TOWN OF SUTTON

Pillsbury Memorial Hall

93 Main Street

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

PLANNING BOARD

Meeting minutes for May 14, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.

 

CALL TO ORDER:    Chair Wells called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Roger Wells, David Angeli, Glenn Pogust, Jim Lowe, Bill Curless, Julie McCarthy

MEMBERS ABSENT: David Hill, Alt., Deborah Lang

OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator; Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary

 

ADMINISTRATIVE:

  1. Approval of Planning Board minutes of April 23, 2019.

Mr. Pogust noted that Mr. Curless’ last name was spelled incorrectly in a few places. Other than that, there were no amendments.

IT WAS MOVED (Glenn Pogust) AND SECONDED (Bill Curless) to approve the minutes of April 23, 2019.  THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. Contract for Third Party Engineering Services

Chair Wells said that after receiving funds from Town Meeting, they have met with Jennifer McCourt to contract with her on engineering services as needed. She was asked to add a few things to the contract to clarify her services, and she was provided with an overview of the existing regulations, so she is up to speed.  The Town is currently waiting to hear back from Ms. McCourt. They hope to have the contract back from her by the next meeting. Once they have it and agree that it is what they requested, the Planning Board will forward it to the Board of Selectmen for review and approval. Chair Wells offered that it will be a relief to have a qualified, professional registered engineer to help the Town, as needed. She has helped in the past with subdivision regulations and they were satisfied with her work.

  1. Contract with CAI for Tax Map Upgrades

Chair Wells said the Town has a GIS mapping system and some of the problems (such as those having to do with slopes) have been fixed. Franco Rossi is the owner of the GIS system. The Town has met with Mr. Rossi after funds were made available through Town Meeting, as they wish to improve the maps further.  It is the consensus that the overlays should agree with the map and lot lines. They need to be more accurate. They plan to get printouts of the maps so people who aren’t comfortable with a computer can come to the office to look at them.  A presentation will also be made to hear how the system works, what can be done with it, and get an overview of this mapping tool and how to use it.

Chair Wells noted that this upgrade will be a helpful tool for Mr. Stanley, especially when people come to him inquiring about which district they are in.  With regards to the zoning districts, it was the consensus that they are roughly hand drawn and it was hoped that the Town Administrator could get the wording nd dimensional detail (if any exists) that was used to establish them. This will help with updating the overlays. Mr. Curless said if they can’t get accurate words from past minutes, the can interpret it themselves, as there are only two districts. They could then go forward with those areas being the official zones. Chair Wells said their attorney may need to be consulted if they can’t find wording that was used to describe the locations of the zones. Mr. Stanley said that he has had to deal with this in the past. They have to have lot lines and be specific as the zones impact property values depending on their locations. Chair Wells wonders about the rules they have to follow if it isn’t clear how the map was drawn. He doesn’t want to go through the effort to get dimensions and have it put on a map and then realize it is incorrect.

Chair Wells shared that a detailed contract from Mr. Rossi is anticipated.  For all the things they asked to have upgraded, they are just under budget.  This project is anticipated to be completed by the end of the 2019.

  1. Continued Discussion of Driveway Access Regulations

Copies of the regulations were distributed to the Board. Chair Wells said he had made changes that related to the sections in the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations that were incorrect. Mr. Curless said it made logical sense to him, although he didn’t check it for grammar. Chair Wells wondered if a public hearing to get comments and approval was needed.  Mr. Stanley said this would be needed and could actually happen at the next Planning Board meeting.

Chair Wells distributed an updated Driveway Application Form, which went with the updated regulations. He believed the Planning Board members should look at the current application online and compare what is there with what he has done.  It is mostly the same but he has made some changes. He asked Mr. Stanley to check the RSA references to make sure they are accurate. Mr. Stanley agreed to do so. Mr. Pogust said it should note that whether conditional use permit is required to submit an application.  Chair Wells agreed that this should be included and Mr. Stanley said he would adjust the form.

Mr. Stanley noted that the size of the paper used for the form was irregular and may be a problem for people trying to print it at home from the website. He suggested that if they print it on an 8.5×11 paper, they could use the GIS maps as their sketch. Chair Wells said a final copy of the form should be sent to the road agent to see if he has anything to add. After this is done and the Board has reviewed it online, they would vote to approve or make amendments.

  1. Continued Discussion of Planning Board Rules of Procedure

Mr. Pogust thought there were issues with the timing for reconsideration of decisions. He fashioned some wording that says as long as the person wants to make an appeal notifies the Planning Board in a 30-day period, the statute says the board has 30 days from that request to decide whether or not it will reconsider. He added that if they decide to reconsider, it will act as a suspension of the prior decision so there is time for a public hearing. The time to appeal would shift. If they decided not to reconsider, the person appealing would have 30 days to appeal and have the appeal date reset. The clock can be reset and this avoids having people complain about not having enough time to get their request considered. Mr. Stanley said he has received Mr. Pogust’s words and would have the attorney review them to see if they are acceptable. A public hearing would need to be held if these changes are to be put into effect.

 

  1. Recorded Information

Mr. Stanley said when they approved the Conditional Use Permit on 4/23/19, people asked about recording the access easement from one property to another. The only thing that actually got recorded is the drawing that shows where the easement is. It doesn’t say to whom and there is no cross-reference whatsoever. He doesn’t think it is a huge issue but next time they need to make sure all the information is recorded. Chair Wells suggested that Mr. Stanley could gently notify the engineers (Mr. Ferwerda) by letter that this was information they had wanted recorded. He offered that Mr. Stanley could say that the Chair was at fault that he wasn’t clear about what was wanted.  Perhaps if this was done, they would agree to update it.

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Master Plan

Chair Wells said he feels that they should begin focusing on the master plan in September. The last master plan for Sutton was done in 2005/06.  He would like to authorize Mr. Stanley to do some investigating on how other rural towns like Sutton dealt with growth, changes in land use, taxes, as part of their master plan. What are some good models? He knew of and would provide some readings that could be helpful.  A presenter may also come to explain the process and answer questions.  Chair Wells said he understands that people are concerned with taxes and keeping the town rural.  He thinks this is an opportunity to convince the citizens that some things happen in the villages to help with the taxes and keeping it rural.  He thought perhaps accessory dwellings could help with taxes without destroying the village.  There are techniques for addressing community septic, etc. in these kinds of changes. Mr. Stanley said these kinds of septic systems work well but require appropriate maintenance. Chair Wells feels that Sutton could learn from some other like towns to help improve their status.

Mr. Lowe said along the coast of Maine, residents have their own sewage treatment plant. Not a septic system. This technology is available.

There was some discussion of kinds of commercial businesses that might fit in within the Town. Chair Wells said if anyone is aware of these kinds of opportunities, they should go look at places and discuss opportunities.

Mr. Stanley asked if they had asked for public input in the past. Chair Wells said in the past this was attempted but no response was received. Mr. Stanley said he has seen ways to talk to people and with the use of pictures can help extract their responses of what they would like to see in the Town.

 

With no other business, Chair Wells asked for a motion to adjourn.

 

IT WAS MOVED (Glenn Pogust) AND SECONDED (Julie McCarthy) to adjourn the meeting.

THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

The meeting adjourned at 7:48pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary

Town of Sutton