Planning Board Meeting Minutes 11-02-2015

Standish Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

November 02, 2015

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Carol Billington at 7:02pm. Present were Cindy Beckwith, Alta Harding, Brian Libby, Amanda Martin, Mike Willette, Bud Benson, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Secretary to the Planning Board. Absent was Adam Higgins.

Approval of Meeting Minutes:

Mr. Libby made a motion seconded by Mrs. Beckwith to accept the minutes as written. All in favor.

Approval of Finding of Fact:

Steven and Jay, Inc., 11 School Street, Map 15, Lot 53-5    5 year gravel pit renewal

Mrs. Harding made a motion seconded by Mr. Libby to waive the reading. All in favor. Mr. Libby made a motion seconded by Mrs. Harding to approve the Finding of Fact. All in favor.

Old Business:

Acres of Wildlife, Pequawket Trail, Map 11, Lots 1-4   Site Plan Review

Mrs. Billington said that the applicant has asked this item to be tabled for the second time. Andy Morrill from BH2M came forward as he represents them. He said they are waiting for Albert Frick Associates to finalize the septic plan. He said they are also working on some architectural designs and also working with the fire chief for the fire protection. He said they are moving forward but working on what the Planning Board has asked of them.

Mrs. Harding made a motion seconded by Mrs. Beckwith to table this to the next meeting in December. All in favor.  

New Business:

Walter Butler, 234 NE Road, Map 10, Lot 48  Application for amended site plan review for retail greenhouse and building an access road

Andy Morrill from BH2M was present to represent the applicant, Walter Butler. Andy said that there was a site plan approval a couple of months ago on the front of the building and now they have an applicant that is interested in putting in a seasonal greenhouse as well.

He said they would use the existing parking lot and also the existing facilities in the building. He said they are looking to sell some items from the greenhouse like plants, hanging baskets , etc.

With the access road, they are looking to have the road come around the back of the building and have an exit near the front. He said this would service the units that were approved on the back a few months ago. This would give them another entrance and not have to use the entrance off from Moody Road. He said there are possibly some other alternatives as they have been told that there are already the maximum number of curb cuts, so they know they need to do something different. He said that if preliminary approval could be granted tonight for the greenhouse, that would be greatly appreciated. He said if they need to relocate the green house, they can certainly do that and what’s needed on the plan.

John Cross spoke about the greenhouse. He lives on Shaw’s Mill Road and explained that his in laws own and run a greenhouse in South Paris (Young’s Greenhouse) and they would like to sell plants from there at the greenhouse here. It would be annuals and perennials and for the months of May, June and July. He said the greenhouse would be a hoop style covered in plastic and would usually have a dirt or grassy floor. It would be on the opposite side of the parking lot away from the building. It measures possibly 30x100 feet, which might be a bit different in size as they haven’t made a final pick yet.

Mrs. Billington asked what happens to the greenhouse after the season is over. John told her that the plastic could be taken off, but it is usually left on the greenhouse year round. The greenhouse would be fully cleaned out with nothing left inside. He said the location they want is a grassy area, but they would put some sort of material down for people to walk on. Mr. Libby said the location they have now would meet all of the setbacks.

Mr. Benson said we accepted this application past the submission deadline. He said he tries not to put things before the Board that they cannot approve, but he feels that this is something that can be worked with and the Board could do a continuance, with a workshop before to get things straightened out, possibly next week. This would give the applicant time to get what is needed onto the plan and be able to move forward.

Mrs. Billington said she sees quite a few things and feel that with the way the plan is right now, needs to be looked at more and fixed on the plan. She said they could do a workshop and then continue with the meeting. Mr. Libby said he feels the Board needs to look at the issue with the curb cuts. He said he feels it can be solved, but needs to be discussed more. He said that some things just need to be reconfigured and he also feels a workshop is needed. Mrs. Billington asked if anyone else had anything they wanted to talk about.

Vernon Nadeau from 17 Moody Road rose to speak. He said he has lived across from this property for a very long time and he has some concerns about a greenhouse being added to the property. He said he is concerned about cultivation and what are they going to cultivate? He asked if it could be plants or what and he feels the state in the near future will vote to allow the cultivation of marijuana and a greenhouse would be step #1 in the cultivation and could lead to other drugs, ones more serious. He said he knows about this because his son died of a drug over dose. His other son died of cancer, in which he said they told him it was caused by the automotive industry, which is what GTE Sylvania (234 NE Road) did at the time. He said it was because of the fluids used there and he still believes the property is polluted. He said he doesn’t know if the DEP does any testing there anymore.

He said he feels that nothing should be approved on this property unless all of the chemicals to be used are approved for use by the EPA and safe for the environment. He said that the tests should be at least 300 feet below the surface as there is an aquifer 300 feet down and he is not sure where that aquifer runs to now, or if it’s polluted or not. He said some houses on the street have tested positive and the people will not drink the water. Any more chemicals going into the ground will just compound the situation.

Mrs. Martin asked about the site where the chemicals were supposedly stored. Mr. Nadeau said he used to hunt in the area and while hunting, he came upon an area with some liquid coming up to the ground that looked kind of like anti-freeze. He said this area had a fence around it, the ground was not frozen around it and the liquid was not frozen and this was running across the street (Rt.35). He said that it formed a v across the street and did not freeze no matter how cold it was.

He said he knows some of the chemicals has seeped into the ground because of past tests that have been done in the past. He said the aquifer is directly behind the plant is probably the size of a football field and he doesn’t know how the place ever got sold. Mrs. Harding said that she believes the applicant, John Cross, wants to grow just annuals and perennials. She said there are very strict laws regarding the growth of marijuana. Mr. Nadeau said he is the most concerned with chemicals being used. Mrs. Harding said she understands that this site is continually tested for chemical waste and probably always will be. She said she feels that a greenhouse is not going to affect this site.

Mrs. Billington said that land use rights are what they are and the only reason they could deny something is that it wouldn’t be allowed under what the ordinance allows. She said she feels they should have another meeting on this as there seems to be many concerns and things she didn’t think that would be concerns.

John Cross said that you would need to be State licensed to do any type of chemicals and they are not using any. They are only going to be selling an already grown product that is ready for someone to take it home. This would just be a retail spot. He said he is a full time law enforcement and would certainly not be doing anything illegal like growing marijuana. Mrs. Harding said that any chemicals used in a greenhouse really wouldn’t be any stronger than what people already use at home.

Amanda Cross spoke and said that they would be bringing in a finished product, not growing anything. She said her family owns the business and the only thing she would be doing is watering the plants and something you could take home. She said that if things are not sold, they would go back to where they were grown as she wants to provide a great product. Mrs. Martin asked if they were going to sell Christmas trees and Mrs. Cross said no. They are looking into purchasing the greenhouse and need to decide what they want as they are very expensive.

Mr. Nadeau asked about the access road and where it would be. Mr. Benson said that there is a limit of curb cuts and they would need to work on this. It may have to be moved or an access may be needed from someplace else. He said that they are looking at some additional parking on the opposite side of the building from Moody Road on the backside of the building. There would be an access from Moody Road and all the way around the building.

Mrs. Billington said she feels that a workshop is needed and things need to be hashed out. She said the public is welcome and the workshop would be Monday, November 09, 2015 at 7:00pm. Mr. Benson said the workshop usually takes about an hour and then a continuance of this meeting.

Walter Butler said he wants to speak about the road, which is really a separate issue. He said both issues were on the site plan. He said they do have truck service on the back and this is where they have done some sub dividing to different businesses. He said they do not own one parcel on the site and then another one across the road, where the some of the land is supposedly contaminated. He said there are tests done on the sites by DEP all of the time and always will be.

He said the road is used to access some of the tenants on the side for deliveries and such. They would like to be able to have an entrance and an exit and also possibly some additional parking. They are proposing to extend what is already there to the road and now find out they can’t because of the limit to the number of curb cuts. He said they would bring back something different to the workshop next week and try to come up with a solution. Mrs. Harding asked about an entrance and then an exit and Mr. Benson said that it’s still a curb cut. He said one might be able to be eliminated or moved to a different location. He said one way in and out doesn’t eliminate the curb cut.

Mrs. Billington said some of the things needed on the plan are setbacks, where the greenhouse would be, curb cuts or an alternate street opening. Mr. Benson said that Control Devices do own two lots, one on each side of the road. He said the aquafer runs down hill and towards Rt.35, this lot they cannot sell and testing is being done all of the time. Mr. Butler said they had to go through a lot of environmental testing when they were buying the property. He said they have to have tests done and do not want the parcel where the water is constantly pumped and tested.

Mr. Butler said they will have everything on the plan that the Board is asking for. Mr. Libby made a motion seconded by Mrs. Harding that we continue this meeting next week, with a workshop first. All in favor. Mrs. Billington said the Ordinance Comm. will meet on Nov.4th.