June 8, 2021 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD Meeting Minutes for Tuesday June 8, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: ROLL: Glenn Pogust, David Hill, Christine Fletcher, Charles Bolduc, Dane Headley, Roger Wells Chuck Bolduc was asked to sit in for David Angeli, who was absent that evening, as was Peter Blakeman. Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator attended, as did Michael Tardiff, CNHRPC, and Katie Nelson, CNHRPC NEW BUSINESS: Caterino Lot Merger, Map/Lot 05-981-338 & 05-973-179 Peter showed a map with the two parcels. The applicants would like to merge the two lots. If there are no compliance issues, the Planning Board must sign the merger. Peter noted that there were no compliance issues. It was moved (Glenn Pogust) and seconded (David Hill) to approve the lot merger. The motion was approved unanimously. PUBLIC HEARING: Appeal of Article III, C of the Driveway Access Regulations by Mikus Veners to allow a driveway with sight distance of less than 10 tomes the posted speed limit. Peter said the permit says that abutters need to be notified 10 days ahead of the meeting. This was done and only a couple people called to ask what the issue was. Peter indicated to them that it was a relocation of a driveway. There were no abutters against the plan. Mr. Veners spoke on behalf of his project. He said that the road agent felt that this new location would be a more natural location for the driveway. There will not be a lot of traffic going in our out; just himself and his wife. Peter said that the Planning Board can allow for an appeal to have a site distance of less than what is required by the ordinance but more than the 250’ minimum. This is a grant of the appeal, which is to waive the requirement. Chair Wells asked what the steepness of the new drive was. Mr. Veners said he thinks that it is very similar to the current driveway. He thought maybe 6-8 degrees. Chair Wells suggested having Peter check this to make sure the steepness would be OK. Glenn said he looked at the site that day and it doesn’t look steep at all. It is a long, straight shot. Chair Wells cautioned that steep slope regulations cannot be waived. Mr. Veners said he is familiar with those regulations. Chair Wells asked the public for comment. There were no public comments. The public hearing was closed. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by David Hill to grant the waiver of the 300’ site distance requirement and that the 265’ as shown is acceptable. The motion was approved unanimously. ADMINISTRATIVE: Approval of draft May 11, 2021 Meeting Minutes. It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Glenn Pogust to approve the minutes of May 11, 2021, as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously. Resumption of in-person meetings – NHMA recommendations Peter said he wouldn’t know for sure until the end of the day on Friday about what the recommendation will be. He assumes that they will be required to meet in person. OLD BUSINESS: Master Plan Mike explained a bit of what was included in the Existing and Future Land Uses chapter. He said he worked hard to get the chapter to nine pages. Chair Wells noted that once they can sit around a map, they can confirm where things are and modify what needs to be modified. The hope was that this could be done in July. Dane thought the text mentioning the trends for building permits being atypical in the future was misleading. Chair Wells agreed. Mike said they would update the data. Glenn noted that they are talking about new building permits, not ongoing, existing ones. Mike thought the Current Use data was interesting. This is a leading indicator of development trends. Glenn thought that they should include some wording that land in current use is not necessarily protected. Chair Wells agreed with this thought; current use is a temporary hold; it is not a permanent fix. Mike agreed and said he would add the language. Chuck Bolduc suggested getting rid of the wording about the land use change tax funds going directly to conservation instead of towards lowering taxes. Not everyone is in favor of this practice. Chair Wells said one of the three major goals in the town is to protect their open space. This is a good way to do it. He suggested re-wording the sentence. Glenn suggested moving the land use change tax to the rural surroundings chapter. Put it as a positive as promoting the conservation masterplan. Chair Wells suggested making the zoning information into a table to free up space. Mike said he would do this. Mike said he thinks the overlay districts need to be explained. Chair Wells agreed. He added that there should be some indication of incentives for developers. He thought that people will get lost in these details because it is very technical. David Hill didn’t think sending everything to the appendix was the best solution; they need some meat in the writing to make the readers want to go to the appendix for the full details. He feared that people wouldn’t go to the appendix if everything was noted as being there. It is too much information. Chair Wells said that they should start their sentences with things like “The Conservation Commission pursues…xyz”, etc. to not sound so demanding. Mike said this is a roadmap for the next 5-10 years. Everything in the plan won’t happen. Chair Wells said that the word “should” can be removed in the recommendations. He wants to be proactive but not sound too pushy. Glenn said it was ok to say that groups “should continue” to do things that are in their plan. There was talk of defining workforce housing, as many don’t understand what it is and that it includes housing throughout the area, not just in Sutton. Dane said that the town could benefit from some rental housing. Chuck said the housing would be intended for those aging in place, first time home-buyers, public servants, etc. Chair Wells thought if they had a good meeting, in person with maps, a first draft could be ready for August. Katie said she put together the finalized chapters to Peter. They can take the recommendations so far and put them into survey monkey to get feedback from the board. This can help with the implementation plan/table in the implementation chapter. Chair Wells liked this idea. He envisioned having all five chapters in hand in September or October to discuss further; it could be a long meeting. Katie said the appendices include: Transportation, Natural Resources, Community Facilities, Public Survey, Land Use/Regulations (possibly). Chair Wells suggested having the public survey at the beginning. Chair Wells commended Mike and Katie and the rest of the staff at the Regional Planning Commission. They have enjoyed the process working together. ANY OTHER BUSINESS: There is a meeting scheduled for June 22nd and will be held with the guidelines announced that upcoming Friday. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded that if the state emergency is continued so it covers the June 22 meeting, they meet via zoom. Otherwise if the state of emergency is not extended, they will meet in person. The motion was approved unanimously. ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chair Wells called for a motion to adjourn. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Dane Headley to adjourn the Planning Board meeting of June 8, 2021. The motion was approved unanimously. The next meeting was scheduled for June 22 at 7:00pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton