July 23, 2019 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH Sutton Mills, NH 03221 PLANNING BOARD July 23, 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 (Chair), David Angeli, Jim Lowe, Bill Curless, Julie McCarthy, Debbie Lang MEMBERS ABSENT: Glenn Pogust; David Hill, Alternate Chair Wells called the meeting to order at 7:02pm. He called the roll and there was found to be a quorum. ADMINISTRATIVE: Approval of Minutes from June 11, 2019 Debbie noted that she was not listed as present at the June 11th meeting, but she was there. There were no other changes. IT WAS MOVED (Jim Lowe) AND SECONDED (Julie McCarthy) to approve the amended minutes of the June 11, 2019 Planning Board Meeting. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. David Angeli abstained as he was not present at the June 11, 2019 meeting. Mr. Stanley said that the meeting that evening had been noticed in the Intertown Record and posted in all the required places as mandated by state regulations. PUBLIC HEARING – Sutton Driveway Access Regulations as Amended Chair Wells asked if there were any comments with regards to the amended regulations. There were none. Chair Wells closed the public hearing. Board Discussion – Driveway Access Regulations Chair Wells said he had a few spots of clarification to note. He referred to Article 1, B2. He thought it would be helpful to the applicant to get an idea of what a temporary access permit was. He added the example of logging to clarify this permit. Chair Wells referred to B3, submission requirements. He added the wording “if for a temporary use a written declaration time (limit)? IT WAS MOVED (Debbie Lang) AND SECONDED (David Angeli) to approve the amended Driveway Access Regulations, as amended and modified. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. PUBLIC HEARING – Sutton Driveway Access Application, as Amended Chair Wells asked if there were any comments with regards to the amended regulations. There were none. Chair Wells closed the public hearing. Board Discussion – Driveway Access Application Chair Wells said he had some suggestions to share. One was that where it says “Important Notice” at the top of the page, it should say at the end “to your driveway.” Chair Wells said on #11 with regards to Process, where it says to “Attach an accurate drawing….” He wished to change it to “Attach accurate to-scale drawings…” Chair Wells noted that on page 2, it would be good to add “to scale” before the words “driveway drawings. Mr. Stanley said sometimes a 100-scale is going to be ok unless there is terrain to consider. IT WAS MOVED (Debbie Lang) AND SECONDED (Julie McCarthy) to approve the Driveway Access Application, as amended and modified. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. PUBLIC HEARING – Sutton Planning Board Rules of Procedure, as Amended Chair Wells asked if there were any comments with regards to the amended rules of procedure. There were none. Chair Wells closed the public hearing. Board Discussion – Planning Board Rules of Procedure. Chair Wells said he had a few items for consideration. Page 2, item 2. The “s” after “officer” is in pale blue. Page 3, item 7. Sub item “i” with regards to public comment: Chair Wells said that if someone wants to say something and ask a question, by putting this opportunity at the end of the agenda, they will have to sit to the end of the meeting before they can speak. However, if they put this opportunity at the beginning of the agenda, it can take over the meeting. Mr. Stanley suggests leaving it to the discretion of the chair as to whether they want to entertain a question and when. Mr. Curless suggested putting a time limit per person when making remarks. Chair Wells added that on page 4, item 3,, he would like to add “at least” before 10 days. After the word “before” remove “a” and replace it with “land use coordinator deemed.” IT WAS MOVED (Julie) AND SECONDED (Jim) to approve the Sutton Planning Board Rules of Procedure as modified and amended. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. New Business Todd Fleury, Facilities Director KRSD Mr. Fleury explained that he has submitted a permit to the Town of Sutton for the addition of an athletic storage shed at the high school. The shed would be used to house athletic equipment. Mr. Fleury said he was not familiar with this building being subject to RSA 674:54. He was there to show the plan, which shows a 40’ x 50’ LaValley’s structure, taking up last eight parking spaces in one area, replacing some metal containers that are currently being used for this use. Mr. Fleury noted that the shed would be placed on a concrete slab. It was noted that since the metal containers would be removed from the site, there would actually be a decrease in impervious surface in that area. Mr. Fleury apologized for missing this step with the Planning Board. Chair Wells asked for a motion. IT WAS MOVED (Debbie Lang) AND SECONDED (Jim Lowe) to advise the Sutton Board of Selectmen that the Planning Board saw no problems with the plan, as presented by Todd Fleury on behalf of the Kearsarge School District. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. Mr. Curless abstained as he is a member of the Sutton Board of Selectmen. Eckman Engineering Mr. Stanley said this applicant did not provide any information and was not present at that night’s meeting. Tax Sale Properties Ms. Lang said that the Conservation Commission, of which she is a part, did some research, and found there were three lots next to each other on the Lane River that they would like to keep. In total, the lots are nine acres in size. Chair Wells asked Ms. Lang to make a motion of her request. IT WAS MOVED (Debbie Lang) AND SEONDED (David Angeli) that the Planning Board recommend to the Board of Selectmen to keep the following properties for the Sutton Conservation Commission: Nista (042-07-398), Holloway (04-194-375), and Lonnie White (04-212-391). THE MOTION WAS APPROVED. Mr. Curless abstained. OLD BUSINESS – Master Plan Homework Mr. Curless said a concern he has is the high taxes. They need to consider how to not keep raising taxes but still provide the people with the things they want. Ms. Lang said the positives she sees are the rural landscape, beautiful scenery, sense of community, safety, and recreational opportunities in all four seasons. Chair Wells said he sees positives as the villages, historic structures and places, rivers, streams, lakes, and scenic roads. He asked everyone to be as specific as possible. Mr. Stanley suggested that people take pictures of the things because everyone can relate to a photo; sometimes it is hard to connect with people using words. Ms. McCarthy said one concern of hers is that their roads are in poor shape. Ms. Lang said she is concerned for the need for more affordable housing, that they have an aging population, and there is a lack of businesses to help lower the tax rate. Mr. Stanley commented that a good approach is to try and work affordable housing in everywhere rather than taking a massive group and jamming it together in one area (high density housing). It doesn’t work well. One tool that could be used in every major subdivision is to require that they have to dedicate some of its lots to workforce housing lots. These are controlled by some public or private nonprofit agency to see that all criteria are met with disposal of that particular parcel. He cautioned that the Town not be threatened by the State or developers who come in saying they will take the town to court if they don’t allow the housing to come in. Chair Wells said he isn’t sure they will see any large subdivisions come in, but likely smaller ones. Mr. Curless said if they can make the difficult places to build easier for development, that would avoid development in the places they don’t want things built. Chair Wells asked Mr. Stanley to email the form he had distributed earlier with regards to getting the members of the Planning Board to think about what they like/are concerned with, etc. about Sutton, and ask them to fill it out in detail. Mr. Stanley noted that workforce housing doesn’t solve the tax issue. The Board of Selectmen needs to know this. It actually does the opposite. Mr. Curless agreed and said the only thing that helps with taxes is businesses. Mr. Curless said Sutton is at a distance from other towns where there is work, which brings families with kids, but not the benefits of business in the town. Mr. Stanley said this is an issue all over NH. Chair Wells asked for comments on the 16 pages of the planning book they were asked to read. He said he feels the ideas are slanted but there are some concepts that are good. Lot sizes were discussed among the board members. Mr. Curless said they need to look at what the land will hold to determine lot size and not just make straight regulations. Mr. Stanley said that it is important to look at soils when determining lot sizes. Chair Wells asked the board to keep thinking about the town and what they don’t like and like. When they meet next time, he may decide to call a special meeting in the fall to sit and talk about this and focus on these issues. He asked Mr. Stanley to secure a large map of the town with all the lots on it and the overlays on them. Mr. Stanley said a screen with the map of the town (enlarged) would be easy to attain, but a hard copy would be difficult. Chair Wells said he would like a hard copy to mark up. He would like the Planning Board to come to a consensus of what to agree on before asking the other groups and the public for their thoughts. Everyone will get a chance to voice their opinions. Mr. Stanley reminded the Board that he would be away August 1-24. He suggested the second Tuesday in September for their next meeting. Chair Wells said he would meet with Mr. Stanley that week to discuss the map and what they can get. Tentative dates for upcoming Planning Board meetings would be August 13, September 10, and September 24th. Mr. Stanley advised those who take photos of things in town that they value to send them to him. He will get them ready to present at the meeting where they discuss the map. With no further business, Chair Wells called for a motion to adjourn. IT WAS MOVED (Jim Lowe) AND SECONDED (Debbie Lang) to adjourn the Planning Board meeting of July 23, 2019. THE MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 8:02pm. Respectfully submitted, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary Town of Sutton