Town of Warner – Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

Monday, September 10, 2007 , 7:00 p.m.

Warner Town Hall , Lower Level

 

Members Present:         Barbara Annis, Andrew Serell, Henry Duhamel, Paul Violette, Ed Mical, George Pellettieri, Selectman   Richard Cook

Members Absent:         Selectman Wayne Eigabroadt

Alternates Present:        Dan Watts, Stacey Cooper

Arrived Late:    Ed Mical

Presiding:          Barbara Annis

Recording:        Mary Whalen  

1. COMMERCIAL MAJOR SUBDIVISION

Property Owners: Alan Jr. & Lee Ann Wagner, 33 Newmarket Road , Warner, NH 03278

Agent: Stefan Toth, P.E., Toth Engineering PLLX, 5 Bernards Rd, Suite 37 , Merrimack , NH 03054

Property Location: Intersection of Route 103 and I-89 Southbound off-ramp, Map 14 Lot 10, C1 District

Description: Subdivision of existing 13.03 acre lot into 4 commercial lots: 2.90 acres, 3.44 acres, 2.75 acres, and 2.56 acres.   

Barbara began by saying because there are 5 new members on the Board a summary of what has been presented and completed on this subdivision is needed.  Barbara recommended scheduling a site-walk, the agreed date is September 22 at 8:00 a.m. meeting by the off-ramp.  Notices will be posted.  

Agent Stephen Toth has asked for an extension until November 5 but will plan to attend the October 1.  A motion was made and seconded extending the deadline for the Public Hearing until November 5.  All were in favor.  The motion passed.  

2. MINOR SUBDIVISION

Property Owners: Edward & Geraldine Ordway

Agent: Bristol , Sweet & Associates, 112 Keyser St. N. Sutton , NH 03260

Property Location: Parade Ground Cemetery Rd. & West Joppa Rd , Map 10 Lot 54, R3 District

Description: 2 lot subdivision: 19.9 acres and 17.69 acres  

Agent Doug Sweet presented additional plans.  Mr. Sweet explained the Ordway’s property contains 37 acres and fronts on West Joppa and Parade Ground Cemetery Road .  The application is to subdivide the acreage into 2 lots.  Lot 1 will contain frontage on West Joppa Road and some on Parade Ground Cemetery Road containing 19.9 acres.  Lot 2 will have 573’ of frontage on Parade Ground Cemetery Road which also contains the Ordway home and out buildings.  The second sheet of the plans shows topographic lines and soil types.  A waiver request was submitted based on the conceptual conversation in April asking to waive the soil test on the two lots because of the soil type and the fact that the lots are large along with waiving onsite topographic mapping for the same reason and location of all wetlands.  Most of the property is upland soils and there is an old sand and gravel area located near the interstate.   

Barbara asked for questions and comments:

Stacey Cooper asked about the waiver request, her question was not clear.  Barbara answered that a motion will need to be made granting or not granting the waiver. 

Barbara said that she sent all the members a check list which needs to be reviewed. 

Selectman Cook asked when the waivers were requested.   Barbara said August 17th, at the time of the application. 

Ed Mical asked what the waivers were for.

Barbara answered that the waivers were for section Vc, 1 & 2 (Subdivision Regulations) soil test, percolation test and test pits.  Lot 2 has an existing house and disposal system, both lots are large lots.  The Soil Conservation Service Manual of 1965 lists the vast majority of the property as GRC or GRB, which is classified by NH DES as excessively drained and somewhat excessively drained.  A very small section of the southeast corner near the Parade Ground Cemetery Road is mapped as RDA, very stony and classified as poorly drained.  Section 2BC3, the tree line encompassing the existing house on lot 2 was located.  The survey version of the wetlands at the southeasterly corner of lot 2 and in vicinity of the new lot line was located.  Section #3, section VC4, per section VA14 they have superimposed USGS 20’ contours, from these contours the maximum slope is less than13%. From on site observations there are some sections that have steeper slopes, as along portions of Bartlett Brook.  From observations there are 3 acres of buildable area on both lots.  

Barbara asked Dan and Henry to take page 1 of the checklist and review what has been submitted.  Paul and Ed will review page 2 and Selectman Cook and Stacey will review the last portion.  Page 1 was complete, page 2; contour numbers are missing, milar should indicate the actual lot numbers.  The house lot will be Map 10 Lot 54 and the second lot will be Map 10 Lot 54-1.  Stacey said the last portion checks ok except for the fact that the applicant is requesting waivers on the test pits.  Stacey is not sure if the iron rod is sufficient as a bound marker, in the past more permanent monuments have been discussed.  Barbara said “yes” something more significant on the road frontage.  The agent said that there’s a stonewall along the road,  a 3.5’ iron rod was drilled down into the stonewall.  The agent was unable to find a sizeable stone.  Stacey continued by saying there is a Natural Heritage inventory, there is a statement identifying something (not clearly stated on the tape) and it does not appear to be on the parcel as shown on the map on the reverse side.  The agent called Natural Heritage which found no threats or changes to the hydrology of the river.  Selectman Cook asked if there will be a follow-up letter from Natural Heritage, the agent said no, because it is on the other side of the interstate and there is no record of occurrences, wildlife or plants on the property.  

Barbara said in order for the Planning Board to accept the application the waivers need to be granted first.  Paul Violette made a motion to grant the waivers as requested.  Motion seconded.  Selectman Cook asked how common it is to grant waivers in these types of situations.  Barbara said that it’s not uncommon.  Stacey asked for clarification on a requirement, VC1, in particular, what is the specific intention for the requirement? Barbara can’t answer because the requirement has been in there for so long (Subdivision Regulations).  The Agent explained that other Towns have the same requirement; it’s to make sure you have an onsite place to put a house and a sewage disposal system.  Barbara asked for any further questions, hearing none.  All those in favor of granting 3 waivers, all were in favor.  The motion passed.   

Ed Mical had a question in regards to the monuments. In the past a waiver has been requested.  The agent asked for a waiver on the markers for the reasons previously stated.  Paul Violette made a motion to waive the monument on the roadside in order to preserve the stonewall.  Ed Mical seconded the motion.  All were in favor.  The motion passed.  

George Pellettieri had a question on Joppa Road , the property line follows along the right-of-way, how is the right-of-way defined on Joppa Road .  The agent said that he used a monument located on the north end against the Beveridge property and constructed a heavy line back through 25’ off the center line of the road, records were not researched.  Selectman Cook asked if the right-of-way is larger will it impact the line that is set.   The agent said that the ownership probably goes to the center line of the road.  Will the property line indicated on the survey in the future affect the Town’s right-of-way?  The agent doesn’t believe so.  George Pellettieri asked ordinarily wouldn’t you reference the 25’ as being the approximate dimension.  The agent said a note could be placed on the plan.   

Motion was made to accept the application.  Motion was seconded.  No further discussion.  All were in favor. The motion passed.  

Public meeting closed, Public Hearing opened.

No public comments, the Public Hearing was closed and the public meeting reopened.  

Motion was made to approve the subdivision application with 2 conditions; numbers for the contour lines on page 2, re-label the lots with tax identification and indicate on West Joppa the 25’ off-set.  Motion was seconded.  Vote taken: Henry Duhamel, Aye; Ed Mical, Aye; George Pellettieri, Aye; Paul Violette, Aye; Andrew Serell, Aye; Selectman Cook, Aye.  The motion passed.   

Henry Duhamel clarified that there are no font standards.   

3. MAJOR SUBDIVISION – LOVEJOY

Barbara explained that the Lovejoy Subdivision will remain on the agenda; however, the subdivision will not be heard by the Planning Board until after the subdivision has been heard by the Zoning Board along with the ZBA decision.  

4. COMMUNICATIONS & MISCELLANEOUS

The Board discussed some budget items.  

Ed Mical said a few months ago the Town applied for a rural water resource plan, 55 water source sites have been identified. The preliminary information has returned, which will be forwarded to the Selectmen and there will be a public hearing to accept the resource plan.  Ed was the Planning Board member serving in that capacity along with the Fire Department and the Forest Fire Warden.  Ed said at some point the resource plan will be incorporated with the Hazard Mitigation Plan.  

Motion to adjourn