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TOWN OF EATON
PLANNING BOARD
November 15, 2006
The Planning Board held their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at the Evans Memorial Building. Present were; Paul Savchick, David Sorensen, Dick Shaw, Nancy Malvesta, Sunni Wilkewitz, Lee Stack and Joyce Blue. Visitors attending were Kenneth McKenzie and Dick Fortin. The meeting was called to order by Paul Savchick at 7:05 p.m.
The minutes for the meeting of October 18th were accepted as amended.
SELECTMEN’S REPORT
Joyce Blue gave the Selectmen’s report. She said the Selectmen have received a petition to lay out a highway over the old Lary Rd. Notices have been posted and abutters notified. If approved by the Selectmen the road laid out would be a Class VI road. There is reported to be communication between the parties involved and the possibility of a private settlement.
Joyce Blue said that 222 voters out of a checklist of 297 registered voters had voted on Election Day on November 7th.
The Selectmen are considering paving the road that runs up through the Snowville Cemetery and a special article may be on the warrant for the Town Meeting in March. There had also been some discussion about the number of urns that can lie on a cemetery plot. The number is not specified in the regulations so the Selectmen said as many as the grave can hold.
The Candace Maher application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment is to be held on Monday, December 4th.
CONSERVATION COMMISSION REPORT
Paul Savchick said the Conservation Commission is still talking about blueberries. Kenneth McKenzie and others may be visiting a blueberry cooperative in Maine on December 2nd. Arthur Harvey has been mowing part of Foss Mt. He has been retained to work on the lower half of Foss Mt next year.
Paul Savchick said the Conservation Commission had continued to review the Shoreland Protection Ordinance.
ZONING AMENDMENTS
The Planning Board discussed the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments.
The first two amendments were at the request of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and concerned qualifying the conditions for a Special Exception. The first amendment was to
add the word "adversely" to Article 6 sections 6.03.04 and 6.05.04 so that they both read "Public health, safety and/or welfare are not adversely affected."
The second amendment was to add the word "unreasonably ‘ to Article 6 sections 6.03.05 and 6.05.05 so that they both read "Traffic, parking, noise and night time lighting are not unreasonably increased".
The Board voted to put these amendments out for a Public Hearing on December 20th.
A third amendment was to define emergency situations for helicopter and aircraft landings and take offs. Lee Stack had worked on the wording to define the circumstances affecting public health and safety under which such landings and take offs would be permitted. Kenneth McKenzie said that agricultural spraying was covered by State statutes and should not be included. . After further discussion, the Board voted unanimously to approve the following proposed amendment :
The Board of Selectmen may authorize aerial uses for unforeseen emergency situations to protect the health, safety and well being of the Town and its residents. Emergency situations are those involving the fighting of fires and the evacuation of persons in life and death situations."
There was an extensive discussion on a proposed amendment to tighten up on building permit renewals so that after three years they would have to conform to any new regulations promulgated during that period of time. The Board agreed to table this amendment until a need for it becomes clearer.
The Board then discussed the recommendations of the Shoreland Protection Ordinance Committee. A major recommendation from the Committee was to adopt the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act by reference and to apply it more broadly than the "Public Waters" defined in the statute. In Eaton, only Conway Lake is included in the State’s list of Public Waters. Dick Fortin said that the Committee wanted it to apply to all third order (and even second order streams where appropriate) and all bodies of water of more than 5 acres. Paul Savchick said that adopting the act could lead to unexpected issues when applied as recommended by the committee and argued for a return to the more detailed ordinance originally proposed by the Conservation Commission and tabled by the Planning Board in January. Kenneth McKenzie said the Shoreland Protection Ordinance Committee had reviewed that ordinance and envisaged something simpler. Paul Savchick continued to favor the Conservation Commission ordinance as opposed to the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act. Other members felt that, after last year’s debacle, at least something should be proposed with greater refinements left until deemed necessary. As for the wording it was noted that some precise wording had been proposed (by Kenneth McKenzie) as part of the package of information emanating from the Shoreland Protection Ordinance Committee. After further discussion, Nancy Malvesta made a motion, seconded by Sunni Wilkewitz, to adopt paragraphs1,5 and 7 which read as follows:
"The Town of Eaton Zoning Ordinance incorporates the current New Hampshire Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (RSA 483-B) and all its provisions, as if fully setforth within.
The Eaton Board of Selectmen shall be responsible for the enforcement of this ordinance and shall have the authority, for cause, to enter upon any land or parcel at any reasonable time to provide oversight, inspection and enforcement duties provided for in this ordinance
The provisions in this section do not invalidate, or take precedence over, any existing requirement or regulation of the Town of Eaton Zoning Ordinance, or any other Town of Eaton regulatory requirement. All provisions in this section shall rely on words, or terms, a defined in the New Hampshire Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (RSA 483-B)."
The motion carried 6-1 with Paul Savchick opposed.
The Planning Board agreed to take the proposal to a Public Hearing on December 20th.
The next item to be addressed was a proposal put forward by Paul Savchick to address an issue that arose during the Blue subdivision application earlier this year. A waiver request to delay the construction of a road until a building permit was applied for was referred to the attorney who responded that the Zoning Ordinance required each lot to have 200' frontage on a Town road or one built to Town specifications and that the Planning Board could not waive zoning issues. The proposal put forward by Paul Savchick was as follows:
Every lot shall have a minimum frontage of two hundred (200) feet upon a State or Town road, or road built to Town specifications, except that the Eaton Planning Board, at its discretion, may waive the requirement to actually construct the road subject to all of the following conditions:
1. A right of way of sufficient width to allow construction of a road to Town specifications is shown to exist in favor of the subdivided lots.
2. The proposed road is shown on the subdivision map to conform to the 200 feet frontage requirement.
3. The proposed subdivision is a minor subdivision consisting of no more than 2 lots over 20 acres, in size.
4. The road will be constructed to Town specifications at such time as improvements are proposed for construction on either of the lots with the intent of occupancy.
5. Engineering drawings are provided to assure that construction of the road is physically possible according to current Town road specifications.
6. Any further subdivision is subject to Planning Board review.
Paul Savchick said this made a lot of sense for families that wished to divide up their property between different members with no plans for further development. Joyce Blue supported the proposal while noting it was too late to assist the Blue family. Concern was expressed that the Town may have trouble over time of keeping track of such projects, the amendment clearly favored large lot owners and the choice of 20 acres seemed arbitrary.
Nancy Malvesta made a motion, seconded by Sunni Wilkewitz, to adopt the amendment and put it forward to a Public Hearing on December 20th. The motion carried 4-2 with David Sorensen and Lee Stack opposed.
Nancy Malvesta distributed a draft of the Master Plan.
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David V. Maudsley
