Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes

Standish Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

February 05, 2018

The meeting of the Standish Planning Board was called to order at 7:00pm by Chairman Adam Higgins. Present were Charlie Brown, Mike Willette, Joleen Whittemore, Gerald Lonnstrom, Roland Cloutier, Bud Benson, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Admin. Asst. to the Town Planner and Planning Board.

Approval of Meeting Minutes from January 08, 2018

Mr. Higgins asked for a motion to approve the meeting minutes. Mr. Brown told the Board there was one correction to be made and that was changing a measurement on the notes for the Whittemore application. The measurement should have been written as 266.5 and was written as 265.6. Jackie told him that she would correct that error.

Mr. Lonnstrom made a motion to accept the minutes with the correction being made and Mr. Willette seconded this motion. All in favor.

Old Business:

Raymond and Jolene Whittemore, 45 Wards Cove Road, Map 50, Lot 15-Shoreland Zoning Application (addition to 45 Wards Cove and removal of cottage at 47 Wards Cove)

Bud Angst from Caleb Johnson Studio was present to represent the applicant. Mrs. Whittemore recused herself and went into the audience with Mr. Angst. He said they have made the corrections needed and what the Board asked for in the last meeting.

Mr. Higgins asked if the Board had any questions or comments from the site walk done a week ago. He said he is comfortable with what has been done. Mr. Higgins said Mr. Brown had asked about the septic and would they have to file for a variance from the CEO. Mr. Benson said yes they would have to and he believed it would be granted, but it would have to go through the process. Mr. Angst said he has been waiting for an answer from Dan Hill but hadn’t heard back from him yet and knew he was out.

Mr. Benson said he had sent all of the conditions of approval to the applicant and it was up to the Board to decide if they agreed on what he had suggested. Mr. Higgins said he was perfectly okay with all of the conditions and they are as follows:

1.  Per standards found in 237-12 C (1) b the Planning Board approval of this site plan is limited to structure setbacks to the maximum practical extent. Existing neighboring structures to be removed from site and a new structure with proposed structure built on a new foundation attached to existing home.

2.    The following plans and calculations must be submitted by the applicant and approved by the Code Enforcement Officer before permits are issued:

     a.   Structure expansion floor area calculations per § 237-12 C. (1) (a),

     b.   Maximum percent pervious lot coverage not to exceed existing per standards found in § 237-15 B. (4),

     c.   Storm water design to reduce runoff and encourage infiltration per standards found in § 237-15 J. (1),

     d.   Erosion & sediment control plan per standards found in § 237-15 Q.

     e.   Clearing and a re-vegetation plan (include plantings on the lake side of the property with particular attention given to stabilization of the existing shoreline retaining wall, revegetation behind this wall and removal of concrete associated with building foundation to be removed) per § 237-15 P. (2) (a)

3.   Per standards found in § 237-15 B (3) , the applicant’s proposed new structure appears to be within the FEMA delineated 100-year flood plain and will, at minimum, need an (Elevation Certificate) to prove to the Code Enforcement Officer that the lowest floor is at least 1 ft. above the 100-year flood elevation. The site plan shows a proposed building footprint. The lowest floor elevation or openings of this building, including basement floor must be more than one foot above the FEMA 100-year flood elevation.

4.   This approval and any permits issued under this approval shall lapse and become void unless the start of construction or operation as defined in § 237-16. Administration. F “Expiration of permit.” A permit of the Zoning Ordinance begins within one year from the date of this approval. The Planning Board may extend this permit upon a showing of hardship, provided that the written request for extension is made before the expiration of the one-year period.

5.   The approval is dependent on and limited to the plan and proposals submitted by the applicant either orally or in writing. Any variation from the plans or proposals is subject to review and approval from the Planning Board, in writing, except for minor changes which the Code Enforcement Officer may approve.

Mr. Cloutier asked about the impervious area and also what the vegetation is now? Is there existing vegetation behind the retaining wall? Mr. Angst told him that there is just grass there now and that would not be changing significantly. He said they are not proposing to create anything larger than what is there already, no new concrete patio or anything like that.  Mr. Benson said it would be hard to see now and that will be something the code enforcement officer would look at when the construction is happening.

Mr. Lonnstrom asked if the applicant found the conditions of approval okay and Mr. Angst said they are fine with them. Mr. Willette made a motion to find the application complete and this was seconded by Mr. Lonnstrom. Five in favor with Mrs. Whittemore recusing herself. Mr. Lonnstrom made a motion to approve the application and the conditions as previously stated, this was seconded by Mr. Willette. Five in favor with Mrs. Whittmore recusing herself.

New Business :

Joseph & Virginia Untisz , 6 Jeremy Dr., Map 50, Lot 82 -Shoreland Zoning Application

Joe Williams from Lakeside Construction was present to represent the applicant. He said the applicant had bought this property and the cottage is pretty dilapidated. He said he believes the cottage sets a few feet over the property line and when the new one is built, they would move it seven feet or more towards the middle of the lot. They would be replacing this with something much nicer that they could use for friends and family. They would be putting in a full foundation. He said they do not fall into the 250 foot shoreland zoning but they do fall into the zone that deals with impervious area.

He said they would take the lot and build a new structure and with what Mr. Benson found this morning they already at some point had a driveway, which over the years had filled in with grass. He said this helped dramatically as they now have less impervious area to deal with. He said he has the design of the structure and they would have two 9’x18’ parking areas, which is what is required. Mr. Higgins said he agreed and had seen this photo before the meeting and it meets what they need. Mr. Benson said this came from 1969 and is a bit deceiving. He said Maple Street on this old photo is what has become Jeremy Drive where the property is located. He also said that Wards Cove Road is the old Route 114.

He said this cottage is right behind the Whittemore property and you can see the boulder that is in front of the Whittemore property on Wards Cove Road. Mr. Higgins asked if anyone had any questions and is a site walk needed. Mr. Lonnstrom said he was all set with the application and didn’t feel a site walk was necessary. He said some of the abutters had written letters in favor of this application.

Mr. Brown asked about the groundwater runoff and where would it go? He said it showed on the plans a run off of 9” and where would it drain. Mr. Williams said there is quite a bit of ledge and they also own the property adjacent to this one on the lower level. He said they have no way of knowing until they get there and they will not blast if they hit ledge. He said they didn’t need to worry about height restrictions. Mr. Brown asked if a survey would be done. Mr. Williams said if they needed one, they would, but they would be moving the house to the middle of the lot and not overhanging over the line like they do now. He told Mr. Brown there are some property markers to go by and he assumed they were valid.

Mr. Cloutier said he didn’t feel a site walk was necessary and Mr. Willette agreed. Mr. Willette made a motion to find the application complete, with the standard condition of approval, seconded by Mr. Lonnstrom. All in favor.

Chris Duchaine, 525 Pond Road, Map 19, Lot 6- Preliminary Subdivision Application

Andy Morrell from BH2M was present to represent the applicant. Chris Duchaine was also present. Andy said they were here with a preliminary plan back in September 2017. He said they had a workshop and had made some revisions to the plans since then. He said they have done some tweaks to the lots to make sure each one is 120,000 feet. He said in Mr. Benson’s memo there is more information requested on the road design and they can get that done also. He said that also in the memo it mentioned that this was going to have a peer review and Mr. Benson said it would be done by the Town lawyer, Sally Daggett. He said that is the standard process.

Andy said they need to go over issues like cul-de-sacs, fire hydrants and fire protection, impact fees for Thomas Road and dead end road length. He said it looks like the Fire Chief is asking for a dry hydrant and tank. Mr. Benson said a stream would be required within 2000 feet and there isn’t one, he said he feels the tank is the only option but he deferred any questions they have to the Fire Chief.

Chris Duchaine said that when they initially were thinking about doing this project, he had met with Gordy Billington and Roger about the road and paving the end of Thomas Rd. He said he realizes there will be some impact fees and he can’t get around those. The impact fee is around 8700.00. He said as far as the fire system goes, he would like to stay away from a tank and the lake is real close and if a wet pond is considered, it would be better. Mr. Benson said they could talk to the Fire Chief about what was written in the fire report and ask him any questions they have. He said he felt the tank would be the way they would end up. Mr. Higgins said they had looked at the distance from the lake to the property on the map and it looked to be a little over 2000 feet. He recommended talking to the Fire Chief also.

Andy asked about the dead end road length and Mr. Benson said the Planning Board would have to vote to waive this. He said the Planning Board may allow this to be waived, it’s up to them. He said they have the authority to allow the length of the road with the condition that the road would be projecting into future unsubdivided property. Mr. Benson said that the hammerhead could turn to the left and go along the property line to the most westerly corner and continue to follow the property line. If this happened and it became a through street, the hammerhead could be removed.

The right of way, that would be the future street, could be taken to the Town Council for the amount of $1.00 and damages. Mr. Benson said this same thing has been used with other subdivisions. Mr. Morrill said if they can figure out a way to make this a right of way, then they look at removing the hammerhead turn around and go into the cul-de sac.

Andy Morrell said this brings them to the dead end road length. Mr. Brown asked if the issue is because Route 35 is the feeder road. Mr. Benson said that Susan Duchaine had a point when she said that Pond Road could become a dead end road. If the road was extended to White’s Bridge Road, the intersection would be the beginning of the proposed Patriot’s Place. Pond Road is an actual right of way that comes out onto the White’s Bridge Road.

If there was 700 feet of road to the other private way portion of Pond Road, it could become a through way to White’s Bridge Road. Mr. Brown asked if the road had been abandoned. Mr. Benson said it could have been.

Susan Duchaine said there have been several building permits issued over the years beyond where Chris is. She said Rt.35 is the starting point for those homes, so she assumed it would be for this proposed subdivision as well. She said when Chris paved the road, she understood that he had gone down further than would be required. She said the other neighbors down there don’t want the road to be extended all the way through because it will become a through way for other traffic. She said that she has done fire tanks in the past in subdivisions and she said they don’t work. She said she has lived through a fire and there isn’t enough water anywhere to put a fire out. She said in her opinion, a fire pond would be much better. She said she doesn’t know if there is any other way, so Chris can talk to the Fire Chief with that.

Susan went on to talk about the impact fees and said Chris has already spent around $30,000.00 on that road. She had a meeting with Gordy and Chris and they were under the understanding that that would be in place of the impact fees. Bud said when someone comes in for a single house lot, they don’t come before the Planning Board for review. He said that when they are doing more than one house lot, that triggers subdivision and other standards that need to be discussed and reviewed. He said that subdivisions have to have roads up to standard and if they were only building one or two houses, none of this would have been triggered and also impact fees would not be discussed, as there wouldn’t be any. Mr. Benson said these standards are always triggered when anyone would be building multiple houses or creating multiple lots. Subdivisions always trigger this. Mr. Brown asked if there might be records available that would tell what happened to the road. Bud said he thought there probably would be. If the road has been abandoned or discontinued on that one unimproved section, this might be because a number of houses that were built along one extension and a private way was created. Bud said there is a piece in the middle that is public. The Town has accepted the road that Chris built.

Mr. Higgins asked if the Board would like to have a workshop on this application and give the applicant some time to get things together and make the changes they have discussed tonight. A workshop is scheduled for Monday, February 12, 2018 at 7:00pm in Council Chambers.

Mr. Higgins asked about the work already done on the road and if any arrangement had been made other than the Town had accepted it. Chris Duchaine said he had a meeting with Gordy and Roger and there was actually no arrangement made other than talking about if the road was legal, had it been abandoned or discontinued. He said really the only thing it became is a public way with legal street frontage.

Jeff Bennett from Pond Road said he had a few questions about easements and setbacks. He wanted to know if the setbacks on his land are still the same as he was never aware of any subdivision when he purchased the land back in August 2017. Mr. Benson said abutters are notified and have the right to give input. He said that the road should be left so each home owner has a 50 foot frontage along the Town Road. Mr. Bennett said they have some great space and he enjoys where they live. Nancy Hinds-Aldrich spoke and said she is an abutter. She asked about water runoff and the water going into the lake. She asked what provisions would be made for these five lots. Will they build all at once?

Chris Duchaine said that the building all depends on the sale of the lots and how the market for building is doing. He said they might do a spec house to get things going. The water runoff, said Mr. Benson, that there are three culverts. One goes across Pond Road and the other two would run further down to Thomas Road and not towards the lake. He said that he hasn’t seen all of the specs, but will when the engineer provides them and DEP takes a look at them. Mr. Morrill said they will have a lot more information down the road.

Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, Section         181-7.1, Form based code Village  Districts (FBCVD)

Mr. Benson said this is a proposed amendment to the Form Based Code and adding in one new use. It is adding in a day care center provided the use is in a structure already provided. This would allow a day care to go into a church basement, as right now it’s not an allowed use. The Council likes to get feedback and opinions from the Planning Board. Mr. Cloutier asked about setting up a daycare in any home and what is the process. Mr. Benson said this is a State process with applications and licenses. He said they also do the inspections of all of those facilities that are licensed. He said they look at safety issues and other things. He said the church is on Town water, so that is not an issue. Mr. Cloutier said he knows some day cares are not State licensed. He said if this is allowed, would the Town be doing the inspections and what would they be? Mr. Benson said he wasn’t sure how that would work. Mr. Brown asked if this is a conditional use and Mr. Benson said this is just for Planning Board review. He said this ordinance, if it passes, could become effective immediately. Mr. Brown and other Board members agreed this would be a reasonable use of this zone.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm.