Fitzwilliam Planning Board
August 4, 2009
Members present: Terry Silverman, Suzanne Gray, Mac Landy, John Tommila and Carmen Yon, Selectmen’s representative. Alternate Carlotta Pini was seated for Robin Haynes.
Others present: Nancy Carney, Deputy Fire Chief, Paul Grasewicz, alternate.
Call to Order: 7:05 PM
Public hearing: Ron Chase application for a two-lot subdivision of property located on Fullam Hill Road, Map 8, Lot 26, Rural District.
Mr. Chase was present, but Mr. Grasewicz presented the application. The plan is nearly the same as the preliminary plan. The new lot will encompass the existing barn and have 746.684 acres and 746.17 feet of frontage on Fullam Hill Road. The remaining acreage, 54 acres with 715 feet of frontage on Fullam Hill Road, will be sold. The back of this lot is wetlands/swamp.
Grasewicz brought to the attention of the board that Mr. Chase has been taxed on property that actually belongs to the town, along the western border of the new lot, Map 8, Lot 26-4. It is property on the other side of the brook, but is not included in Mr. Chase’s deed description.
Silverman moved, Pini seconded and the Board voted to accept the application as complete. No opposition. With no further discussion Pini moved, Landy seconded and the Board voted to approve the subdivision as presented. No opposition.
Preliminary consultation. Carol Breault to discussion subdividing her property at 35 Rockwood Pond Road, Map 17, Lot 11-2, Rural District.
Grasewicz presented the concept plan, reminding the Board that the land was subdivided into two lots a few years ago. A common driveway serves both homes. A large portion of the property is in conservation easement. The issues to consider include carving out a new lot from the two existing lots, so that each lot has the necessary frontage and acreage; functional access for the new lot; status and surface of the common driveway if used for a third lot; preservation of the conservation easement. Grasewicz presented two scenarios and the Board asked him to return with a plan using frontage on Rockwood Pond Road.
Public hearing: Fitzwilliam Green, LLC application for a two-lot subdivision of property located at 90 Jaffrey Road, Map 15, Lot 52-3, Rural District.
Mr. Green and Mr. Buonomano were present. Ed Rogers, surveyor, presented perc test results and the final plan, as drafted without the frontage variance requested from the ZBA. One lot now has 3 acres with 360 feet of frontage and the second has 3 acres with 300 feet of frontage. Pini suggested revising Note 5 on the plan since the variance was not obtained. She also verified that Flood Zone X means the property is not in a flood zone.
Tommila moved and Landy seconded a motion to approve the subdivision. Silverman noted that before the Board voted, the applicant needed to verify that 75% of the land in each lot was contiguous upland, per the subdivision regulations. He added that to avoid a second meeting for the applicant, the Board could vote to condition approval on receipt of this verification. The Board voted to approve the subdivision application pending verification of the contiguous upland. No opposition. Silverman moved, Landy seconded and the Board voted that application is complete pending verification of contiguous upland. No opposition.
Preliminary consultation: Fred Blaise to discuss a four-lot subdivision of property located between NH Route 12 South and Turnpike Road, Map 4, Lot 43, Rural District.
Mr. Blaise presented a preliminary plan noting that all four lots have at least 5 acres. Carl Hagstrom did test pits and delineated wetlands. It is sandy soil. Mr. Blaise said all the lots meet the contiguous upland requirements. Grasewicz noted that there was not much room to place a well and house and meet all setbacks, including from wetlands, for at least one lot.
Silverman said the Board would need to do a site walk once they have an application in hand and it has been noticed. Landy asked that the building squares be located on the plan, as well as the septic system and well, with setbacks noted.
Asked about access points, Mr. Blaise said he’d checked with DOT and presumably he can get two permits for access from Route 12.
Preliminary consultation: Paul Grasewicz to discuss a Boundary adjustment between lots Map-27, Lot -13 and Map-11, Lot 5-1 and subdivision of lot 5-1 (West Lake Road and Webb Hill Road).
Grasewicz described the various issues; the property is a 30 acre parcel abutting Tom Parker’s property. It has recently been logged. The boundary line adjustment is to add about 1.5 acres to Mr. Donnelly’s property. Then subdivide the remaining property onto four lots, two with access off Webb Hill road and two with access off West Lake Road. He hasn’t walked the entire property but if there are no land constraints the lots would be as drawn.
Silverman said the Board has no problem with the boundary line adjustment. Pini noted there are steep slopes on the Webb Hill side leading to lots of wetlands. She said the pond drains across the road. Gray asked if there was an aquifer present. Grasewicz said he needed to look at the topography and wetlands maps. Silverman asked him to come back for another preliminary consultation once the plans are further along, adding the Board needed features for decision making.
Master Plan Reports.
Pini reported on general government services, which the Selectmen covered in their presentation. Issues relevant to the future include economic development and jobs. Is Fitzwilliam a bedroom community, as suggested, with most people commuting to their jobs? Does the town want to encourage home businesses, and if so, isn’t high speed broadband access important? Does Fitzwilliam want economic development or does the town accept itself as a bedroom community or a retirement community?
Pini asked if there will be an economic development section in the MP. Have we learned enough from the various forums, surveys, etc. to know if the town wants economic development? Landy said that without broadband and infrastructure like sewer and water, it can’t happen. Pini suggested there are a lot of low impact businesses and asked if we want to seek them out. Fitzwilliam has never done that. She noted the town suffers when businesses close, adding that if we want to broaden the tax base, which would lower taxes, we need new business.
Gray said both owners of Sunflowers and the Vintage Rose said Jaffrey was very welcoming to their businesses. Landy said that is part of the Main Street America program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Silverman said there is a big difference geographically between Fitzwilliam and Jaffrey. Landy said it’s easy to say we should go after new business but with nothing to offer them it’s hard. Pini asked again if the town really wants economic development enough to develop a program to recruit new businesses, adding that the Master Plan is the place to create a vision for economic development if the town wants it.
Gray noted that now Fitzwilliam is a town with a lot of convenience stores. Tommila said we should try to maintain the businesses we have. He said a lot of young people have learned their business skills in a small business and they should be supported. Pini said maybe there should be a goal to fill existing commercial spaces in town, like the Bard building. Landy added that the Bard building is already set up with infrastructure.
Pini thought it would be useful for the Master Plan to have an economic development section. She suggested an inventory of the available commercial sites and the number of actual jobs in town, and set a goal to maintain these jobs.
Tommila said a big problem for businesses is the cost of electricity. Gray said it’s too bad photovoltaic systems can’t be installed. Pini said there are brokers who can find cheaper electricity. Landy said the Energy Committee and the Economic Development groups are not officially town committees. Pini said the Selectmen could opt to make them town committees. Tommila said the town could contact the economic development agency in Keene that works with businesses to relocate. Pini noted that Jack Dugan is the CEO of the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and there is economic development block grant money available. Tommila suggested a committee of 3-5 retired business people to help recruit new business.
Landy said the town does not have access to a grant writer. Pini gave a local example of a successful collaboration between a private business, SWRPC and the MEDC to acquire funds for starting up.
Everyone agreed that an economic development section should be in the MP.
Pini reported that wastewater treatment is still an important issue, even though it failed to pass one year doesn’t mean the need has gone away. She feels it should be included in the MP. She added we need to continue explaining viable options for the town – Village Center, Depot and Laurel Lake areas. She said clean water is critical.
Landy agreed but said that to find space for the facility might involve a land taking. Gray said it is the PB’s responsibility to raise the issues, not to find solutions necessarily, and asked who worked on this issue in the past. Yon said it was a group of concerned citizens working independently of the town. Pini said she’d charge the Selectmen with this.
Pini reported that there was some discussion of the limitations of town hall as municipal space but noted that residents like to have services in the town hall. Silverman said the space can be used more efficiently and other options could be explored for space for other services. Gray said using technology might enable us to use space more efficiently, if more things could be done online or more services were automated. Yon said both the library and lower town hall spaces were heavily booked. Landy suggested using space in the school.
Gray said before we consider a new facility for the town, we should consider existing buildings; do an inventory of appropriate spaces.
Silverman will report on town roads next meeting.
Pini reported that housing issues were not much discussed and she wonders if the town wants to be proactive in encouraging workforce and/or senior housing. She feels it ought to be considered in the MP. Fitzwilliam retirees are taking care of large old homes at the same time they require more services to live independently. If there was good senior housing available people could stay independent longer. Landy said it still depends on infrastructure. Pini noted that all the PB can do is to create zoning that allows for it. She feels there is a leadership role to be played here.
Silverman feels the conversation is very theoretical, talking about these issues at a macro level. The town needs people in the Village, Depot and Lake areas to take leadership of these issues. Pini thinks it is too much to expect to have individuals take these big issues on. Silverman feels that the way taxes are structured it is impossible to take on large changes. Pini feels these are community issues, about the health and welfare of the community in the future. Clean water and sewage treatment, workforce and senior housing are community benefits. Silverman said there are a lot of new septic systems in the Depot and it may not be such a big problem any longer. Pini agreed it is a macro discussion, but added this is the MP discussion. Silverman said it needs to be based on reality,
there is not enough time to make sweeping changes in 10 years by forming committees or putting it all on the Selectmen - their capacity is limited he said.
Gray said just thinking about these issues is important. The Board can do something about these issues in our ordinances. Silverman cautioned care in drafting these ordinances. Gray said the Board needs to be careful how we communicate these issues and these discussions. Pini said we need to look at the MP and look at our priorities and then work on something. Tommila said the PB must find ways to support private investment in town infrastructure.
Pini reported that certain issues in her area belong in the here and now, not in the MP, like record storage off site; or belong in the parking lot, like how to recruit more active volunteers for town committees, cooperative agreements with other towns, relationship between rental properties and public assistance, how to attract more non resident taxpayers.
Tommila discussed historic sites and preservation of such. It is important, he said, to acknowledge other antique houses, Indian gravesites, quarries, sites of historic businesses, especially those built around water used for generating power. Nancy Carney said Fitzwilliam is actually nine historic clusters of residences, forming around schools or businesses. Landy said there were 13 schools so no one had to walk more than 2 miles to school.
Neighbor complaint. Several neighbors in the residential district have written the Board to say they are being awakened at 4 AM by a rooster. They are requesting that the Board revisit the livestock ordinance to protect neighbors’ peace and quiet. He said the police and selectmen are bumping this issue to the PB, adding nuisance issues should be addressed. He’d like the Board to start drafting an ordinance in September.
He asked if anyone could attend the SWRPC/DOT meeting on Thursday at 2PM. He will be out of town. His biggest concern about the Route 119 and Route 12 intersection is that a traffic light will be suggested.
Minutes. The Board reviewed minutes of the July 21, 2009 meeting. Tommila moved, Gray seconded and the Board approved the minutes as written.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM.
| 
