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02-12-09 ZBA Minutes

February 20th, 2009

Carroll Board of Adjustment
Meeting Minutes February 12, 2009



“These minutes of The Town of Carroll Board of Adjustment have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct they are subject to additions, deletions, and corrections by The Board of Adjustment at its next meeting when the Board votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2”

Members of the Board present: Joan Karpf, Leslie Bergum, Paul Bussiere, Nancy Mitiguy

Members of the Public present: Mark Catalano, Kelly Chase, Joan Karpf, Bill Rines, Lee Hallquist, Mike Brunetti

Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM with a moment of silence for our Board member and friend, John Goodney.

Chairman Joan Karpf said they would be doing the minutes at the end of the meeting because Nancy Mitiguy could only be here for a specific amount of time and the minutes could be done at the end.

The meeting started with Bill Rines coming before the board again to find out what he needed to do to continue to reclaim the land behind his house and to sell the stockpiles of gravel that he has on his land. Bill had met with the board the month before but the board was not sure what they could do. The Legal Government Center was contacted to help them.

At the last meeting Paul Bussiere had asked if Bill would be applying for a Special Exception or a Use Variance. Joan said she found this whole thing very confusing also and had called the LGC to find out. Chairman Karpf said that the application would be for a Use Variance because with any ordinance in our zoning areas gravel pits and excavation in certain zoning areas it is a Special Exception. In those areas, like the location of Bill’s property, there is no listing of gravel pits or excavation for a Special Exception. Therefore LGC’s interpretation of this was that Bill would have to apply again for a Use Variance and the 5 criteria would have to be filled out and in addition all things that are requested in the RSA’s on excavation He was advised to check Local Excavations, Chapter 155E, Section 5 to see the options he has for his property. Joan also said she believed that the Town’s section on excavation follows the State regulations.

The only other thing that Chairman Karpf wants looked at is to see if Bill is in violation on the conditions of his last variance, based on some of the information he gave at the last meeting. This way Bill will have to fix the violations before he can apply for another Use Variance. This is not a board issue, but an issue for Stan Borkowski. Bill Rines asked exactly what made her feel like he would be in violation. Joan said that the amount of material that was supposed to be taken out was exceeded.

At 7:10, Joan Karpf steps down from the board. There are two Special Exceptions before the board tonight and she is one of them. Paul Bussiere takes over as Chair and announces that this is the Public Hearing for the 2 Special Exceptions before the board tonight. The Chairman asks if all notifications were sent out and the secretary said yes.

Joan explains that she and her husband purchased the Northlander Motel. The Karpf’s have been to the Planning Board and gotten approval for a Change of Use. They have checked with DOT because of the change of use. The DOT will be checking the business but do not feel there is a problem.

Paul Bussiere said he understood that they were taking the motel units and turning them into “business condo’s”. Joan said that they did intend to put retail spaces in instead of the motel units. Chairman Bussiere asked if she felt there would be any impact on the highway with the change. Joan reiterated that they are working with DOT and at this time they feel that there is no problem but it will be looked into.

At this point Joan introduced Kelly Chase as the person that would be running the snowmobile business. She is the owner of Outback Kayaks in Lincoln, NH. Leslie Bergum asked what the hours would be. Kelly said it would be 8 to 6, but that they would be there around 7 to get ready. They are not interested in night tours but they may be in the future. Nancy Mitiguy asked how many machines would be on the property. Kelly expects to have 12 most times, but if there was a large group they may be as many as 20 at one time.

Chairman Bussiere asked if anyone in the public had any questions. Lee Hallquist said that he was at the meeting to say that the motel owners were very happy with the idea of the rentals/sales business. They felt it would be good for the Town. Lee had also written a letter of approval to the Planning Board and asked that it be included in the minutes. A copy will be attached.


Paul Bussiere said his main concern was the idling/warming up of the machines in the morning. He said he would expect that Outback Kayaks/Kelly Chase would want to work with the neighbors if there were any complaints and she said that was a definite. Joan Karpf also said they want the neighbors happy. His next question was if there would be any gas storage on the property. The answer to that was no.

Again, a question was asked if the aquifer under the property was an issue. It was stated that according to the aquifer maps, it was not.

Kelly Chase asked if the snowmobiles would be able to put the snowmobiles out front with a sign for advertising. Paul said he wanted to see all repairs and maintenance out back. It was agreed that a maximum of 5 machines and a possible sandwich board would be allowed out front. Paul Bussiere said that this is zoned Residential-Business and having some out front would be part of the advertising.

Nancy Mitiguy made a motion to: approve the Special Exception with the approval of DOT and a limit of 5 machines out front for advertising. Leslie Bergum seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

At 7:30 Mark Catalano and Kelly Chase were the next Special Exception on the agenda. They would like to have rental/sales of snowmobiles of new /used machines at the Bretton Woods Irving Station. Mark had the application of the Special Exception accepted at the last ZBA meeting and they were here tonight for a Public Hearing for approval of the Special Exception. All notices were verified as having been sent out.
Mark stated there were a few things that the board had wanted to see. Those items were:
1. A site plan showing the setbacks for the trailer that was in place now for the business. The plan was made by Ransom and prepared for Irving Oil Corporation in 2006.. He showed were he edited the plan on the “dirt access road”. He feels this is not a road at all, that it is just an access thru a field.
2. Signage showing the trail going to Corridor 11 from the back of the BW Station and not by crossing into Fabyan Station or going over the leech field. What they liked about this location compared to the prior location, was that no roads had to be crossed. When Kelly was at the Silver Fox, snowmobiles had to cross Route 302 in order to get to the trails.
3. Area sales manager of the Irving Company, Kevin Folkins, wrote a letter of consent for the snowmobile business to be on the Irving property. Even though Mark Catalano has a long term lease with Irving, the approval of the Special Exception goes with the land and not the owner.
4. There will be no gas storage on the property except for the gas stored in the tanks for the Station business. The snowmobile business will not separately store gas there or in the trailer.
5. There may be up to 2 snowmobiles and a sandwich board showing the rental/sale business. The area is small and cannot hold much.

Chairman Bussiere opened the Public Hearing for any question from the board or public. Leslie Bergum asked why the letter was not signed. Mark told her that it was a letter done quickly and had been faxed to him. But that he could get the letter signed if the board so wished. Leslie’s next question was to see if they could get the letter addressed to the ZBA and also have it dated. The board agreed to both of those. Leslie also wanted to know if this was strictly for snowmobiles or for HRV’s and kayaks.

Nancy Mitiguy wanted to know when the Catalano’s would be purchasing the Irving station. Mark said the original date he thought was going to be in 2007 but there has been a lot of talk with the State and EPA. There had been a lot of EPA issues that needed to be settled. He stated that they do have a signed purchase agreement but they still needed to finish the talks.

Leslie Bergum wanted to discuss the letter that arrived that day from the offices of Pierce Atwood, Attorneys at Law, for the MW Resort. The letter had been received in the selectman’s office late that afternoon and then emailed to the board members so they could be read it before the meeting. Attached you will find the complete letter.
Mark stated that he thought the spirit of the letter was they had no problem with the rest of this year, but they wanted the trailer out by April 12, 2009.

Mike Brunetti, representing the MW Resort, said that they do not oppose the proposed use for this year. But they had several issues that they felt they wanted to address for the business starting the season next year for a temporary seasonal structure. They felt that the business needed to follow the regulations for temporary structures, that there would be snowmobile rental/sales only, that there were parking regulations that needed to be addressed and that the zoning regulations were to be followed for Res-2 district. They also want this to be the only year for the trailer. Next year they would like to have a nicer unit in place for a temporary structure. They would also like to work with Mark and Kelly for signage to keep the snowmobilers off both of the leech fields and on to the trails.

Mike Brunetti said he would like to bring up the storm water drainage plans and the monitoring wells. They would like to make sure that nothing will impede the monitoring wells.

Chairman Bussiere asked if the board was ready to make a decision. Nancy Mitiguy made a motion to: approve the Special Exception subject to the Planning Board addressing the monitoring wells, temporary trailer or structure, parking and the permit or approval of DOT on the driveway use. Leslie Bergum seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

At 7:55 Joan Karpf joined the board again and took over as chair. The minutes of January 15, 2009 were looked over. Paul Bussiere made a motion to: accept the minutes. Leslie Bergum seconded and the motion passed 3 to one, there being one abstention.

Chairman Karpf said that she would entertain a motion to adjourn. Paul Bussiere made a motion to: adjourn. Leslie Bergum seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15.

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