Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes
Standish Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
May 07, 2018
The meeting of the Standish Planning Board was called to order by Chairman Adam Higgins at 7:00pm. Present were Charlie Brown, Deb Boxer, Jolene Whittemore, Gerald Lonnstrom, Roland Cloutier, Bud Benson, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Admin. Asst. to the Planner and Planning Board. Absent was Mike Willette.
Open Meeting
a. Call to order
b. Opening Statement from Planning Board Chairman
c. Declaration of a Quorum
Mr. Higgins opened the meeting with the above items and his opening statements. There was a quorum of six members.
Approval of Meeting Minutes from April 02, 2018
Mr. Brown made a motion seconded by Mr. Lonnstrom to approve the meeting minutes. All in favor.
Approval of Finding of Fact:
Craig & Sue Robinson, 9 Sandy Cove Rd. Extension, Map 47, Lot 31- Shoreland Zoning Application
Mr. Brown made a motion seconded by Mr. Lonnstrom to approve the Finding of Fact as written. All in favor.
Hearings:
A. Old Business:
Item #1 Chris Duchaine, 525 Pond Road, Map 19, Lot 6- Preliminary Subdivision Application (Patriot Place)
Chris Duchaine was present and also Bill Thompson from BH2M. Bill Thompson said he was filling in for Andy Morrell who had a conflict. He said since the last submission there have been changes made to the plan that the Board asked for. He said they have changed the lots 4, 5 and they don’t have the correct frontage but they can change and extend the roadway a bit. He said there are things in the memo which they can make work. He said the ditches will be taken care of and also the culverts which would work within the fifty foot right of way. There is a wetland that crosses the land and they will address that. They have now been updated and he will take care of the rest. There are two waivers for the cul de sac and the dead end road length and he would like the Board to discuss those. All of the next calculations are on the plan, the fire tank has been agreed to and will be put on the final plan. Bill said they are talking about this going out to peer review with Peter Tubbs and they are okay with that. He said they will do what they have to and tweak what they need to. He asked if the Board might do preliminary approval now and final approval in June.
Mr. Lonnstrom asked about preliminary approval and what would it mean. Mr. Benson said that for preliminary approval, the project would go to DEP and then back to the Board for approval. With this project, it is not going to DEP and standards need to be met with the Board and Town. He said preliminary approval and final approval are both done at once. Mr. Benson said there are more than one or two items that need to be changed before they are crafted as a condition of approval. He said there are way more on this plan.
Mr. Brown asked about the waivers and the escrow account being sent up. Mr. Brown made a motion to get a $1000.00 escrow account set up for peer review. All in favor. Also he asked about the cul de sac waiver. Mr. Benson said that the cul de sac would eliminate the hammerhead turn around and allow an abutter to have a road that goes all the way through in the future. He said that an abutter would be able to use the right of way as a through way to their property. Mr. Brown made a motion to approve the waiver seconded by Mr. Cloutier. All in favor. Mr. Brown made a motion to waive the dead end street requirement and this was seconded by Mr. Cloutier. All in favor.
Mr. Benson read the requirement for a dead end street and how the configuration was 2500 feet. This road would come from Rt.35 and Mr. Benson said someday they would have the opportunity to go all the way through with the dead end street requirement being waived. He said he wasn’t sure of the exact measurement now. Mr. Higgins said the 2500 feet is within the property lines. Mr. Benson said this was talked about as the fire tank or fire pond. With the tank he said all of the property owners would be covered with fire protection.
Mr. Brown asked what the traffic impact would be. Mr. Benson said an impact fee had not been paid, but once the application is complete they would figure out what that fee was. Mr. Higgins said there are 30 items on the plan that need to be taken care of and they would be back at the June meeting with all of those on the plan.
Mr. Duchaine said that he wanted to say he had spoken to Roger Mosley and Roger had approved everything he had. He asked about the waivers and wanted to know about the road frontage. He thinks the road is fine the way it is, and he said he has legal frontage with the 200 feet. He would like final approval as soon as he can. He said if he needs to add more road, he would but doesn’t want this held up any longer. Mr. Higgins said the ordinance says 200 feet across the board for road frontage. Mr. Benson said that the issue is can the 200 feet of frontage be wrapped around the hammerhead? He said they have sought legal opinion it and Mr. Duchaine said they will do what they have to. The 200 feet cannot be waived and Mr. Higgins said that all this is doing is protecting the homeowner, the Town and the development owner.
Mr. Benson said they need the escrow account set up as soon as possible and all of the items that need to be put on the plan and fixed need to be done. Susan Duchaine spoke and said she had never heard of setting up an escrow account without having a final approval first. She said the Town is asking him to put money into an account before the final approval. Mr. Benson told her this is being done for a peer review on the engineering of the road by Peter Tubbs. He said they haven’t had a complete set of plans and this couldn’t be done until then. He told her that there are 30 or more issues on the road plan that are missing or not correct. He said when the final plans come back at the next meeting, they can move forward with the peer review. Chris said he doesn’t want to get any more issues last minute and Mr. Benson told him that there has been nothing last minute. Chris wishes the account had been set up at the beginning. A motion was made by Mr. Lonnstrom and seconded by Mrs. Whittemore to table this application to the June meeting. All in favor.
B. New Business:
Item #2 Acres of Wildlife Campground/Michael Baptista, Acres of Wildlife Rd., Map 11, Lots 1-4-Site Plan Application for Unapproved Structures (excluding dwelling units)
Item #3 Acres of Wildlife Campground/Michael Baptista, Acres of Wildlife Rd., Map 11, Lots 1-4-Contract Zone/Subdivision Application
Bill Thompson from BH2M was present to represent the applicant. He said Mike Baptista was not able to be here tonight. He said they have the two applications on the agenda. The first is to request a site plan approval for the addition of 12 structures that are not permitted or approved. He said on the plan he has them all shaded and they are scattered around. He said none of them are dwellings, just different kinds of structures. He said that in moving this forward, Mike has been going through different issues as these are in two different towns. He said the approval is needed for site plan review and to come into compliance with the Town.
Mr. Higgins said that they would like to do a site walk. He said this is a very large business and there are many things to consider. A site walk was scheduled for Monday, May 14, 2018 at 1:00pm.
Item#4 William Partridge, 5 Harbor View Way, Map 48, Lot 3B-Shoreland Zoning Application for the addition of a new deck on cottage and replacing footings
William Partridge was present to represent himself. He gave a brief description of what he would like to do. He said they purchased the property in 1998 and at the time it had an existing foundation on it. They built a home in 1999 with the existing deck. He said the volume has changed per shoreland zoning and they would like to do a covered porch.
He (Mr. Partridge) said he has spoken to Dan Hill about this project and they have also engaged an architect. He said they have since found out that the existing sona tubes need to be replaced and some reinforcement done. This is considered a foundation and comes under shoreland zoning regulations. He said that they would like to remove the deck and the footings and put in a frost wall foundation in the exact footprint. He said they have a sloping property and are slightly above grade on the road front. He said they would like to leave the underside open and not change the height. They would like to put a foundation as low to the ground as possible. He said they would build a porch on the structure and have it enclosed.
Mr. Whittemore asked if they would enclose the deck and make a screened in porch. She asked if it would be seasonal. Mr. Partridge said they would like to insulate and heat it so they could use it year round.
Ms. Boxer asked if they expanded the foundation and Mr. Partridge told her no. He said the setback laws had changed from the time the previous people owned it until now. He said there were footprint restrictions and volume restrictions also. He said they kept it in all of the footprint requirements. This would no longer be a deck but a living space. He said they would use a heat pump for that space to heat with and cool in the summer. Mr. Brown asked about a portion of the building being in the right of way. Mr. Benson said the plan does not have a seal on it and there are some set back issues. He also said there are lines but they are not clear. He said one of the lines looks like it goes through the property. He said it could be a power line and it looks like it goes over the stairs. Mr. Benson said the Board needs more information. Mr. Partridge said they had a survey done when they bought the property and they learned a foot and a half of the foundation (the corner) was in the right of way.
Mr. Partridge said they wanted to make sure everything was above board so they submitted a consent decree before the Town Council and it was granted and approved by the Planning Board in 1999. He said the deed was modified to reflect this. Mr. Benson asked if there was a full set of plans (survey) of the whole property and Mr. Partridge told him they were filed with the registry. The stairs were in the road right of way which is a 35 foot right of way. He said they asked for the deck and the stairs which was approved in the right of way then.
Mr. Benson said it would be nice to see the entire survey. Mr. Partridge told him he has it. Mr. Partridge said all of the issues were corrected with the consent decree. Mr. Higgins said this is something totally new to him and felt they needed a site walk. Mr. Brown said this is similar to another application and he sees no measurement’s to the high water line on the plan. Mr. Partridge will have the full survey available. Mr. Cloutier asked about the frost wall foundation and would that encroach on the right of way. Mr. Benson said they need to see the full plan. And he feels the consent decree needs to be clarified as to what they have and what it does. Mr. Benson said the water set backs are on an old plan and may not be correct. Mr. Lonnstrom asked about the flood plain and would that change. Mr. Partridge said they are far below that. Mr. Benson said the water line is 266.5. Mr. Brown asked about the road and Mr. Partridge said it is a private road. A site walk was scheduled for Monday, May 14, 2018 at 3:15pm.
Item #5 Eileen & David Burnell, 72 Watchic Road 19, Map 30, Lot 19- Shoreland Zoning Application to add on to existing cottage
Clayton Barker from CBC construction was present to represent the applicants. He said that the Burnell’s would like to expand their cottage with a small addition. He said they are well within the 100 foot setbacks from the lake. He said a couple of trees would need to be removed and other than that the site would pretty much stay the way it is. Ms. Boxer asked about the addition and Mr. Barker told her that a portion of an existing deck would be removed to accommodate for this addition. There were no questions from the Board and a site walk was scheduled for Monday, May 14, 2018 at 4:30pm.
There was no further business. Mr. Lonnstrom made a motion seconded by Mr. Cloutier to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 8:04pm.