August 9, 2022 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD Draft Meeting Minutes for Tuesday August 9, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Chair Pogust called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm and took roll. ROLL: Glenn Pogust (Chair), Roger Wells (Vice-Chair), Christine Fletcher, David Hill, Dane Headley, ABSENT: Chuck Bolduc, Peter Blakeman, Jason Teaster (alternate), Kristin Angeli (alternate) OTHERS PRESENT: St. Representative Tom Schamberg APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of July, 12, 2022 It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Dane Headley to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2022 meeting as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: Update on status of Peacock Hill Cluster (Gridley Road): Chair Pogust advised that the applicant had submitted a check for the escrow deposit to be used for the required periodic inspections of the work to be done and had also submitted a form of bond for the $150,000 required security. Town Counsel has approved the form of the bond, and the applicant will be notified that he can proceed with posting the bond in the approved form. Chair Pogust reported that after being told that all the cutting areas with respect to the proposed timber harvest had been flagged, he and Peter Stanley visited the site and determined that the flagging was confusing and that some areas were not marked. Chair Pogust said that Mr. Stanley so advised the applicant and told him that there needed to be staking and flagging that clearly shows the road, all of the driveways and all of the building lots. There also needs to be flagging showing the recreational area and the trail leading from the road to the recreational area. Finally, the entire boundary line between Sheet 2 of the Plan and Sheet 3 of the plan needs to be marked. Chair Pogust further reported that in Mr. Stanley’s absence on vacation, he was contacted and told that the requested work had been completed. Therefore a site visit was arranged for August 8 to be attended by the engineer from Nobis, Chair Pogust and the applicant. In addition to Chair Pogust and Tom Lacroix, the Town’s engineer, the applicant, the applicant’s surveyor and engineer, the forester retained by the applicant and the logger retained to do the harvest were present for the site visit on August 8. The locations for permitted cutting within the area covered by Sheet 2 of the plan were confirmed with appropriate stakes and flagging and the boundary between the area covered by Sheet 2 and area covered by Sheet 3 was properly flagged. Chair Pogust advised that the applicant must still provide the required Forest Management Plan before any work can be done. The Town’s engineer will make as many inspections as he or Mr. Stanley believes appropriate to monitor the work and ensure compliance with the Conditions of Approval. Master Plan Update: Chair Pogust advised the members that he had received helpful comments from Betsy Forsham and Bonnie Hill relating to corrections to some of the factual items in the Master Plan and the Appendices. He and Roger Wells had also reviewed the document carefully to note any typographical errors. Chair Pogust also advised that he had met the day with Mike Tardiff at the offices of the Central NH Planning Commission to ensure that all of the corrections were incorporated in the master copy of the document. Mike Tardiff will e-mail the updated and corrected document so that it can be posted on the Town website. Chair Pogust also asked the members present if they had any other corrections to be made and all answered that they had none. It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Dane Headley to approve the 2021 Master Plan Update as revised and finalized. The motion was approved unanimously. Economic Development Committee: Chair Pogust and Vice-Chair Wells reported that they had met with the Select Board on July 25, 2022 to discuss the recommendation in the Master Plan Update that the Select Board appoint an Economic Development Committee to assist in implementing the action items identified in the 2021 Master Plan update relating to bringing appropriate types of uses to Sutton that will improve our tax base, and creating opportunities for the development of appropriate senior and workforce housing. The Select Board is interested in appointing such a committee and requested a statement of the proposed scope and purpose of the committee. Chair Pogust and Vice Chair Well prepared a scope and purpose document that has been submitted to the Select Board and that was given to the members present at the Planning Board meeting to review. Chair Pogust asked that the members submit any comments they have for consideration by the Select Board. Conceptual discussion of cluster development ordinance provisions: Vice Chair Wells opened the discussion with reference to the work that would be needed to have a proposed ordinance ready for a vote at Town Meeting. Any proposed ordinance needs to be submitted to the Select Board by a mid-December deadline. To accomplish that, the Planning Board will need to meet more frequently than once each month, especially if other matters are also brought to the Board to be addressed at its regular meetings. He therefore suggested that the Board, or a subcommittee of interested members also meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month and that the meetings run from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm. Those meetings will be publicly noticed and minutes will be prepared by our Recording Secretary, who will either be present at the meetings or transcribe minutes from an audio recording of the meeting. The first such meeting will be on August 23. All present were in favor in proceeding as suggested by Vice Chair Wells. Vice Chair Wells also suggested that the first ordinance for the Planning Board to address should be the current Cluster Ordinance at Article IX of the Zoning Ordinance. He believes that this revised ordinance should be for a Residential cluster in the Rural-Agricultural zone, and among other things, would have no provisions for any commercial uses. Vice Chair Wells asked the Board members to think about and raise at future meetings, what is wrong with the current ordinance and what changes can we recommend that will improve it. There was then a discussion of the need to engage the public in the process and clearly demonstrate why the Town should change the current ordinance. It was noted that we should show how the proposed revisions will benefit the Town and be consistent with the priorities addressed by our residents as part of the Master Plan process. It was suggested that consideration should be given to placing ads in the Intertown Record and having handouts available at the Town Hall and the transfer station. It may also be helpful to schedule information and listening meetings to which the 10 community groups and Boards we met with at the beginning and conclusion of the Master Plan process will be invited as well as other interested residents. There were no other items on the Agenda and no one present asked to discuss any other business. It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Christine Fletcher to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm. Respectfully submitted, Glenn Pogust, Acting Recording Secretary Town of Sutton
