Members present: Terry Silverman, Suzanne Gray, Robin Haynes, Mac Landy, Carlotta Pini, Diane Schott, and Tom Parker, Selectmen’s representative.
Others present: Paul Grasewicz, alternate, and Nancy Carney, Deputy Fire Chief, and abutters
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m.
Preliminary consultation: Bruce and Liz Newton to discuss a home business located at 12 Putney Road, Map 6, Lot 33, Rural District.
Mr. Newton presented their plans to retail wool and related products. They propose to build a small building to accommodate the inventory, approximately 12 X 14 feet. There will be no other employees, no noise (unless you count the sheep), no deliveries except small orders brought by UPS. There is parking for three cars in the driveway, with room for two more at the mouth of the driveway on the shoulder of the road. Classes will be limited to a couple of people at a time and they will have open hours several evenings a week and on weekends. They don’t expect to have a sign but will advertise in trade magazines.
They own eight acres and could clear some additional space to increase the parking capacity if necessary as the business grows.
Haynes said she thought this was a home occupation and the Board agreed. Silverman said the business would not need a site plan review, but they would need a building permit.
Minutes: The Board reviewed the minutes of the May 15, 2007 meeting. Pini asked that one sentence be clarified to indicate the Board’s intention that no structures be built in the WPOD. Haynes moved, Pini seconded and the Board approved the minutes as written.
Public hearing continued: Steve Filipi proposes a nine lot cluster subdivision of property located on Upper Troy Road, Map 15, Lot 6, Residential, Rural and Historic Districts.
Schott recused herself. Silverman noted that the Board had received a letter from Ann LaFond and a copy of an email from Suzanne Gray to DES. Both will become part of the record and these minutes.
Paul Grasewicz and Steve Filipi presented preliminary road plans. Grasewicz said he hadn’t finished the stormwater management plans yet but horizontal and vertical representations of the road were drawn.
The cluster development road will enter the property from the old cart road and follow grades to eliminate the need for more cuts. It will be 1,200 feet long and the applicant believes the new location will improve the offset with the Robbins Road intersection.
The plan also shows the subdivision as sized by the cluster ordinance regulations. Access to the common land will be addressed on future plans. Filipi noted possible access along the existing conservation land. He confirmed there are nine lots, with one higher up on the Pinnacle and one to the north accessed by a driveway located on a strip of land that is 100 feet wide with frontage on the cluster access road, rather than an easement across other property. Seven lots are grouped around the cluster cul de sac. He said they tried to use the stone walls as boundaries as much as possible. The road will be twenty feet wide with three foot shoulders on both sides.
Silverman said the Board would probably ask for deed restrictions on tree cutting in the aquifer protection area (APA). Mr. Filipi said he intended to keep the APA in a natural state and will do the necessary legal documents for this when he does the legal documents for other aspects of the subdivision. The road itself will be owned by the owners of lots in the cluster, and the bulk of the land in the APA will be common land. Grasewicz noted these will be non-buildable parcels. Mr. Filipi reiterated that all the APA will be deed restricted even if it is under an easement or owned by the town water district.
Pini asked if the Board can create non-buildable lots and Grasewicz said yes, as long as they are clearly labeled as such.
Mr. Filipi said there will be conservation land in the back too, on the Pinnacle.
Mrs. LaFond said she still has concerns about the lot to the north. Water runoff from the lot may contaminate wells and the aquifer. Mr. Filipi noted that he builds septic systems for four bedroom houses even if the house is only a two bedroom. He says septic systems are critical and he doesn’t want them to fail. He added that he has not done test pits for the new configuration of lots. Grasewicz said he would take a look at that lot to best manage the stormwater.
Silverman asked what kind of assurance Mr. Filipi could give that water from a site would stay on that site, such as lawns that dish and retain water.
Mr. Filipi said decisions about whether driveways are paved or gravel will be made by the owner of each lot. Water from the seven cluster lots will flow onto the cluster road and be managed from there. He said they have talked about a berm to retain water from the lot to the north.
Landy asked about tree cutting. Grasewicz said they will factor in impervious surfaces, noting that trees with leaves are best at retaining water on site. Mrs. LaFond felt that even with deed restriction, people will cut trees on their own property if they want. Silverman felt property owners would notice and enforce the restrictions themselves. He added that the Board would like to see a salt use restriction in the deeds too.
Pini noted that one of the house sites in the cluster seems close to the cluster boundary. She recalled that the amended cluster ordinance now calls for a 100 foot setback from the cluster boundary for all homes in the cluster. Grasewicz said the house sites are not definite yet.
When asked how much land would actually be common or in an easement, Grasewicz estimated about 40 %, including all of the APA.
Grasewicz will do the analyses necessary to develop a stormwater management plan, including analysis of various storm levels. Gray asked if the analysis would apply to groundwater too. He said no, it only applies to swales, catch basins, etc.
Pini asked when he thought he would have plans and he said it would be several weeks.
Nancy Roehl, abutter, distributed a report, compiled after interviewing neighbors and observing water runoff and drainage, documenting her observations of the current status of water runoff on Upper Troy road and the effect on the neighborhood. This report is part of the record. She has hired a hydrologist and that report will be available soon.
Pini moved, Gray seconded and the Board voted to continue the hearing to the July 17, 2007 meeting at 8 PM.
With the next two meeting agendas being very light, the Board cancelled the June 19th and July 3rd meetings so members could attend various events on those dates.
The Board adjourned at 9:00 PM.
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