Present: John Badger (Chairman), Eric Botterman (Town Council representative), Diane Hardy (Town Planner), Rick McMenimen (alternate), Janice Rosa, PeterRoy (Vice-Chairman), Val Shelton, Eric Weston, George Willant, Justin Normand (alternate)
Absent: Adam Schroadter (alternate)
Chairman Badger called the meeting to order at 7:01pm.
Pledge of Allegiance
Public Comments
Rose-Anne Kwaks, of Wadleigh Falls Road, noticed the Planning Board has been meeting often and has been busy with projects including the mills. She understood Eric Chinburg, the developer for the mills, already has an interested tenant who will be doing sneaker distribution. She asked if the Planning Board was aware the Town Council had recently passed the proposed budget onto the Budget Committee. The proposed budget includes cutting the Code Enforcement Officer’s hours from 40 to 20 hours per week. She is unsure how involved Code Enforcement Officer Dan Vincent is with the Planning Board activities, but felt there are a significant amount of projects coming up, where his expertise will be needed including the wells, water tank, pedestrian walkway, and further mill development. She suggested Code Enforcement Officer Dan Vincent’s experience is imperative to ensure fire and safety codes are followed. Budget Committee Vice-Chairman Brian Hart had Code Enforcement Officer Dan Vincent’s help during the home projects he has done and had nothing but nice things to say about him. She felt having a full time Code Enforcement Officer saves applicants time and money because of the extra time he spends with applicants and contractors to ensure the jobs are done correctly the first time. She felt, if the hours were cut, it would be a short time before he would need to be brought back on full time, because of the work load. She referenced the six-month log Code Enforcement Officer Dan Vincent kept to show how his time was allocated. She explained there is not enough time now to be able to finish everything he needs to do; even more would go undone with less time. She suggested the quality of projects in town would be compromised as a result of reducing the hours. She felt the Planning Board should be aware of this proposal. As a Town Councilor and Budget Committee member, she is opposed to this reduction in hours. She noted Dan Vincent is not just the Code Enforcement Officer, but also the Zoning Administrator, Building Official, and Health and Safety Officer.
Val Shelton asked if the proposed budget is at the Budget Committee and when their next meeting is. Rose-Anne Kwaks explained the next Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for February 16th. She added if the funding for this position is added back to the budget, the Town Administrator can still choose to reduce the hours and spend the additional funds elsewhere in the budget. Chairman Badger noted he shared some of Rose-Anne Kwaks concerns relative to the mill project and the quality of projects throughout the town but he felt it was the responsibility of the Town Administrator to ensure the town has sufficient employees to handle all the responsibilities in town.
Review and Approval of Minutes: 01/19/10
Eric Botterman noted on page 8, line 18 the parentheses should read: “NGVD 1929 or NAVD 1988.”
Val Shelton noted on page 3, NPDES should be NHDES. Town Planner Diane Hardy noted NPDES is correct; it stands for National Pollution Discharge Elimination System.
Town Planner Diane Hardy stated the sentence on page 2, line 29 should read: “Val Shelton asked if portions of the river less than 3 miles would fall under the category of a ‘community’ river.” She explained there are four classifications of rivers: natural, rural, rural community and community.
Action
Motion: Vice-Chairman Peter Roy made a motion to accept the minutes as amended.
Seconded: Eric Botterman
Vote: All in favor – Janice Rosa and George Willant abstained
Janice Rosa and George Willant abstained from voting, because they had not been present at the meeting.
Regular Business
Richard E. Landry Jr. AIA, Landry Architects – Preliminary Conceptual Consultation for a 65,000 sq. ft. mixed use development, with a 28,000 sq. ft. supermarket and additional retail, restaurant and office space. The lots are located at 3, 7 & 9 North Main Street, Tax Map U2, Lots 286, 287, 288 B1 Zone.
Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the process for Conceptual Consultation referring to Section 2.01 of the Newmarket Site Plan Review Regulations explaining Preliminary Conceptual Consultation is a meeting that shall be directed at a review of the basic concept of the proposal and suggestions that might be of assistance in resolving problems with meeting requirements during final consideration. The Board and applicant may discuss proposals in conceptual form only and in general terms, such as desirability of types of development and proposals under the Master Plan. Such consultation shall not bind either the applicant or the Board and statements made by Board members shall not be the basis for disqualifying said members or invalidating any action taken. Such discussion may occur without the necessity of giving formal public notice, but such discussions may occur only at formal meetings of the Board. Preliminary conceptual consultation meetings are strictly optional to the applicant. She explained the applicant has requested to be put on tonight’s agenda specifically for this purpose.
Richard E. Landry, Jr. explained this project is at a point where he would like to receive general input from the Planning Board, before moving on to further engineering of the plan. There will be approximately 28,000 square feet of supermarket space, although the final size has not yet been determined. There will be roughly 30,000 square feet of retail and office space. There is a bank tenant and possible a restaurant or coffee shop interest. He explained Gregg Mikolaities, from Appledore Engineering, is also in attendance.
Chairman Badger asked if there is a supermarket tenant. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained this has been a nine-month process, but the supermarket tenant has been secured.
Chairman Badger noted Newmarket is a New England mill town and asked if architecture would represent the downtown appropriately. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained it is his intent to have the project fit with the architecture of the town as much as possible. The streetscape will be created to somewhat match what exists downtown, including sidewalks and lamp poles. He hoped to have a bus stop added to bring public transportation to the site. He discussed the possible materials to be used including brick and natural stone.
Chairman Badger asked if having the supermarket tenant secured was enough to move the project forward. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he has other tenants and is confident in moving forward. He has met the lender’s threshold to finance the project and has full intentions on moving forward.
Chairman Badger explained the next Planning Board meeting is in March and asked if the application would be in a position for submission for that meeting. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he is still finalizing some details with some of the tenants. There have been soil engineers on site and traffic engineers will be conducting traffic studies the end of this week and beginning of next week. He was unable to guarantee the application would be ready for submission for the March meeting.
Chairman Badger felt the Planning Board has demonstrated their willingness to work with applicants on moving applications along expeditiously as shown during the mill application. He suggested the Planning Board is prepared to work just as diligently on this application. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he has been working with Town Planner Diane Hardy and has received a great deal of cooperation. He did not feel this application is asking to do anything undesirable to the Town. The Master Plan has spoken to this exact kind of development for years. He has looked at multiple sites throughout town and felt this was the best site to move forward with.
Val Shelton asked if there were concerns to the current site plan review regulations specifically lot coverage and impervious areas. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he is working diligently as the application progresses and has asked several questions of Town Planner Diane Hardy who has been very responsive. Route 108 is a state road so the state will have involvement in this project. There are at least two tenants who will want to see a traffic signal at the intersection of the property. He felt the traffic signal would be warranted providing the in flow and out flow of traffic.
George Willant asked if information from the past application for this site has been shared. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained she has the file from the previous project application for this site, which was withdrawn two days before conditional approval was granted. The file includes abutter letters and Planning Board minutes from the meetings. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he had most of that information.
Chairman Badger opened the Public Hearing at 7:23pm.
Dave Legault, of 11 North Main Street, explained he is the abutter to the south of the property and has a vested interest in the project. He asked what the setbacks were on the side. Town Planner Diane Hardy answered the setbacks are 25 feet to the rear and side. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained there is approximately 42 feet from the closest building to Dave Legault’s home.
Dave Legault asked why the field was not included. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained there is land being used from 35 Dame Road. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the public notice should have included that. She will ensure this will be properly noticed in the future.
Dave Legault noted water, sewer, and drainage on that end of town is substandard and asked if improvements will be made as part of this project. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained these issues would be addressed as part of the site plan review process. There will be a Technical Review Committee, the Town’s engineer will review the plans, and the Water Department and Public Works Department will review the application. The Planning Board will ensure there are proper infrastructure improvements.
Dave Legault explained he is not opposed to this project, although he is not overly excited about having this development right next door. He would like to see a development that is best for the community and protects his privacy and property. He explained his mother-in-law owns the property to the north of the subject property and has the same drainage concerns. He asked about the status of the State Route 108 corridor improvements throughout Durham and Newmarket. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the Route 108 corridor improvement project is on the ten-year plan for the state. Rick McMenimen explained the project has been on the Strafford Regional Planning Commission docket for awhile.
Dave Legault asked if sidewalks are planned as part of this project. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained this project would be consistent with the state plan and COAST plans.
Sy Thorne, an abutter to the property noted his approval of the project.
Chairman Badger closed the Public Hearing at 7:29pm.
George Willant reiterated the importance of having the architecture of this project fit with the New England mill town feel. He suggested the applicant speak with the Advisory Heritage Commission earlier in the process. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained he has rough elevations of the project, but wasn’t sure they would be appropriate for tonight’s meeting. George Willant noted this would be the entrance to Newmarket from the north and could be a good project to welcome visitors.
Vice-Chairman Roy suggested the amount of impervious surface would be a challenge with this project. He suggested looking into drainage extensively to mitigate adverse impacts.
Rose-Anne Kwaks noted she was on the Advisory Heritage Commission, when the other project for this area was proposed. The previous applicant had discussed the possibility of using pervious asphalt. Pervious asphalt is low maintenance and needs to be vacuumed annually.
Val Shelton noted this lot abuts Town-owned land and asked if any consideration had been given to providing access to that land. Richard E. Landry Jr. explained access would be tricky, because of wetlands ,but if access is available, he would have no issues with providing the access.
Eric Botterman felt this was a great project conceptually. He was happy to see commercial development taking place. He suggested speaking with the Department of Transportation (DOT) early in the process relative to driveways and the traffic signal.
New Business/Old Business
Chairman Badger asked for an update on the pedestrian bridge. Town Planner Diane Hardy explained Newmarket is still in the running for the grant for the pedestrian bridge project. She participated in a productive meeting two weeks ago with Chairman Badger, Vice-Chairman Roy, Town Council Chairman Mike LaBranche, Executive Councilor Beverly Hollingsworth and DOT Commissioner George Campbell. The Town will get an opportunity to present its application to the Transportation Enhancement Advisory Commission. Newmarket’s application is ranked roughly 30 out of 53 total applications. Concern has been raised whether there would be matching funds. The grant requires a 20% match; with project costs estimating $550,000, the town’s matching cost would be approximately $110,000. She hoped match funding could be through the CIP. Eric Chinburg, developer of the mills is willing to help finance the Town’s matching cost. She also hoped to get further grant funding. She hoped to get support from the Advisory Heritage Commission and the Historical Society to show community support. She participated in a “dress rehearsal” of the presentation with Beverly Hollingsworth and Chairman Badger. They presented to the Technical Advisory Committee of the Strafford Regional Planning Commission and received constructive feedback on how to better improve the presentation.
Chairman Badger asked for an update on the floodplain discussion. Eric Botterman explained he has information for Town Planner Diane Hardy and Eric Weston from other towns. Town Planner Diane Hardy suggested scheduling a meeting.
Town Planner Diane Hardy explained the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning submitted a letter to the Town relative to the audit program they did. Deficiencies were outlined. The Town needs to adopt the changes as previously discussed so Newmarket residents can get flood insurance. Some of these changes included clarification in the regulations and updated definitions. Changes have been made to the Zoning Ordinance, Site Plan Review Regulations and Subdivision Regulations. She explained the process of amending the Zoning Ordinance stating the Planning Board would make recommendations to the Town Council after holding a public hearing. The Town Council would then go through their process of adopting the changes. The Planning Board can adopt amendments to Site Plan Review Regulations and Subdivision Regulations after a duly noticed public hearing; these changes do not need to go to the Town Council.
Val Shelton asked if it was feasible for the Planning Board to adopt these changes at the next meeting and forward the necessary changes to the Town Council. Town Planner Diane Hardy suggested it is feasible if the committee was able to meet and a public hearing could be scheduled. She also suggested the information could be gathered for the March meeting and a public hearing could be scheduled for April.
Chairman Badger asked about the impact fee study. Town Planner Diane Hardy noted she has informed Town Administrator Wojnowski about the Planning Board’s interest on working on the impact fee ordinance. She would like to contact Bruce Mayberry who had helped with the initial ordinance.
Val Shelton asked about the Shoreland Protection status. Town Planner Diane Hardy suggested meeting next Wednesday at 4:00pm. She noted Cynthia Copeland would be available at that time, as well.
Chairman Badger noted he would not be present at the March meeting; Vice-Chairman Peter Roy will be acting Chairman. He noted he is excited about what was presented tonight and felt the Planning Board needed to be ready to move forward expeditiously.
Val Shelton suggested forming the Technical Review Committee now in an effort to expedite the process. Janice Rosa, Vice-Chairman Roy and Eric Botterman volunteered to be on the Technical Review Committee.
Adjournment
Action
Motion: Janice Rosa made a motion to adjourn at 7:46pm.
