:02pm and took roll. ROLL: Glenn Pogust, David Hill, Charles Bolduc (alternate), Christine Fletcher, Dane Headley, Roger Wells Also Present: Mike Tardiff and Kate from the Regional Planning Commission, Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator Absent: Peter Blakeman Chair Wells asked Chuck Bolduc to sit in as a full voting member in the absence of Peter Blakeman. PUBLIC HEARING: None ADMINISTRATIVE: Approval of April 13, 2021 Meeting Minutes Glenn asked that the discussion regarding the nominations for Chair and Vice-Chair positions be amended to simply say that he and Chair Wells were nominated at that night’s meeting. The wording made it appear as if the nominations had been made at a prior meeting. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Dane Headley to approve the minutes of April 13, 2021, as amended. The motion was approved unanimously. Upcoming Hearing – Subdivision Peter noted that in June there would likely be a cluster subdivision conceptual review to come before the board. The meeting(s) regarding this application will be contentious and well-attended. He asked Dane what the Selectmen had determined as far as holding meetings in person. Dane reported that the Selectmen have been meeting in person all along with masks, and that it is up to the other town boards to decide if they want to meet in this manner or to continue with Zoom. Chair Wells asked for the thoughts from the board. He opined that he felt it would be best to meet in person considering the possible tone of these upcoming meetings. It appeared that everyone on the board had been vaccinated. Peter said that the hearing wouldn’t likely be until July. It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Glenn Pogust to begin meeting in person at the June, 2021 meeting. Glenn Pogust amended the motion based on a remark Peter made about the availability of a recording secretary who would need to be at the meeting, physically, which may be a problem. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by David Hill to meet in person beginning with the June 2021 Planning Board meeting, subject to the ability of having a hybrid model that would enable the meeting to be recorded by someone perhaps not physically present at the meeting. When asked about recording the meeting while in person, Peter noted that the details from a meeting are not going to be as detailed from an audio recording. The Zoom meetings allow for much more detail and clarity on the part of the recording secretary. Mike Tardiff asked if a hybrid model was an option, even for the long term. The Zoom model has improved the participation for the meetings he has been a part of. Chair Wells asked if people joining remotely could be seen by those attending in person. He thought that the people from the Regional Planning Commission could still “Zoom” into the meeting even if they held the meeting in person. Peter said that the ability to do this exists but it far from perfected. A remote camera would need to video the entire meeting. Chair Wells said he has a projector that could be hooked up to a computer and he would loan it to the town. Mike said some people from Sutton may want to participate in the cluster subdivision discussion but may not be comfortable in an in-person setting. It was thought that meeting in person in June would be a good idea to iron out any glitches before the meeting in July. A vote was taken on Mr. Pogust’s motion: The motion was approved unanimously. Chair Wells said he would work with Peter on getting his projector to the office and working out the details. OLD BUSINESS: Review of updated Chapter 3 – Our Services and Resources Katie shared the first page of Chapter 3 on the screen. Since the last meeting she made some changes that were suggested. She also prioritized the recommendations as she was asked to do. Dane said the page with the graphs had no reference to them in the text. Katie said in the shortening of the text, perhaps they removed the reference to the graphs. They could add the text back in or they could remove the graphs. Mike suggested including some text and keeping the graphs. Chuck suggested using points and lines instead of a bar as it better represents the trends. Christine asked about the Recreational Needs section and a past statement that all that was needed was more trails. She wondered if they should encourage younger families to come to Sutton. Chair Wells said they were working on this in the Zoning section. Glenn said he read this as a caveat towards considerations for the older generation, but to say that they would like to attract younger families to the town. The younger families would demand more services and recreation. Chair Wells said they need to get the families here first, and then they can focus on the services and recreation. Dane said he took some queries to the Selectboard. Ellie thinks that the town is 100% broadband availability in Sutton. Chair Wells said they do still have dead zones. Dane said everyone in the town has access to high speed internet. Chuck noted the conservation priorities on the list. He wondered how the work would get done. He is one of the handful of people who does these projects and they would need more help to do the projects on the list. Glenn said that assistance would need to be offered by the Town and they would help solicit help and funding. He said the Selectboard could declare a town-wide clean-up or work-days, which may help. Chair Wells said that trails are something that people love about the town and it is important that they keep these trails at the top of their list of priorities. Existing and Future Land Use discussion – Review of Data and Trends Katie shared the page with the trends. The trends before 2020 were not that interesting; things were slow. Peter said that things were different in 2020 for obvious reasons, and they may also be different in 2021/22 due to availability of products needed for building, etc. Mike asked if there had been any changes in the current use trends. Peter said he wasn’t aware as he doesn’t process building permits or current use applications. Glenn said that the town clerk/tax collector’s office would be where to find this information. – Recommendations/Key Action Items Mike shared the appropriate pages and several action items were discussed. It included special exceptions and the table of uses and is broken down by rural atmosphere, sense of community, and historic villages. Some changes to some of the maps were made, based on some comments at a previous meeting. There was discussion on where certain uses like commercial and types of subdivisions would be allowed and how the information would best be presented. Discussion was had about incentives, open spaces, and protecting lands. Housing and villages were also discussed. Mike showed the amended zoning map. Comments were provided on how the map could be adjusted to be more accurate. Mike said he would provide a version of the map to Peter to distribute to the board and gather more comments. With no further business, Chair Wells called for a motion to adjourn. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Dane Headley to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:43pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton