June 11, 2019 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD June 11, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Wells called the meeting to order at 7:05pm. Roll was called. MEMBERS PRESENT: Roger Wells, Deb Lang, Glenn Pogust, Jim Lowe, Bill Curless, David Hill MEMBERS ABSENT: David Angeli, Julie McCarthy OTHERS PRESENT: Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Chair Wells asked alternate, David Hill, to sit in for David Angeli, who was absent. ADMINISTRATIVE: Approval of Minutes from May 14, 2019 Mr. Pogust noted that he had indicated that the application should note “whether a conditional use application should be required.” Also, he said there were issues with the timing of reconsideration of issues. Mr. Pogust provided an amended copy of the minutes to Ms. Heath. Voting on the minutes would be tabled until the July meeting so that everyone could review them. OLD BUSINESS: Driveway Access Regulations After confirmation that Mr. Pogust, Mr. Lowe and Mr. Curless had read the amended regulations, Chair Wells asked for a motion to approve. IT WAS MOVED (Glen Pogust) AND SECONDED (Bill Curless) to approve the amended Driveway Access Regulations, as submitted. Mr. Stanley said he spoke with the road agent and the regulations were fine with him. He understands the changes and had no amendments. The road agent will send an email to Mr. Stanley, giving his approval. Mr. Stanley noted that in order to adopt these amendments, there needs to be a noticed public hearing. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. Ms. Lang abstained from the vote, as the copy of the regulations she was given was not the most current. Driveway Application Update – Mr. Stanley said that he would add a line somewhere in the application about the conditional use application being a requirement. Mr. Stanley added that he took the liberty of adding the requirement of a 20-scale and a 100-scale map to the application. He noted that the maps from the Town do not show slope, but they show contour lines. Chair Wells said that there is a slope layer in the town’s GIS. Mr. Stanley said he would check again as he did not see it previously. IT WAS MOVED (Glen Pogust) AND SECONDED (Bill Curless) to adopt the updated Driveway Application subject to Mr. Stanley adding the requirement to include a conditional use approval, adding a 20 and 100 scale map, and adding the words “turn over” to the bottom of the second page. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Rules of Procedure Ms. Lang noted a typographical error on top of page 7; there was an extra “at the” after “RSA.” Chair Wells said this document would be brought forth at the public hearing on July 9th for approval. He stressed that they should follow the procedures in the document. Mr. Pogust said that upon reconsideration, the appeal period is reset whenever the board makes any kind of decision, even a decision to deny the request. That wording has been added to the document. Mr. Stanley said this topic came up at a conference he had just attended. He was able to adopt wording from the conference that worked appropriately in the document. IT WAS MOVED (Bill Curless) AND SECONDED (Jim Lowe) to approve the updated Rules of Procedure. Mr. Stanley explained that due to state statute, beginning July 9th the 30-day submittal-to-hearing period will become a 45-day submittal-to-hearing period. Since the public hearing and the next meeting of the Planning Board would also fall on July 9th, he would adjust the document to reflect this new statute. Mr. Stanley said any corrections (grammatical in nature) that are not substantive can be made at the public hearing without having to hold another hearing. With no further discussion, Chair Wells called for a vote on the motion. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Decisions of Regional Impact Chair Wells said that “Decisions” these are the recommendations of their local regional planning commission. He feels it is a guide that will be useful. If a property comes into question that touches an adjoining community or has access to an adjoining community, the hearing will be postponed and will be considered a Decision of Regional Impact (DRI). Mr. Stanley asked if there were any Sutton residents appointed as representatives to the Regional Planning Commission. Chair Wells said he didn’t believe there were any. He asked Mr. Stanley to find out details of this representation, as well as what the Town of Sutton is paying the commission for their services. Mr. Stanley said he would have this information for the next meeting. Discussion of Master Plan Chair Wells distributed some questions to consider before they begin working on the new Master Plan. He said the current Master Plan is on the Town’s website and recommended that the members of the Planning Board review it to become familiar with the special requirements that each section must include. It was suggested that the Regional Planning Commission could assist with questions the Town may have with regards to how these requirement may have changed since the last Master Plan was formed. Chair Wells said the Board needs to determine what their vision is for the Town. What is most precious to them in the town? What things are of most concern to them? What are some things that other towns do that they most appreciate and why? Mr. Stanley offered that instead of trying to convey feelings and definitions of things such as “rural” when communicating with the citizens about aspects of the town they like, that visual representation can be much more persuasive. He said there are “snapshots” all over town that people would react to as things they value. Chair Wells said he would like the Planning Board to take some time thinking about the questions he provided, and perhaps be thoughtful when driving around town and take some photographs of things they like and want to keep. Chair Wells felt that the Planning Board should get on the same page with regards to items of concern and their vision for the town before they start asking others for their input. He asked the Board to consider if there were other towns like Sutton they think are wonderful, and why? Mr. Stanley said in a town if you preserve the things in those images that they think are “rural” and they find a way to preserve them, they can have a healthy increase in population if they “hide” it properly. A lot of towns develop along existing roads. This isn’t always the best way. He shared that New London has the 4th highest population density in the 16-town region that forms the regional planning commission but is done in a way that makes it feel rural. Mr. Lowe said they don’t have “critical mass” to deal with in Sutton. They really just have Labsphere at this point in time. The population mostly wants to leave the town exactly how it is. But they can’t leave it the way it is. Mr. Curless said a stagnant community either gets old and goes away or the taxes go through the roof. Likely, these two things happen together. Growth has to happen and they have to find a way to be OK with it. Chair Wells said that the nature of the community will radically change demographically if the homes become single family, expensive homes. It will take several generations for this to get better. Mr. Hill said they need to make sure they don’t stay stagnant. Chair Wells said there will always be change; either positive or negative. Mr. Curless said the Town of Warner is adding commercial and their taxes are going down. Chair Wells displayed a book called “Rural by Design” and offered that the first 16 pages are useful for the Board to read. He purchased two copies of the book and will give one to the Town. He shared that the book has some good ideas but said to keep in mind that it isn’t realistic about capitalism and development. At the next meeting, he will provide another “chunk” of the book for the board to read. Chair Wells expects that in September the Planning Board would be ready to invite other groups from the town (Conservation Commission, Historical Society, etc.) to attend a meeting to work together with the Planning Bobard on the Master Plan and weigh in with their ideas. The Board needs to get some sense of where they might go and get some reaction to it. Mr. Stanley suggested it would be useful to have a group of people representing the business side of Sutton. Mr. Curless asked if zoning had ever been discussed with regards to what the land will support. This would make for potential added village areas. It would be beneficial to the town 100 years from now if they had areas where they used the land more efficiently. Mr. Stanley said they have to look at slope and soils as they will have to deal with waste in any kind of development. Mr. Pogust said they could expand some of the existing villages if the land would support it. Chair Wells said they need to be cautious and go slowly with their planning in hopes that if they can make a little bit of change that isn’t disastrous, they can then make another little change in the next 5-10 years. They can’t change too quickly. He added that the Board must keep in mind what do they love in the town and how do they keep it without scaring people or taking away their rights. Mr. Lowe said they should make sure they keep an end in sight for the future. Mr. Curless said the Planning Board would need to come up with a rough draft of a master plan that they would envision for the next 50 years. Mr. Pogust reminded the Board that the plan doesn’t “do” anything; it is a plan. Chair Wells said they need to be realistic about what they can do. He envisions more in-home businesses being successful, not stores/gas stations. He added that there are buildings that could have mixed use in town, as long as they could have appropriate septic and services to support them. Chair Wells said he would pull information about septic and water systems, and visual design for the Board to review for the next meeting. He believes their three villages offer something where they can begin: affordable housing, mixed use, and a little higher density. With no other business, Chair Wells called for a motion to adjourn. IT WAS MOVED (David Hill) AND SECONDED (Glen Pogust) to adjourn. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 8:05pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton