TOWN OF SUTTON

Pillsbury Memorial Hall

93 Main Street

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

PLANNING BOARD

Approved Meeting Minutes for Tuesday July 12, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Chair Pogust called the meeting to order at 7:00pm and took roll.

 

ROLL: Glenn Pogust (Chair), Roger Wells (Vice-Chair), Christine Fletcher, David Hill, Dane Headley, Jason Teaster (alternate), Kristin Angeli (alternate)

 

ABSENT: Chuck Bolduc, Peter Blakeman

 

Chair Pogust appointed both alternates to sit as voting members in the absence of members Bolduc and Blakean.

 

OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Stanley (Land Use Coordinator), Deborah Lang, Leonard Caron, Jim and Kathy Mathias, St. Representative Tom Schamberg, Alden Beauchemin,

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of May 24, 2022

It was moved by Dane Headley and seconded by Roger Wells to approve the minutes of May 24, 2022 as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

It was moved by Dane Headley and seconded by Roger Wells to approve the minutes of June 14, 2022 as circulated. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Chair Pogust said the 30 days have been running since the June 14th meeting granting Conditional Approval of the Peacock Hill subdivision. There were just two days remaining until the 30 days is up for the abutters to appeal.

 

 

PB-2022-06   Debbie Lang – Conditional Use Permit for a Driveway in a Wetland

 

Roger Wells disclosed that he is good friends with Debbie and her husband. No one had any issues with this and so Roger was allowed to remain as a voting member of the board for the hearing.

 

Alden Beauchemin from Key Land Enterprises was there to present the project for owner, Deb Lang, who was present. The owners have lived on the property for some time and have fixed it up nicely. They have had a problem plowing the driveway, however. A map of the property was provided. It is impossible pushing the snow to the end of the driveway currently. Their plow person has suggested extending the driveway and relocating the generator, propane tank and shed. They would like to extend the driveway and relocate the propane tank and shed. Alden has worked out some full-sized plans for the State and the Town departments. They would like a conditional use permit to allow the construction. Alden showed the encroachment of 20-30’ into the setback from the water (Blaisdell Lake).

 

Chair Pogust said the notice had a typo, referencing Keyser Lake instead of Blaisdell Lake. There were no abutters present and no one has contacted the Town with any issues regarding either lake.

 

Peter said there would need to be a zoning variance for the propane tank, generator and the shed assuming this permit is approved. There were no waivers necessary for this permit.

 

Peter said he believed the application to be complete.

 

Alden said the well will remain the way it is with a post to protect it; it wouldn’t be sunk as a previous plan had indicated.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to accept the application as complete. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Roger asked if the portion in yellow that includes a deck would be removed. Alden said that a portion of this should be removed. The distance from the well head to the nearest corner of the deck is about 20’. Roger confirmed that this would be plenty of room for a plow.

 

Chair Pogust asked if the application was still pending with the State or if it had been approved. Alden said it was still pending; he wanted to keep the application open in case there were any additions to the plan by the Planning Board.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Dane Headley to open the public comment period of the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

There were no abutters to speak and no one from the public wished to make any remarks.

 

Chair Pogust closed the public comment period of the meeting.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Dane Headley to grant the conditional use permit for a driveway for Deborah Lang, as submitted. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

 

 

PB-2022-07 Leonard Caron, Minor Subdivision Application

 

Alden Beauchemin was there to represent the property owner, who was present at the meeting. The property is on the corner of French and Baker Roads in Sutton.

 

Roger asked why the existing road isn’t being used as an entrance. Alden said the lower portion on the map is the new lot that is being created. There is a beautiful entrance currently from Baker Road with granite posts. The lot left behind will have only a Class V road for frontage. The new lot will consist of 39 acres carved from the original 150 acre lot.

 

There are two waivers. Alden said the first is Article V, section A.3 from subdivision regulations to allow them to forego the conceptual and preliminary review of this Minor Subdivision due to the large parcel size and large portion that is being carved out.

 

The second waiver is to forego surveying the entire property. Article VI, section A.3d requires the entire property to be surveyed. Due to the large size of the entire lot, only the new lot will be surveyed with bounds to be set.

 

Peter said he believed the application to be complete. There were no issues from the board with regards to the completeness of the application.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Dane Headley that the application be considered complete subject to the granting of the waivers. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Chair Pogust asked if the board members had any questions for the applicant. Dane said in the second waiver the large parcel was referenced as being shown on survey work by others. He asked if that was a recorded plan. Alden said the survey was not recorded — it was just referenced by name. He said he could provide a copy of the survey to the Planning Board. Alden said it was done to current standards and was very thorough.

 

Chair Pogust asked if the remaining lot needed to be recorded. Peter Stanley said that generally, they do not do this; they only record the new lot.

 

Roger said the owner of the large lot should be notified that if there are additional subdivisions, the survey of the lot will need to be recorded. Peter said the owners will need to wait four years to subdivide again and they have requested a waiver of the requirement to survey the entire parcel. He said there is a recorded deed, but there may not be a recorded survey. The deed is the most important instrument with buying or selling property.

 

Jason asked for clarification that they are carving off 39 acres for a new landowner and the existing landowner will have the remainder. Peter said this is true; if he were the property owner, he would have the rest of the remainder parcel surveyed. This will need to be done eventually if they ever want to sell the property. The owners will retain the deed to the entire parcel, but the new piece will be recorded as its own parcel.

 

David asked how much of the remaining 110 acres is in Wilmot. Mr. Caron, property owner, said that it is all in Sutton; none of it is in Wilmot.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to open the public session.

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

There were no comments from the public.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to close the public session.

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Requested waivers: Article V section A.3; to waive the conceptual and preliminary review of the minor subdivision application due to the large size of the total property, as well as the size of the parcel being carved out from it.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Christine Fletcher to waive the requirement of Article V, section A.3 to waive both the conceptual and preliminary review of the application.

 

Roger asked if someone would check the property for wetlands and steep slopes. Peter said the property is very sandy and is relatively level compared to the rest of Sutton. There are a ton of wetlands along the East portion of the property because it is near Cascade Brook.

 

Alden said that the surveyor shows 3.5 acres of steep slopes. It exceeds the minimum lot size with less than 20% of it being steep slopes. The lot size is large enough to contain the amount of wetlands it has while still providing ample space to develop if that was ever the plan.  Both Alden and Peter remarked that the property was actually very nice.

 

The motion was approved unanimously

.

The second waiver was for Article VI, section A.3.d to waive the requirement to have the entire property surveyed. This is with the understanding that the new parcel be surveyed and recorded, and the remaining parcel have its deed amended to show a legal description of the new parcel being separated from it.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to approve waiving Article VI, section A.3.d to require the entire property to be surveyed.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Peter asked about the bounds on the map. Alden said the surveyor had gone to the property and set the bounds. One of them was under water so he set others near the water’s edge. He found an iron pipe in one corner that was existing. Another point there is a large rock that he was able to drill and put an iron rod in it. Another iron rod in a boulder was set, a granite bound was set in another area, and another was set into another boulder. Peter said that his question was that the bounds were too far apart, but he sees how the surveyor has compensated due to the water.

 

David asked if the bound at Baker Road and French Road was set back enough from the road. Alden said it was.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Christine Fletcher to approve the minor subdivision with the understanding that the mylar will contain the additional bounds.

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

PB-2022-8 Kathy and Jim Matthias & Peter and Deborah Rucci – Lot Line Annexation

 

Chair Pogust and Roger Wells said they were both friends of both parties. No one had any issues with the hearing taking place with both Roger and Glenn present on the board.

 

Chair Pogust said that by law, the board has to approve this, as long as it follows their regulations.

 

Jim Mathias was offered the floor. Jim said the application was signed by Peter Rucci who also lives on King Ridge. Clayton Platt did the survey work; they are going to get a small piece of land near their house and the Rucci’s will get a small piece (same exact acreage) on the lower portion of the Mathias property. The acreage will not change for each lot.

 

It was noted that Clayton Platt would be creating a new mylar once the approval is made.

 

Chair Pogust said that Mr. Mathias would be going to the King Ridge Homeowners Association to let them know of the lot line changes.

 

Peter said that the application was complete.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by David Hill to approve the application as complete subject to the granting of a requested waiver. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to open the meeting for public comment. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

There were no comments.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by David Hill to close the public comment. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to waive the requirement of Article VI, section A.3.d to not require that the entire property be surveyed. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

It was moved by Roger Wells and seconded by Christine Fletcher to approve the application. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

PB 2022-09 Sercel Trust. Building Permit on a Class VI Road

 

Peter advised that this requires a public hearing from the Select Board. The Planning Board must look it over and provide a comment on the application. Peter showed a map of the plan and explained that the new driveway would likely be built on a portion of the road that someone else already has built on. There should be some sort of legal agreement between the two abutting property owners regarding maintenance of the Class VI road going forward.

 

Dane said the reason why the owner has to get a special building permit is because he is building on a class VI road and he will waive the requirement of having to accommodate emergency vehicles from the Town. Jason said he agreed that an agreement between the landowners should be made to maintain the road. Peter cautioned the selectmen for the future, that in his experience as a fire chief, if they don’t upgrade a road like that (the base), a road like that can bury a fire truck in the spring. Heavy equipment will then need to be used to extricate it. Adjusting the requirement for Class VI road standards may be needed. Testing should be done to these roads to insure they are able to hold up.

 

Master Plan

Chair Pogust said he had hoped to get through the Master Plan with revisions. He was unable to do so, but will plan on doing this for the August meeting. He said that if there are any changes suggested by the other board members, they should forward them to Peter. He hoped that they would be able to approve the Master Plan at the August meeting.

 

Chair Pogust said he and Roger met with the owners of the golf course after the last meeting. The owners have concerns about the viability of the golf course but are interested in continuing the conversation. He said it didn’t seem that they were looking to sell. Dane said that several years ago the owners came to the select board and said that if the price was right, they would be interested in selling. Chair Pogust said that he thought the more input the board gets from owners, the better for discussions and decisions.

 

Roger said he was willing to create a visual aid (plan) to show sections of town and what they could potentially do with the proposed zoning changes.

 

Chair Pogust said he could get on the Select Board agenda in two weeks to start talking about the process of getting an Economic Development Committee off the ground.

 

Peter said that Twin Pines in the upper valley are purchasing the commercial portion of the Cricenti property in New London. It is about five acres.

 

Roger suggested reading the Rural by Design section. If the members of the board read the Town’s cluster development ordinance, they could really just make a few changes to it (the size of each requirement) and leave the rest as is, this may be helpful to get it passed. There would be less “change” and it would just be a way to make the ordinance stricter.

 

Peter said that he would be gone for the second Tuesday in August. They could have the meeting without him if they wished, or they could change the meeting date until he returns. Chair Pogust said if they don’t get any applications, they wouldn’t need to change the date. They could just keep working on the Master Plan.

 

Roger said if they want to get some ordinance to town meeting the next year, they would need to get a subcommittee formed to meet twice/month. Chair Pogust agreed and thought they should gage the interest level. He was interested in being a part of the committee.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Roger Wells to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:10pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary

Town of Sutton