Town of Fitzwilliam, NH - Planning Board Minutes 04/18/06

Mr. Holombo presented drawings of his proposed office building. The 72 X 34 foot building will be divided into four offices; 1- 26' wide, 2 - 16' wide, 1-10' wide. Each office will have its own bathroom facility. He envisions these will be professional offices with one or two employees, and he will continue to use the small office for his business. The building will be served by an existing septic system and leach field. The septic/leach plan indicates it has capacity to serve this size building. Haynes clarified that this septic system is not connected to the trailer park in any way. Mr. Holombo agreed.

He has plans to pave the area in front of the building as the asphalt there now is not in good condition. It will be a parking area with 13 parking spaces, meeting the town regulations for a building that size. The parking spaces will be striped. Haynes noted that when repaving he needed to consider installing catch basins.

Haynes asked about wetlands and Mr. Holombo said there is a ditch in front of the property that has water in it in the spring. The state right-of way for Route 12 comes to about the center of the ditch and the parking lot is about 10' from that line.

The access to the property is via a right of way using the driveway that accesses Mr. Mike’s convenience store. He plans to landscape the entrance, which is now about 75' wide leading from the driveway, narrowing it to 26'. He plans to use the Jaffrey Road entrance too.

He thought a 1' X 3' sign above each office door would be all the signage he’d need, but may need a road number sign too. There is a light pole in the northerly corner that will light the parking area.

Silverman said he wanted to see state approval for the septic system and leach field plan, and wants proper plans drawn with dimensions and specifications for entrance/exit, electric, heat and water indicated, per town regulations. Mr. Holombo said he may want to divide the building up differently, depending on the needs of his renters. Silverman said the town needed a plan of the complete proposal so the town code enforcement officer can properly evaluate it. He added that Mr. Holombo is asking the town to sign off on his project and it needs to be appropriately detailed. Silverman noted it was an allowed use under 127-11B. Pini asked if the trailer park and this office building were on the same lot and questioned if a mixed use is allowed. The trailer park predates zoning and part of the building has been used as an office in the past and continues to be an office now.

Pini asked if each office needed two doors. She noted it is a public building. Silverman said he would like to see two doors in each office. Mr. Holombo noted that the building backs up against a hill and doors may not be possible on the back. The Board suggested trying an interior hallway with egress, and perhaps one bathroom facility could serve all four offices then.

Silverman said the Board needed to see a stamped set of plans with details for the interior and exterior, per site plan regulations. The public hearing was continued to May 2, 2006 at 7:30 PM.

Diane Schott acknowledged that she is a member of the Board of the Monadnock Conservancy and this property has a conservation easement with the Conservancy. The Board concurred with her that this would not present a problem.

Mr. Breault described the property as being a 28 acre parcel, with 19.7 acres in the easement and 8.3 acres excluded from the easement. He proposes to divide this 8.3 acres into two lots, with each having 300' of frontage and one lot being 3 acres and the other being 5.3 acres approximately. The five acre lot will have access to the parcel that is in easement using an existing fire road that is on the property. The fire road will also act as a shared driveway for the two lots at the entrance from Rockwood Pond Road.

Pini said she liked the idea of the shared driveway. Mr. Breault said they are trying to minimize the impact to the land wherever possible. Silverman noted that this was a second option for the Breaults. Mr. Breault said yes, it was. He noted the neighbors protested vigorously last year when the Breaults first proposed building a home with an accessory apartment, which under the town ordinance at the time had to be classified a duplex, since only homes built before 1987 could have accessory apartments. The ordinance was changed by the 2006 Town Meeting and a new home with accessory apartment is now allowed with a special exception.

The Board agreed that a single home with an accessory apartment would have less impact on the land, but they noted now the Breaults had two options. They have ZBA approval for building their home and it looks like they can subdivide, provided the project is viable once slope and wetlands issues are explored and the engineering is done for a subdivision. Grasewicz reminded them that the neighbors will all be noticed again for the subdivision application.

Preliminary consultation: Connie Austin to discuss a three lot subdivision of her 36 acre property located on Collins Pond Road and Webber Lane, Map 11, Lot 30, Rural District.

Paul Grasewicz presented the concept. They propose to divide the land into 4 lots, one of which has Ms. Austin’s home on it, making it a major subdivision. When asked why it had been divided up the way it had, Grasewicz gave two reasons: 1) to preclude having to do a boundary survey and 2) to insure each lot had a good line of sight for the driveway. The property straddles two districts and the lots in the residential district have 100' of frontage. He noted the backland is very rugged.

He said they would need to have topographical information and do soil testing before the lot lines could be finally determined and configured to meet town regulations. Several members of the Board suggested that the lot lines be redrawn to square them off. Grasewicz noted that would also give access to the railroad bed trail for the main house. He will return to the Board once plans are drawn.

Nonpublic session: Silverman moved, Pini seconded and the Board voted to go into nonpublic session to discuss pending litigation with the Selectmen. Chairman Andy Clukey and Selectman Mike Methe joined the Board. Tom Parker, Selectman’s representative was already present. Silverman turned the meeting over to Mr. Clukey and directed that the minutes of this session be sealed.

Miscellaneous: The Selectmen stayed to discuss other items. Parker reported on his appointment with Bernie Waugh, attorney and Class VI road expert, about Ashuelot Turnpike and property belonging to the Bergs. It appears the Selectmen may be able to give the Bergs a building permit because their lot was once part of an approved subdivision. Parker said he could not find any minutes that indicated the lots in the failed subdivision could not be developed unless the road was brought up to town standards. He added that the town has been taxing the lot as a buildable for years.

Silverman thought that if a building permit could be issued without undermining the town’s policy not to issue building permits on Class VI roads, justice would be served in this case.

Mr. Methe wondered if the Planning Board had adopted road specifications from the state. Silverman said the Planning Board had incorporated the standards into the subdivision regulations.

Parker informed the Board that the Selectmen have charged the Code Enforcement Officer with doing an audit of signs for all the convenience stores in town. They can then take action on any illegal signs. The Selectmen have written to the police and health officer regarding overflowing dumpsters and junk cars.

Regarding the Patel case, Silverman read a letter from Si Little, attorney for Mr. Dwinell, questioning the legality of the Planning Board public hearing on April 4, 2006 approving the site plan for the Patel convenience store. A letter from Mr. Davis, Mr. Patel’s attorney, states they have decided to request another hearing that will be correctly and legally posted to complete the site plan review. This hearing has been posted for May 2, 2006 at 7:00 PM.

Silverman read a letter from the Board of Selectmen regarding the Filipi subdivision stating that they would prefer that each of the eight lots be assessed 1/8^th of the assessment for all the common land. The Planning Board agreed and will ask the attorneys to work out the details.