Meeting Minutes

Planning Board

July 20, 2021

FINAL

Board Members Present:Darren Finneral, Chair; Christopher Hernick, Vice Chair; Joanne Lord, Denise Mitchell, Members; Scott Wheeler, Ex-officio; Peter Stanley, Consultant.

Public:  

Mr. Finneral called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

Minutes:

The Board reviewed the minutes of June 15, 2021.

Ms. Lord made a motion to accept the minutes.  Mr. Hernickseconded the motion. 

All were in favor.

Administrative: 

The Board members signed the Campbell Minor Subdivision mylar-Case 2021-008.

Public Hearings:

7:15 p.m. – Case 2021-012 – Conditional Use Permit – Robert Stewart (agent), Sarah J. & Matthew J. Whitcher (owners) for a Conditional Use Permit for land disturbance in the wetland buffer concerning placement of a proposed driveway located on Newell Rd., Tax Map 035-662-100.

Mr. Finneral read the application for completeness. Ms. Lord motioned to accept the application as complete. Mr. Hernick seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Mr. Finneral opened the hearing. Mr. Stewart described the project. He explained that it was approved by the N.H. Wetlands Bureau. He said that an engineer did a culvert sizing on this. It was recommended to have a 24” culvert and he put in two 15” culverts which meets this requirement. 

Mr. Finneral said they attached all of the DES approvals.

Mr. Finneral asked the Board members if they had any questions. There being none, Mr. Finneral opened the meeting to public input. 

Barry Newell said his concern is the runoff from the two culverts and the impact it will have on his driveway.

Mr. Stewart explained the drainage doesn’t change with this project. He explained how the regulations dictate how big the culverts need to be. He said all the studies that needed to be done indicate that the drainage will not change.

Reed Gelzer asked if he took into account what wetlands won’t be wetlands anymore due to the change in water flow. Mr. Stewart said sometimes they do if the impact is great, but it doesn’t show up on the drainage calculations in this project.

Mr. Finneral closed the public hearing.

The members agreed that all three requirements for a conditional use permit were met.

Ms. Lord made a motion to approve the conditional use permit. Mr. Hernick seconded the motion. All were in favor.

7:30 p.m. – Case 2021-013 – Final Site Review – Baker Hill Golf Club (owner), Pathways Consulting, LLC (agent), proposing a 36’ x 60’ pole barn at the east end of existing maintenance building at property located at 101 Baker Hill Road., Newbury, NH, Tax Map 038-758-501.

Mr. Finneral reviewed the application for completeness. Mr. Finneral motioned to accept the application as complete. Ms. Lord seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Mr. Bob Turcotte, Golf Superintendent of Baker Hill, spoke to the Board stating that they would like to add a pole barn on the property to cover some of their equipment. There was discussion regarding the runoff and the existing rain garden that absorbs any disturbance in the soil beds. Mr. Jeff Goodrich of Pathways explained that the current rain garden will remain and then a new one will be added to it. 

There being no questions from the Board members, Mr. Finneral opened the hearing up to the public. There were no public comments.

Mr. Finneral closed the public hearing.

Ms. Mitchell asked to add the condition that they will maintain the current rain garden and add an additional rain garden to the property. 

Mr. Finneral motioned to accept the application with the condition of removing the wording “to be removed and relocated” in the application. Ms. Lord seconded the motion. All were in favor.

7:45 p.m. Case 2021-014 – Conceptual Minor Subdivision – Beverly R. Wolf Trust (owner), Pierre Bedard (agent), for property located at 253 Bowles Road. Newbury, NH Tax Map 017-219-457.

Mr. Finneral welcomed the applicants to the front table.

Mr. Finneral read the definition of a conceptual consultation.

Mr. Dan Wolf explained what they are looking to do is deed a piece of property to their children. They would like to apply for a qualified personal residential trust and to do this they need to have a 10-acre lot. He said they are looking to subdivide to be able to deed this to the children. The original piece of land is 123.9 acres. They want to subdivide into a 10-acre lot for their kids. The Board members agreed that everything looked good. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf will come back to the Board in August. 

Other Business:

Zoning Board Issue:

Ms. Lord said the Zoning Board approved a variance to property owners that have owned a seasonal house since the 1920’s. No one lives at this property. Ms. Lord said this is an LLC that owns this, and they can’t give a residency to a business. Ms. Lord said there was a case similar to this which was denied in the past due to the same reasons. 

Mr. Gelzer spoke to this issue. He agreed they should proceed with their concerns. 

Mr. Gelzer said this issue has come up in numerous occasions. 

Mr. Wheeler said he is confused why they approved this at all because it is owned by an LLC. Mr. Gelzer said there was ambiguity because they considered them residents and there is no definition for “resident”.

Mr. Stanley said they should go to counsel with this. He explained that technically the ordinance is supposed to be taken literally and not interpreted. 

Mr. Wheeler asked what the process will be. Mr. Finneral will contact the town counsel and Mr. Stanley will make himself available for a three-way call. Mr. Wheeler said it is important to see if the Planning Board has standing, then it should go to town counsel. Mr. Stanley said if the counsel feels that this is legitimate, there would need to be a rehearing. 

Ms. Lord made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Wheeler seconded the motion.  All in favor.

The meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna S. Long

Recording Secretary

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