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 May 30, 2018 These Minutes Are Not Official Until Approved by the Board at its Next Regular Meeting Board Members Present: Derek Lick, Chair; Ed Canane; Betsy Forsham; Samantha Gordon; Doug Sweet; and Joe Eisenberg, Alternate Board Members Absent: Bill Hallahan, Alternate Staff Present: Diane Lander, Town of Sutton Land Use Coordinator Public Hearings: None came before the Board Regular Meeting Call to Order and Roll Call Chairperson Lick called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and called off the names of the Board Members in attendance. Public Hearings None came before the Board New Business No New Business was brought before the Board. Old Business No Old Business was brought before the Board. Administrative Approval of Minutes ZBAs do not necessarily meet each month, but rather when there is an appeal to hear. According to Town Counsel, the ZBA does not need to meet only to approve minutes of the last meeting. However, approving draft minutes is more challenging if there has been a change in board membership. Only those board members who attended the last meeting can vote to approve the draft minutes, and the minutes of the current meeting are to show which board members voted for approving the draft minutes. Further, Chairperson Lick suggested holding an administrative meeting to approve draft meeting minutes if the appeal is going to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Minutes of the June 21, 2017 meeting Chairperson Lick and Board Members Forsham, Sweet, and Eisenberg attended the meeting. Correction Page 2, 3.I, first bullet: replace … 4′ Cermet … with … 4′ Cement Motion: Chairperson Lick moved to approve the minutes of the June 21, 2017 meeting as corrected. Board Member Forsham seconded the motion. The motion carried Aye: 4, Nay: 0. Minutes of the November 15, 2017 meeting Chairperson Lick and Board Member Forsham attended the meeting. Correction Page 3, directly after the list of Questions and Answers2: replace the paragraph … “Board Member Forsham suggested walking the site in order to determine where this building would be constructed, as well as doing that procedure in future Applications. Make a request to look at site to stake out construction, if it includes setbacks. She added that this is a very well-presented application, in terms of completeness.” … with the following paragraph … “Board Member Forsham had walked the site and found doing so very helpful. She suggested that board members try to walk the site for future cases and that the Board perhaps should require that an applicant mark the area to be considered if it involves setbacks, buildings, etc. She added that this is a very well-presented application, in terms of completeness.” Correction bottom of Page 4, variance criteria 5: replace … is met 2.5′ … with … is set 2.5′. Motion: Chairperson Lick moved to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2017 meeting as corrected. Board Member Forsham seconded the motion. The motion carried Aye: 2, Nay: 0. Minutes of the April 18, 2018 meeting Chairperson Lick and Board Members Forsham, Gordon, and Eisenberg attended the meeting. Correction Pages1 and 2: replace the header … Meetings … with … Meeting. Only one meeting was held. Correction Page 3, last sentence in New Business: replace … “The Board set June 20, 2018 for this meeting, given there is no application or appeal needing to be heard at that time.” … with … “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.” Correction Page 3, last paragraph of the draft minutes: replace … “The next scheduled meetings will be held on May 30, 2018 (Public Hearing for the rehearing of the variance request: Deborah Lang, 87 Lovett Road, South Sutton) and June 20, 2018 (administrative meeting).” … with … “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).” Motion: Chairperson Lick moved to approve the minutes of the April 18, 2018 meeting as corrected. Board Member Gordon seconded the motion. The motion carried Aye: 4, Nay: 0. Work Session The Board discussed administrative matters such as changes to its noticing procedure and application form. A. Notice to Abutters. The Board voted to update its procedure for providing notice to abutters. First, the land use coordinator will send notices to abutters 10 days prior to a hearing date, as opposed to the minimal 5-day notice required by statute. For example, if the meeting is to be held on the 20th of the month, the notices are to be placed in the mail by the 10th of the month. Second, notices will be sent via certified mail with no return receipt requested. Motion: Board Member Canane moved to mail notices USPS certified without return receipt. Chairperson Lick seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Third, the notice will clearly identify not only the applicant, but the property owner as well in the event that they are not one and the same. References to the tax map and lots number will be for the property that is the subject of the application, not the abutters’ tax map and lot number. B. Application Form. First, the application form will be modified to require the applicant to submit only 6 copies of the application materials, not 9 copies as currently required. Second, the form will include language in which the applicant acknowledges and agrees that zoning board members are permitted to access and inspect the property as part of its application review. Third, the form will be modified so that it is clear that the requirement for identifying and showing wetland, waterbodies and the like on plans will be only “if applicable.” Fourth, the board members agreed that they would like the application to require the applicate to stake out areas where a structure is to be built, if applicable, so that the board members may view the building area if they visit the site. C. Completeness of Application. Prior to considering the merits of any application, the Board shall first determine whether an application is complete. Only if the Board determines that the application is complete will the board consider the merits of the application. At the time the application is submitted, the land use coordinator is to be responsible to advising the applicant as to whether, in his or her view, the application is complete such that the board will consider the application on the merits. Should the land use coordinator believe the application not to be complete, and the applicant chooses to nevertheless proceed with a request for a ZBA hearing, a hearing will be scheduled. However, the land use coordinator will inform the board as to his or her opinion that the application is not complete. D. Deadline for Applications. The board members agreed to set a schedule of possible meeting dates (the 3rd Wednesday of each month) and that applications are due 30 days before the meeting where they could be heard. This will give the land use coordinator time to review the applications and work with the applicant, if necessary, to ensure completeness of the application before the notices must be mailed. It will be in the discretion of the land use coordinator to decide if he or she will allow the applicant to supplement a less-than-complete application after the deadline. A written schedule of application submission dates, with corresponding hearing dates, will be part of the application package and/or posted on the Town’s ZBA web page. Correspondence/Final Comments The board reviewed a letter (“statement”) from Shannon Storm raising concerns about a prior application and noting her concern about the Blaisdell Hill runoff if, in the future, a septic system is installed on the property at 12 Camp Kemah Road and her desire that the Town boards adhere strictly to wetland and road setback requirements. Adjournment Motion: There being no further business, Chairperson Lick moved to adjourn the meeting. Board Member Canane seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m. The next scheduled meeting will be held on June 20, 2018 Alan and Priscilla West are requesting a Variance under Article VII, Section A.2 of the Sutton Zoning Ordinance to allow a change from an existing nonconforming use to another nonconforming use. The multiple-use property is owned by the West Revocable Trust and is located at 90 Main St., Sutton Mills NH 03221, Tax Map 06 Lot Number 416-245, Residential Zoning District. The existing structure includes an office on the first floor and two apartments on the second and third floors. The applicants propose to convert the office space on the first floor into a one-bedroom apartment. There is no proposed change to the exterior of the building. Respectfully submitted, Diane M. Lander Town of Sutton Land Use Coordinator