June 27, 2023 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD Approved Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 27 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Chair Pogust called the meeting to order at 7:03pm. Chair Pogust said there was a quorum and took the roll. ` ROLL: Glenn Pogust (Chair), David Hill, Jason Teaster, Roger Wells Also Present: Mike Tardiff (Central NH Regional Planning Commission), Matt Taylor (Central NH Regional Planning Commission) Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator ABSENT: Chuck Bolduc, Dane Headley, Christine Fletcher, Kristin Angeli (alternate), Peter Blakeman (alternate) ADMINISTRATIVE: Review of Minutes of May 30, 2023 It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Jason Teaster to approve the minutes of May 30, 2023, as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: Sutton Mills Draft Ordinance – Regional Planning Commission Mike said by the end of the meeting he would like to know what the proposed district boundary is. He would also like to talk about changes regarding the district that came from the last meeting, and improvements to the ordinance. He commented that Roger had done a lot of work. Since the last meeting, Mike said he and Matt met with DES about density and approaches to septic systems on small lots. They learned that they need to hear from a soils scientist and be on the ground with a better understanding of what is possible perk-wise for the proposed district. DES didn’t recommend going to any higher density than 1 acre. Roger said they have lots in the village that are significantly smaller with septic systems that are not failing. Mike thought having a soils scientist would help identify what the actual lot size should be. Glenn suggested the use of a community septic system so the lot sizes could be smaller and the septic could be shared. Mike said that the folks at DES would like to avoid community septic systems. Roger thought the systems where the septic is in a different area than the leach field would work just fine. He said the largest issue is the management of a homeowner’s association and how issues are resolved. Mike said they would have to use a soils scientist who has been vetted for the NH housing program. Roger said they need to make sure the scientist is willing to be creative. Matt said he understood why Chair Pogust would want to transform older large buildings into residential housing. He wondered if they wanted to put a limit on that opportunity. Roger said to include it on the charrette, and see how it fits. Roger added that what he had also suggested is a flag-lot, which is the shape of a flag on a pole; a shared road leads to housing in a cluster. A large map was presented by Roger to the Board which showed where steep slopes, wetlands, flood plains, conserved land, and trees were. The red circles show where construction is possible under the new draft ordinance. Roger said that the red lines signify 500’ from the major roads. Yellow areas are new and existing buildings and purple areas are the roads necessary to serve those houses. Orange represents steep slopes, blue shows streams. The middle green represents trees that remain after development is completed. There are dotted lines showing flood lines, and wetland buffers. He stressed that this isn’t showing what is GOING to happen, but rather, what COULD happen. There were 24 new homes possible on the map and it was noted that the residential spaces could include retail. Peter thought that using the 500’ distance from the road made things fair for everyone, versus using the property lines of each lot. Chair Pogust wanted everyone to think about possible loopholes that would allow the density to be increased. David thought that the minimum lot size would eliminate that possibility. Chair Pogust thought there should be a way for someone to do the things with their lots that they want, but not make it so easy that it is a given that anything goes. Matt showed some information from other nearby towns that have converted old buildings/barns into housing. He thought that some incentive to develop should be considered in Sutton. Chair Pogust said he would like to see some wording for incentives for both senior and workforce housing. He noted that this village would serve as a template for the other villages in town. The dynamic of the other villages is different than this one, most importantly, route 114 runs through each of the others. It was noted that the charrette should be done in September. Members were asked to submit comments and suggestions regarding the current draft ordinance to Peter, who would then get them to Glenn, Roger and Mike. The hope is to have an updated draft for the July 11 meeting. Lot Merger: Eugene Schwarz and Deborah Schwarz Some lots were deeded as “tracts.” The parcels in the tax map were not described in the deed. The deed puts four tracts together as a unit and doesn’t describe them separately. Because each tract has no access or frontage, they have to be merged with the others. Two of the lots would be merged together. Peter said he went over this with attorneys and this was a hard solution to achieve. The mortgage is being administrated by Bar Harbor Bank, who has agreed that the merger would be good to do. He has a letter stating this. Dave asked if the house lot would be accessible by Grist Mill Road. Peter said it was. Peter said that the merger would merge the tracts into three designated lots as described by the “house lot,” “barn lot,” and “corner lot.” A separate vote would be taken for each merger. It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Jason Teaster to merge the house lot (map and lot number: 06-414-264). The motion was approved unanimously. It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Jason Teaster to merge the corner lot (map and lot number: 06-422-258). The motion was approved unanimously. It was moved by Jason Teaster and seconded by Roger Wells to merge the barn lot (map and lot number: 06-426-262). The motion was approved unanimously. Proposed Changes to Increase Fees for Services of the Planning Board Peter Stanley said that advertising and postage costs have increased and the fees imposed by the Town should also be increased. The ads are $100 and the Town has only been charging $65. The postage rates have gone up several times since the last fee increase. Also, Ed Canane’s name will be removed, as he is not the Land Use Coordinator any more. It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Jason Teaster to approve the updated fee schedule for the Planning Board services. The motion was approved unanimously. Driveway Permit Updates Peter said there is no appeal application form for driveways and he would like to create one, similar to the appeal form they have for the Zoning Board (appeal of an administrative decision). This is something that would have been helpful in the past. It would be good to have. It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by David Hill for Peter Stanley to bring to the Planning Board a draft for a Driveway Permit Appeal. The motion was approved unanimously. With no other business at hand, Chair Pogust called for a motion to adjourn. It was moved by Glenn Pogust and seconded by Jason Teaster to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned 8:23pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton