Planning Board Minutes

Minutes of 1/4/2024

January 11th, 2024

Town of Carroll Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
January 4, 2024
5:00PM

“These minutes of the Town of Carroll Planning Board have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct, they are subject to additions, deletions, and corrections by the Planning Board 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.”
Planning Board Members Present: Chairperson Alex Foti, Vice Chair Austin Alvarez, Tom Godfrey, Ryan Peffer, Don Jones, Select Board Rep-Jules Marquis, Alternate-Paula Murphy
Public Present- John Greer, Fire Chief Jeff Duncan, Doug Chapman, Scott Sonia (Both Doug and Scott leave after the discussion of water drainage at Boulder Court-approx 5:30PM)
Minutes Taken By: Corinne Ripa
Item 1: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Foti at 5:04 PM
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
Item 3: Attendance taken; Quorum met
Item 4: Approval of December 7, 2023 Minutes
Alex Foti asks if there is any discussion regarding last months minutes. Austin Alvarez makes a comment that on page 2, when discussing legal in regards to Warrant Articles/Ordinance Amendments, we should include the last name of the lawyer. Revise from Meredith to Meredith Goldstein. Corinne will correct that. Austin makes a motion to approve the minutes as amended, Don Jones seconds the motion. Tom and Ryan abstain from the vote due to not being present at the meeting. The remaining members vote aye. The minutes are passed.
John Greer makes an announcement that he is here as a private citizen, not as a member of the Select Board.
Item 5: Application Echo Lake Phase ll (continued every meeting since May 5th)
Cathy Conway has no new information, so this will be continued to February meeting.
Item 6: Boulder Motor Court-water drainage
Greg Hogan (previous Public Works Superintendent) had asked Corinne to put Doug Chapman on the agenda for water drainage issues at the Boulder Motor Court development. Doug Chapman introduces himself as a builder and resident in town doing a project for Boulder Motor Court. He states that there is a ground water problem there. A brief history of the situation-it was a tear down/rebuild with a new foundation. The way the site is, they could not do traditional foundation draining, so there is a sump pump to pump the water. There is nowhere to pump the water. If it is surface pumped, it that goes across Harmony Hill Rd towards 302, which is undesirable. What they have been doing temporarily is running to the catch basin which has worked fine. It was thought that the catch basin was owned by the State, but it is actually owned by the town. They have worked with a hydrologist and the State recommendations from DOT to engineer a plan to tie into the catch basin. So essentially, Mr. Chapman is looking for permission to tie into the town’s catch basin. There is a short discussion that ensues, and it is essentially determined that this would be an issue to go before the Select Board rather than the Planning Board. Corinne will pass the info on to Megan Basnar (SB secretary) for her to add Doug Chapman to the agenda for an upcoming Select Board meeting.
Item 7: Follow Ups/Review of WA and Zoning Amendments for Public Hearing Jan 10, 2024
Meredith Goldstein (one of our legal advisors) has reduced the scope of the Short-Term Rental Warrant Article for the time being. There is concern surrounding the inspection process and she feels that it needs to be researched at greater length before being on the Warrant Article. So, that part of it was removed for this initial Warrant Article.
It is also noted by Austin Alvarez, that the definition of Short-Term Rental should be added to Section 202 instead of Section 201 of the Zoning Ordinance. All members agree with this and Corinne will change that on the information sheets and the website.
There is further discussion amongst the Planning Board and the Fire Chief about other towns within NH and some of the actions those towns are taking in regards to STR’s.
The next three proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance are discussed again. (Amendment 1,2 and 3) There have been no changes to those amendments since the last meeting so it is brief.
Amendment #4 regards the Conservation Commission’s proposal to replace section 606.3a. Some of the board feels the proposal may be too restrictive with the buffer distances. Ideas are thrown around as to how it could be less restrictive for property owners yet still be beneficial to the Wetlands Overlay District.
There will be no proposed Warrant Article concerning Rehabilitation Facilities for now. Meredith Goldstein feels there needs to be much more research on this subject from a legal standpoint before presenting a Warrant Article to the voters. The PB intends to start this discussion with Meredith much earlier this year (Meredith stated she will reach out in February) so there is a proper amount of time to look into all the legal aspects of such a proposal. It is hopeful something can be created for next year. The fire chief and the police chief would really like something to be proposed because of the issues Bethlehem has had with the rehab in town. Both the Carroll Fire and Police Departments have been called over to Bethlehem on numerous occasions to assist with problems that could be avoided with proper Zoning Ordinances in place.
There is discussion and ideas thrown around about future Warrant Articles with respect to town growth and needs. Grants are often used by other towns for various projects and that is something Carroll should consider in the future. This conversation flows into the Master Plan and where the Planning Board stands with funding on that. Rena Vecchio (who is not present at the meeting) was going to speak with the Select Board about encumbering left over funds from this year’s Planning Board budget into the Master Plan budget. Jules Marquis (SB Rep) does state that the funds have been encumbered for Master Plan use. The PB will have to start working on getting that in motion.
Austin makes a motion to adjourn. Don Jones seconds the motion. All members vote aye. Meeting is adjourned at 6:55PM.