Present: John Badger (Chairman),Diane Hardy (Town Planner), Rick McMenimen (Alternate), Justin Normand (Alternate), Janice Rosa, PeterRoy (Vice-Chairman), Adam Schroadter (Alternate), Val Shelton, George Willant
Absent: Eric Botterman (Town Council representative), Eric Weston
Chairman Badger called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance
Regular Business
Planning Board recommendation regarding the Urban Exemption for Shoreland Protection in reference to the proposed mill redevelopment.
Mike Provost of 16 Beech Street explained he had discussed with the Town Council about a year ago the possibility of filing for an Urban Exemption from the State Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (CSPA). The State statutes have become more restrictive. There is a provision that allows communities with urbanized sites along the shoreline to request an exemption from the new requirements. On behalf of the Riverwalk Committee he requests consideration of this exemption request. The Riverwalk Committee is working on the Water Street Gateway including improvements along Water Street and Schanda Park. Because there was no exemption request for this work, additional permits are required. Requesting and receiving the exemption would be a benefit to the Town especially with the proposed mill redevelopment. The exemption does not provide carte blanche on all state permits but exempts projects from shoreland protection requirements. In order to request the exemption, the Town needs to designate an area that is already built-up and show that the area has historically been used for commercial and industrial purposes. His recommendation is to designate the area from Heron Point through the downtown area. The designated area should include the Route 108 Bridge across the Lamprey River above the dam down through the mill yard and to the Town’s wastewater treatment plant. The Planning Board should agree on a designated area and recommend to the Town Council that area to be exempted. The Town Council would then move forward with the Planning Department to get the application materials for the exemption filed with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
Adam Schroadter arrived at 7:05 p.m.
Chairman Badger agreed with the recommended designation. Town Planner Diane Hardy referenced the aerial photograph showing the 250-foot Shoreland Protection Act buffer along the Lamprey River to provide an idea of the area of impact. She suggested the Board may want to consider including the Bryant Rock complex in the designation.
Val Shelton explained the Shoreland Protection Act covers 250-feet from the reference line which is the highest observable tide line on both sides of the river. She recommended having the designation beginning at the Heron Point boundary line, going around the corner to the bridge then down through the mill district. She asked about the ship building. Mike Provost explained that the area had been very active historically including packet boats and schooners.
Town Planner Diane Hardy noted the State may have concerns about including Heron Point as the intent of the exemption is to include properties that have already been urbanized. She did not feel the intent was to include undeveloped land. Chairman Badger suggested the Town may want to put in a dock or viewing point at Heron Point someday. Val Shelton clarified the recommendation did not include Heron Point and also stated that there are restrictions on the deed for Heron Point that would prohibit such activities.
George Willant asked what the intent of the Shoreland Protection Act is. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the intent of the Shoreland Protection Act is to limit development and impervious areas adjacent to the waterfront, and provide water quality protection. Val Shelton added the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act begins at a reference point and encompasses the uplands. The wetlands regulations are relative to dredging and filling, which are not covered under the Shoreland Protection Act. Town Planner Diane Hardy agreed stating the Shoreland Protection Act exemption would not excuse wetland law compliance. The Shoreland Protection Act minimizes lot coverage, provides cutting restrictions and provides specific building setbacks.
Action
Motion: Val Shelton made a motion that the Planning Board recommend to the Town Council to file a request with the Commissioner of the NH Department of Environmental Services to allow Newmarket to be exempt from the Shoreland Protection Act. The urban exemption area to be from the northerly boundary of the Heron Point Conservation area north to the Route 108 bridge and south to the northerly boundary of the New Hampshire Fish & Game property just past the sewage treatment plan.
Seconded: Vice-Chairman Roy
Chairman Badger appointed Justin Normand to sit in as a voting member in Eric Weston’s absence.
Vote: All voted in favor
Discussion with Strafford Regional Planning regarding the draft Water Resources Chapter of the Master Plan.
Town Planner Diane Hardy explained at the May 19th Planning Board meeting Cynthia Copeland and Julie LaBranche came to speak about updating the Newmarket Master Plan Water Resources Chapter. Changes have been made based on comments provided. She referenced a list of status changes to ensure they would be made and to identify other changes that may need to be addressed. Once the Planning Board has a final working draft, the document would move forward to a public hearing. She anticipated this public hearing to be in August or September. She referenced the summary list of 15 items explaining items 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 11 have been completed. The items left to complete include editorial changes and the following:
On Page 17, table 9 needs additional data (acres and % total) for poorly and very poorly drained soils
On Page 35 a complete description of work needs to be included or the reference to the Department of Agriculture-Farm and Ranchland needs to be deleted
On Page 40, the section titled “Local Flood Impacts in 2006 and 2007 needs to be completed with information from the FEMA annual report and DPW staff.
On Page 49, table 19 census data for 1990 need to be included or the reference needs to be deleted
On Page 50, table 22 wellhead protection area data needs to be included as well as within the paragraph above the table
On Page 53, the section titled “Existing Infrastructure” needs to be completed with information from Town staff
On Page 60, the reference to “Newmarket WWTP Upgrade and Nitrogen Issues” needs to be completed or deleted
On Page 71, Section D entitled “Tuttle Swamp Management Plan” a summary of key information from the plan needs to be added
On Page 87, references should be copied from the footnotes and text and compiled under the “References” section
The document, table and figure numbers and table of contents need to be checked for accuracy
Rick McMenimen noted on Page 13, the fourth item in table 7 should be fish “lift” not fish life.
Vice-Chairman Roy explained on Page 2 “Squamscott” had been misspelled.
George Willant explained the table on Page 2 needs to be clarified relative to acreage or miles. The data in Table 3 on Page 6 should match the data in the GIS maps. He added the GIS maps should also be numbered. The information in Table 4 should match the information in Table 3. He felt the table on page 7 was interesting but questioned why it was important to include. With respect to footnote 7, Town Planner Diane Hardy noted the information pertained to the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act. More text would be added to clarify that. Val Shelton added the reference is missing something. The information is not consistent with NH DES website. The references should be check against the NH DES website.
George Willant explained the tables and figures need to be verified for accurate referencing throughout the document. On page 14 he questioned whether footnote “a” should be footnote “a” or “3.” “Macallen” Dam had been misspelled. He questioned whether the Lamprey River impoundment above the Macallen dam and the nontidal portion of the Lamprey River were the same. Cynthia Copeland explained they were two different sections of the river according to the CSPA. The Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act includes rivers that have New Hampshire Rivers Management Protection status.
George Willant noted Table 9 on Page 17 needs to be consistent with previous tables. He referenced Table 11 on Page 20 asking about the information contained within it. Val Shelton suggested Follett’s Brook is a tributary to the Piscassic River, not the Lamprey River. Cynthia will check on this.
George Willant questioned the information contained within Table 15 on Page 28. He asked what the percentages provided were for. Town Planner Diane Hardy suggested Cynthia Copeland review the Summary of Buffer Condition Data study to ensure the information is consistent and whether the information was significant to include in the report.
George Willant noted the table on Page 27 is not discussed within the text. On Page 32, Table 6 is referenced but is not included within the text. There is also a figure that is not labeled on page 32. He suggested the language on page 34; “It may be helpful to organize a working group or subcommittee of elected officials and board and commission members to take on this task and to develop the necessary contacts and partnerships to move forward,” be included in the recommendations. There were two spots on Grant Road that flooded during the past two floods that need to be included in the areas subject to flooding discussed on Page 39. Cynthia Copeland noted the easiest way to determine the areas that flooded is to mark them on a map.
George Willant believed the reference on Page 44 should be 1-7.C not 1-6.C. He noted there are two page 49’s. He questioned whether the population discussed in Table 20 on Page 49 was the general population of the town or the population of the water users. He noted Table 19 is missing data. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the reference to the 1990 Census has been removed.
George Willant noted Table 21 on Page 50 needed to reflect there were also single family homes on Schanda Drive and Moody Point, Cushing Road. Cynthia Copeland noted this information may not be able to be changed. The information comes directly from NH DES categorizing.
George Willant noted there were no recommendations made under the Future Infrastructure Improvements section on Page 54. Table 28 is missing information in line 15 on Page 61. The last line under Hazardous Waste Generators indicates there are currently 72 hazardous waste generators in Newmarket, but there are 73 listed in table 30. He questioned whether LIDs should be included in the recommendations under SW2 on page 82. Town Planner Diane Hardy suggested that LIDs be included and a definition of what they are.
Val Shelton noted there are multiple organizations being charged with the tasks of the recommendations on pages 82-86. She suggested assigning one specific organization to take the lead. Cynthia Copeland agreed stating there has been a lot of implementation of assigning responsibilities to specific entities and added communities who have taken this approach have seen results by using a distinct timeline. Val Shelton suggested adding a specific timeline. Janice Rosa cautioned the Board about timelines suggesting some recommendations have costs associated with completing them. She asked where those funds would come from and how the tasks can be completed without proper funding.
The Planning Board changed the following assigned leads:
Page 83, DW5 shall be the Water Department
Page 84, DW10 shall be the Town Council with the following language removed from the recommendation: “and protect the land area around them for potential future water supplies”
Page 84, ORE2 shall be Code Enforcement with “Strengthen local enforcement practices to include” being changed to “Perform”
Page 85, RW1 shall be the Conservation Commission
Page 86, DW8 shall be the Water Department
Page 86, RW3 shall be the deleted, as it is redundant.
Page 86, RW4 shall be the Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Cynthia Copeland noted she would adjust the RW recommendation numbers accordingly.
Janice Rosa asked if the conservation efforts information on Page 3 included the Kwaks and Smith property recently conserved. Town Planner Diane Hardy noted the information is based on Ellen Snyder’s 2007 Open Space Plan report. Cynthia Copeland added that information is currently being updated and will be added to this document.
Janice Rosa asked if the flood plains on Page 37 included information about flood control regarding invasive species removal. George Willant noted it is important to keep a vegetative cover within the buffer but not invasive species vegetation. Val Shelton added the beaver dams are causing flooding problems as well.
Cynthia Copeland referenced the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) report entitled Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary prepared by Phil Trowbridge. The document provides a summary of proposed numeric nutrient criteria as well as a history of justification for the parameters, thresholds, statistics and data. There are a number of data points that were used to collect information. This will be the foundation of many water quality regulations coming from NH DES in the near future. Future regulations will change how Planning Boards address septic, storm water, discharge and waste water facilities. The Southeast Watershed Alliance is looking at terrestrial watershed including upstream and downstream users in an effort to remove the burden. This could be a costly endeavor.
The next step for the Water Resources Chapter of the Master Plan is to have public input. The Planning Board members will receive a revised copy of this document prior to the public hearing.
Val Shelton noted there needs to be discussion about potential impacts to land owners in town. She suggested it would be helpful to provide a brief summary so the general public will be able to understand the intentions. Cynthia Copeland noted the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership has funding mechanisms to assist communities in marketing and outreach to land owners.
Cynthia Copeland will provide the Planning Board with a revised draft by July 23, 2009. The Public Hearing will be scheduled for September 8, 2009.
Cynthia Copeland noted there is an estuaries conference on October 16th at the Great Bay Gallery in Somersworth that may be of interest to Planning Board members.
Janice Rosa asked if it was possible to identify those land owners who would be directly affected by these changes and mail them information. It was noted that the report includes recommendations for changes to ordinance. At the time that specific regulations are proposed, it would make sense to contact those who would be affected. George Willant suggested specific groups cannot be identified at this stage. Chairman Badger noted there will be a public hearing as well as outreach programs and the executive summary to get the information out to the public.
Janice Rosa did not feel it would be fair to charge residents for this document due to the size and the importance of understanding the information. George Willant suggested the document can be transferred to CDs for residents to review.
Adjournment
Action
Motion: Vice-Chairman Roy made a motion to adjourn at 9:00 p.m.
