June 8, 2018 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH 03221 Zoning Board of Adjustment Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting Wednesday April 18, 2018 Corrected and Approved Minutes Board Members Present: Derek Lick, Chair; Ed Canane; Betsy Forsham; Samantha Gordon; Joe Eisenberg, Alternate; and Bill Hallahan, Alternate. Board Members Absent: Doug Sweet (recused). Staff Present: Diane Lander, acting recording secretary. Others Present: Dorothy and Robert Andrew K. Jeffrey, Sutton, NH and Andover, MA Residents; Debbie Lang, Sutton Resident; Shannon Storm, Sutton Resident; and Roger Wells, Sutton Resident. Meeting: Request for a rehearing by Chris Donnelly and Shannon Storm, pursuant to RSA 677:2. Regular Meeting Call to Order Chairperson Lick called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Chairperson Lick explained that, for discussion of the request for a rehearing, both Doug Sweet and Ed Canane were recused. The two alternates, Bill Hallahan and Joe Eisenberg were designated to take the places of Ed Canane and Doug Sweet, respectively. Board Member Ed Canane moved to the public seating area. Chairperson Lick explained that the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hears two different types of requests. The first is an application for a variance or special exception. This requires a Public Hearing, where members of the public are allowed to present their support for or concern with the application. The Public Hearing is then followed by a Public Meeting, where the Board discusses and votes on the application. Members of the public may attend the Public Meeting but may not speak. The second type of request is an appeal, which does not require a Public Hearing but rather only a Public Meeting. As the request before the Board was an appeal, the meeting was a Public Meeting. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meetings of June 21, 2017and November 15, 2017 Chairperson Lick postponed the discussion of the minutes until the end of the meeting. Meeting: Request for a rehearing by Chris Donnelly and Shannon Storm, pursuant to RSA 677:2. Chairperson Lick provided an overview. The request is to rehear the Board’s November 15, 2017 decision. The issue is if abutters received appropriate notice according to the ZBA required procedures. If the Board now votes to accept the request for a rehearing and the applicant decides to resubmit the request for a variance, the request will be re-noticed and the process will start over. If the Board, however, now votes to deny the request for a rehearing, the November 15, 2017 decision will stand. The original variance was requested as construction of a garage of a certain footprint would have encroached on a wetland setback. The variance was granted by a vote of 3 to 2 and the location of the garage was moved because the Board preferred construction encroach on the road setback rather than the wetland setback. Chris Donnelly’s and Shannon Storm’s request for a rehearing is based on 2 primary concerns. The first is that they received notice of the November 15, 2017 ZBA meeting late and, had they received notice before the meeting, they would have attended the meeting and expressed their opinions. The notice was sent out certified mail on November 6th, which is within the statutory time frame. It arrived at the post office on November 13th and, as it was sent certified mail, had to be signed for. The notice was picked up on November 16th. A counter point is that every abutter has 30 days after a hearing to raise concerns and/or file an appeal. The second concern is that the notice was not sufficiently clear, regardless of legal requirements. As examples, the notice identifies the applicant, who lives down the street, and not the owner of the abutting property and the parcel number referenced is that of the abutter and not that of the variance requested. A counter point is that the abutters could have checked on the tax map lot # and/or called the Town Office and asked for clarification of why they received the notice and an explanation of the variance request. Before the meeting, Chairperson Lick had asked advice from Town Counsel. Under New Hampshire law, if the legal notice was not proper, the Board’s decision is void. Town Counsel said no statutes were violated but suggested being extra cautious and granting the rehearing. Town Counsel also provided suggestions for revising future notices. Chairperson Lick recognized rehearing the request for a variance will negatively impact the applicant and said the Town will waive the application fees. The Board then discussed the request for the rehearing. Motion: Board Member Joe Eisenberg moved to accept the request for the rehearing. Board member Bill Hallahan seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. The Public Hearing for the rehearing of the variance application was set for May 30, 2018. If the applicant decides to resubmit the request for a variance, the meeting will be re-noticed and supporting documents will again be sent to the board members. The applicant will be given the option of requesting a variance to the wetland setback, to the road setback, or to either the wetland or the road setback. The applicant will be asked to stake out the building site on the property. Old Business No Old Business was brought before the Board. New Business Board Member Ed Canane resumed his position as a member of the board and Alternate Board Member Bill Hallahan stepped down. The Board discussed holding an administrative meeting to discuss ZBA meeting processes and procedures, ZBA board member pre-review of applications procedures, and the content and timing of notices, mailing, postings, etc. All ZBA board members and the Land Use Coordinator are encouraged to attend this meeting. The Board set June 20, 2018 for this meeting, given that, to date, there is no application or appeal needing to be heard at that time. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meetings of June 21, 2017and November 15, 2017 After some discussion about content and timing of the minutes, Chairperson Lick postponed the discussion of the minutes until the May 30, 2018 meeting. He also will ask Town Counsel how to account for the meetings being 5 and 10 months ago and that board membership has since changed. The minutes will be resent to all board members for their review. Further, board members are now asked to review draft minutes and send comments or changes to the Land Use Coordinator soon after the draft minutes are emailed to them or posted on the town web page. Adjournment Due to the lateness of the hour, Alternate Board Member Bill Hallahan left the meeting before the meeting was formally adjourned. Motion: There being no further business, Chairperson Lick moved to adjourn the meeting. Board Member Ed Canane seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. The next scheduled meetings will be held on May 30, 2018 (Public Hearing for the rehearing of the variance request: Deborah Lang, Applicant, 87 Lovett Road, South Sutton, for a portion of property owned by the Robert A.K. Jeffrey Family 2011 Trust, Tax Map/Lot # 02-478-356, Camp Kemah Road) and June 20, 2018 (administrative meeting). Respectfully submitted, Diane M. Lander Acting Recording Secretary