Planning Board

CITY OF LACONIA PLANNING BOARD Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - 6:30 PM City Hall - Conference Room 200A MINUTES Call to Order Approved November 1, 2016 I. Chair Hutchins called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm K. Graham called the roll with the following member present: Mike Limanni, Mike DellaVecchia, Jay Tivnan, David Bownes, Gail Denio, Edwin Bones, Hamilton McLean and Planning Board Chair, Warren Hutchins Absent: Charlie St. Clair, William Contardo, Jerry Mailloux Staff: Interim Planning Director Brandee Loughlin Recording this meeting: Kalena Graham Chair Hutchins welcomed M. DellaVecchia as a full time member to the board. M. Limanni was asked to be a voting member in W. Contardo's absence. Chair Hutchins stated there were eight (8) members present and a quorum was established. Chair Hutchins noted a change to the agenda. Item number 6, the CR2 proposal will be moved to after the presentation. II. Presentations 1. Ken Kettenring of Belknap County Conservation District Ken Kettenring of Belknap County Conservation District gave a presentation on the mission of the natural resources in Belknap county strengthen the assistant of the group. III. Extensions 2. Extension request for Appl# PL2010-0010SP, Scenic Rd, Meredith Bay’s Lodges Applicant: Chris Duprey, representing Meredith Bay, Akwa Waterfront, spoke. The focus has been trying to sell in the Bluegill and the duplex. They are not selling as quick as liked. In the interim there has been a lot of time spent on working on the shared amenities. They just completed the walking tails that tie all the properties together. Nothing has changed in the neighborhood. They are hopeful that fall of 2017 sales will reach the tipping point. infrastructure is all in on the site and on Scenic Road. Staff had no concerns with the extension request and recommends approval.  The motion to approve the extension with the new dates was made by G. Denio, and J. Tivnan seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. IV. Continued Public Hearings 3. PL2016-0095SU, 214 & 225 Winter Street, Boundary Line Adjustment Chair Hutchins opened the public hearing at 8:50 pm. Applicant: L. Powell representing the City, spoke. They finally got authorization to continue what was started with the previous property owner on the boundary line adjustment. When Woodland Heights school was built, there was a paved drive that encroached over a jetting of the property. The former owner was happy to give the City that portion of the property and were waiting on the new owners. The new owners had no problem since it was a small piece of land. Staff Review: Interim Planning Director Loughlin read the staff review. There were a few changes with the new ownership. Plan revisions: Nov 1, 2016, mylar and final plans: Dec 6 2016, and the completion date will remain same. The plan revision will be added to switch out owners. There were no abutters or public comment. Chair Hutchins closed the public hearing at 8:55 pm. The motion to approve the application with the revised dates and condition along with the rest of the conditions noted in the staff review was made by H. McLean, and G. Denio seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. V. Public Hearings 4. PL2014-0115CUP amd1, 61 Pendleton Rd, build within the 75 ft buffer that was originally 30 ft buffer Interim Planning Director Loughlin told the board the application was complete and ready for hearing. The motion to accept the application as complete and open the public hearing was made by H. McLean, and J. Tivnan seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. Chair Hutchins opened the public hearing at 8:58 pm Applicant: Peter Howard was present representing the owner, John Remington. Lot 8 had previously been before the board in 2014 but had expired. This is just a redo of that same request. The difference is that the conditions from the conservation and planning board from 2014 have been applied to this proposal. There is a proposed house envelope on the plan and the request is to approve that if the CUP is approved. That would make it possible to put something smaller without having to come back. Interim Planning Director Loughlin doesn't have a problem with that as long as the building would be smaller. Staff Review: Interim Planning Director Loughlin read the staff review. There are no required plan revisions and Staff recommends approval. There were no abutter or public comment.  Chair Hutchins closed the public hearing at 9:07 pm The motion to approve the application with the dates and conditions noted in the staff review was made by G. Denio, and J. Tivnan seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. 5. PL2016-0102amd, 61 Pendleton Rd, adjust lot lines 6, 7, 8 Interim Planning Director Loughlin told the board the application was complete and ready for hearing. The motion to accept the application as complete and open the public hearing was made by J. Tivnan , and H. McLean seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. Chair Hutchins opened the public hearing at 9:09 pm Applicant: Peter Howard was present representing the owner, John Remington. He stated this is the same property as just reviewed. The proposal is a slight change in the internal lot lines for lots 6, 7 and 8. The applicant has been doing careful development of the lots since it was originally approved in 2003 and have been careful with tree cutting and lot placement. This lot line change will help to have better access into the lots. Staff Review: Interim Planning Director Loughlin read the staff review. There is a small revision in the staff review to change the language. The applicant is not reducing the lots but adjusting the lot lines. Staff recommends approval. There were no abutter or public comment. Chair Hutchins closed the public hearing at 9:13 pm The motion to approve the application with the dates and conditions noted in the staff review was made by J. Tivnan, and E. Bones seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. VI. Application Acceptance VII. New Business VIII. Old Business 6. Discussion of CR2 Zone proposal This item was moved to second on the agenda. Chair Hutchins stated that under the law a public hearing needs to be scheduled for Nov 1. Mayor Engler gave his presentation. He highlighted the main aspects of the proposal. A new definition of the CR zone and an additional definition for the new corridor zone CR2. There are currently three other corridors in the City: Parade, Meredith Center and White Oaks Roads. This corridor would treat the land right off the highway different from that further off the highway. No residential would be allowed in that corridor on first levels but would be possible above. The numbers are arbitrary and he is looking for help with exact numbers from the board and public. There are many specifics and Council expects changes. The two core principals that Council would like to remain are: to encourage commercial development in a core area that represents almost all undeveloped commercial or underdeveloped tracks of land. Less than half of the tax base is commercial development. Currently almost anything goes with a mix of residential and commercial in the Weirs and Council feels that a detriment to community development. And second: to prohibit residential development in the commercial core area while leaving it open and prohibit manufactured housing development in key core areas. The overall reason is to have control over what goes in the area to lessen the harm to the Weirs. The Mayor was contacted by a property owner on the southern side of Paugus Bay who would like to be included in the district, even though it is no where near the subject area. The overall goal is to narrow what is allowed right off the road. Mayor Engler went over the changes of what is currently allowed and what was proposed in 2015 with the rezoning of the Weirs Blvd and the new proposal for the CR2. The greenspace and maximum height numbers are arbitrary and need to be looked at. The proposal is for a starting point. He looked at Concord, and there are two main areas, both have minimal greeenspace. Once the public hearing is noticed, any application to be submitted that would be affected by the change will be frozen. Chair Hutchins noted that public comment will only be 4-5 minutes long due to the size of the audience. Ava Doyle, Councilor of Ward one spoke. She lives on the tail end of Endicott North. She feels strongly about the minimal greenspace because of water issues that already exist in the area. She has had issues since the parking lot a few lots down got paved. If there is zero greenspace, there will be more runoff than anticipated. The refurbishing of the beach is costing a lot of money and she would rather not mess with that. She is against the non residential development and feels that will detract from the small businesses. By restricting residential it would constrict bed and breakfasts in a tourist area. The comparisons of Laconia to other Cities is wrong. Laconia is a lakeside community not a busy City an the lake itself is the amenity. She would like to see this fall in the right hands. Robert Sarsfield of Tower Street spoke. He asked if this will be voted on. Chair Hutchins said it could or it could be changed and voted on or it could be rejected. He assumes that it seems more restrictions are what is proposed. Mike Foote lives on Rollercoaster Road, also owns 200 feet of property in the proposed area. He feels it would behoove communication to bring about a conclusion. Meaning that those that go away for the winter should have the awareness of the proposal. There is a lot to be taken into consideration with conservation, water, and geography of the land. Chris Duprey, project manager of Meredith Bay Development spoke. He asked what the actual date would be where applications would stop and Interim Planning Director Loughlin said when the legal notice gets put int he paper, approximately 2 weeks from now. Meredith Bay is one of the largest land owners is the area that would be impacted by this proposal. He feels the general proposal is good but might also deter development. He does agree that commercial development is needed but the demand is not there yet. Deanna Duplak, owner on Tower Street spoke. She is glad the Weirs is getting attention. She would love to see restoration as well as new development. Her concern is the impact this proposal will have on existing residential units. She wondered if she was in the corridor and asked if the greenspace could be flexible depending on development plans and topography,and should be case by case. She asked what the market was that the city is going after. Mary Hutchins of Boathouse Road spoke. She thought it was good that the Mayor presented new ideas but the area is the oldest in the city and that is why it is a mix of everything. She has been a volunteer of boards for many years and feels that boards should have been in the know. The EPA had great ideas and they should be looked at. The Weirs is a resort and has been rundown. It used to be the family area of the lake. The hotels have all been turned to condos and many attractions have closed. Resort areas do not need big industrial buildings. NH is made of trees and woods and that is what is expected to see. She suggested the resources that we have be used. The Weirs has a lot to offer and needs to be made more appealing to the residents, not just the one day visitors.  Joe Driscoll III, resident and business owner of the Weirs, spoke. He wonders what the impact of 100 ft buildings would have from the lake and what other communities will think. He is curious that the purpose is to garner more tax revenue for the City and where the money will go. Russ Porier a local developer spoke. He named some recent big developments in the area: Christmas Island, Meredith Bay, Governor's Crossing, the old St Helena's church property just was approved for 7 lot subdivision, Weirs Beach Village across from Cumberland Farms, and Rusty Bertholet's property where the Post Office and the old Dexter Shoe store is. He commends the Mayor with producing the changes. The Planning Board has the authority to restrict development during the process. Weirs Beach has a lot of potential with the right management. In order to attract development, there needs to be proper zoning. He doesn't believe the proposal will stop development. Chair Hutchins spoke. He is concerned because the final stages of the Master Plan is in process now. He would like to personally ask the Counselors to rescind the motion and take the City out of the position and instead wait until the Master Plan is completed. D. Bownes encouraged cooperation between Council and the Board. The outcome may be less than what is proposed now. This is a good opportunity to find out what can be done. Everybody needs to make an effort to do something and look at the Weirs at a year round destination. He asked for people to keep an open mind. The public hearing will be noticed and when that is done it will stop all development that will conflict with changes. The motion to schedule the public hearing for November 1 was made by D. Bownes, and J. Tivnan seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. Chair Hutchins said at the November 1 meeting, following the public hearing, the board will discuss and decide on the next step. Interim Planning Director Loughlin said language is available for review at the Planning Office and and on line for complete access to all information. She will have the map updated. IX. Reports 7. Planning Dept Report: B. Loughlin Interim Planning Director Loughlin updated the board. She told the board Evan Rathburn, the new Conservation Technician started Oct 3. The Director for Code/Planning position has been posted again. Staff is working with LRPC for the Master Plan timeline. The draft should be presented for adoption in March or April at the latest. The anticipated schedule is to have one chapter each month in 2017. X. Liaison Reports 8. Lakes Region Planning Commission: W. Hutchins Chair Hutchins stated at the last meeting, the annual budget was presented. 9. Conservation Commission: Interim Planning Director Loughlin noted the new Conservation Technician was hired. 10. City Council: D. Bownes D. Bownes left after the rezoning. XI. Other Business XII. Minutes 11. Acceptance of minutes from Sept 13 The motion to accept the September 13 minutes as submitted was made by H. McLean, and M. DellaVecchia seconded. The motion passed unanimously 8-0. XIII. Adjournment The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by M. DellaVecchia, and M. Limanni seconded. The motion passed unanimous 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:36 pm. Respectfully, K. Graham