Zoning Board of Adjustment

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT PUBLIC HEARING AND MEETING July 23, 2013 A public hearing of the Zoning Board of Adjustment was held on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 6:30 PM in the Auditorium at City Hall. Gerry Reppucci, Chair, conducted the meeting. Members present were: Gerry Reppucci, Chair Jack Currier J.P. Boucher Rick Johnson Robert Shaw David Creed Carter Falk, AICP, Deputy Planning Manager/Zoning Mr. Reppucci explained the Board's procedures, including the points of law required for applicants to address relative to variances and special exceptions. Mr. Reppucci explained how testimony will be given by applicants, those speaking in favor or in opposition to each request, as stated in the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) By-laws. Mr. Reppucci also explained procedures involving the timing light. 1. City of Nashua (Owner) Bridge on Manchester Street over Pennichuck Brook, requesting special exception to work in the 75-foot prime wetland and wetland buffer of Pennichuck Brook to replace the Manchester Street bridge, widen the roadway, add a sidewalk, drainage swales, and associated site improvements. R18 Zone, Ward 3. [TABLED FROM JUNE 25, 2013 MEETING] Voting on this case: Gerry Reppucci Jack Currier Rick Johnson JP Boucher David Creed Joe Mendola, Engineering Department, Department of Public Works, City of Nashua. Mr. Mendola said that the project is located at the town line on Manchester Street entering the Town of Merrimack. He said it is just over Harris Pond. He said the project is jointly managed between Nashua and Merrimack, the scope of work is to fully re-build the bridge, the funding is Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 2 15% for Nashua, and 5% for Merrimack, and the rest is from the State of New Hampshire. Mr. Mendola said that they have been before the Conservation Commission, and have attained approval, and have a stipulation being that they will follow the Bald Eagle Protection Guidelines, which is set forward by the New Hampshire Fish & Game. Mr. Reppucci asked if they are satisfied with the Conservation Commission’s three stipulations of approval, and if they are satisfying the nine special conditions for working in a wetland and wetland buffer. Mr. Mendola said that they will comply with all of them. Mr. Shaw asked if they are just building over the existing structure, or building an entire new structure. Mr. Mendola said the bridge will be new, but some of the existing structure will be left in place. Mr. Johnson asked about the traffic impact when the bridge is being replaced. Mr. Mendola said that traffic will be detoured during construction, the detour will be on Henry Burke Highway, and Concord Street. SPEAKING IN FAVOR: Ald. Rick Dowd, Ward 2. Ald. Dowd said that this project is long overdue to have this bridge replaced. SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION OR WITH QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS: No one. MOTION by Mr. Currier to approve the special exception on behalf of the applicant, as advertised. Mr. Currier stated that the use is listed in the Table of Uses, Section 190-112. Mr. Currier stated that during the construction there will be traffic bypass, but when it’s complete, it will aid in traffic congestion and with pedestrian safety immensely, because it’s not very conducive right now. Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 3 Mr. Currier said that there is no impact to public water, drainage or sewer or other municipal systems, in fact, it will really improve the public water supply by helping to keep the contaminants out of Harris Brook, which is right near our intake. Mr. Currier said that the special regulations are fulfilled, and when it’s done it will not impair the integrity or be out of character with the neighborhood, or be detrimental to the health, morals or welfare of residents. Mr. Currier said as mentioned earlier, the nine special wetland conditions are met. SECONDED by Mr. Shaw, with the minutes from the July 7, 2013 are added, including the Bald Eagle Guidelines. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0. 2. Beazer East, Inc. (Owner) Three Rivers Management, Inc. (Applicant) 2 Hills Ferry Road (Sheet 48 Lot 8) requesting special exception to work in the 75-foot prime wetland and wetland buffer of the Merrimack River to allow for soil borings and temporary monitoring wells. GI Zone, Ward 3. Voting on this case: Gerry Reppucci Jack Currier Rick Johnson Robert Shaw J.P. Boucher Adele Fiorillo, Wetland Scientist & Environmental Consultant, Normandeau Associates, Portsmouth, NH. Ms. Fiorillo said that they are doing pre-design preliminary work to remediate the site, within the Merrimack River prime wetland and its wetland buffer. She said the plan in the application package shows the locations of the wetland and the buffer, and all of work is geotechnical borings, installation of piezometers, and core sampling of the sediments. She said it’s all done to support remediation of the site in the future. Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 4 Ms. Fiorillo said that they did meet with the Conservation Commission, and they voted for approval with one stipulation to ensure that any of the soil tailings from the borings were handled properly, and they’ll be containerized and taken off the site. Mr. Reppucci asked if there is any EPA standard that they must follow. SPEAKING IN FAVOR: Peter Sawchuck, Key Environmental, Inc., Portland ME. Mr. Sawchuck said that the waste is characterized as a solid waste, and it’s managed in accordance with those regulations. Mr. Reppucci asked if they are required to do this anyway. Mr. Sawchuck said its standard operating procedure, any project where it’s generated an investigation derived waste, it’s containerized, labeled, and managed off-site, in an appropriate licensed disposal facility. Ms. Fiorillo said that the geology work will be done by a New Hampshire licensed geologist. She said that they have a Shoreline application in as well, and they are required by State regulations to notify the Department of Environmental Services, and the Conservation Commission would get a copy of the notification. Mr. Reppucci asked if they are familiar with the wetland special conditions. Ms. Fiorillo said they are, and will abide by all of them SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION: No one. MOTION by Mr. Currier to grant the special exception on behalf of the applicant as advertised. Mr. Currier stated that the use is listed in the Table of Uses, Section 190-112. He stated that the use will not create undue traffic congestion or unduly impair pedestrian safety, and it will not overload public water, drainage or sewer or other Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 5 municipal systems. He said in the long haul, this could improve public water by cleaning the Merrimack River. Mr. Currier stated that the special regulations are fulfilled, it will not impair the integrity or be out of character with the neighborhood, or be detrimental to the health, morals or welfare of residents, in fact, the applicant stated that it will help to clean up the site from the creosote. He said that through the oral testimony, the applicant will meet the nine special wetland conditions are fulfilled. Mr. Currier said that as part of the record, the minutes from the Conservation Commission of July 7, 2013, and the applicant has stated that they are ok with the one stipulation of approval. SECONDED by Mr. Johnson. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0. 3. Trafalgar Square Associates, LLC (Owner) Nashua TS Residence Inn, LLC (Applicant) 25 Trafalgar Square (Sheet G Lot 654) requesting use variance to allow a stand-alone restaurant to be built in conjunction with a proposed hotel. PI Zone, Ward 2. Voting on this case: Gerry Reppucci Jack Currier Rick Johnson Robert Shaw J.P. Boucher Elizabeth Ahearn, representing Nashua TS Residence, LLC. Ms. Ahearn said the property is owned by KNT Associates, LLC, and is under contract for purchase by the applicant. Ms. Ahearn stated that they are intending to develop a hotel and a stand-alone restaurant at the site. She said the variance solely relates to the restaurant, which would be a full service restaurant with 225 seats, with associated parking as required by the City Code. Ms. Ahearn said that an office building was proposed for the site, and a foundation was poured, but it was never built, due to economic conditions. She said that three sides of the lot Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 6 actually border commercial zones. She said that a majority of the uses in the neighborhood are not traditional industrial uses; the only one is across the street where Pfeiffer Vacuum is located. She said there are hotels, restaurants, shopping centers all in close proximity. She said that although restaurants are allowed as a conditional use in the PI Zone, it needs to be part of a site plan in which 75% of the uses fall in the industrial and manufacturing category. She said that since the hotel falls under the accommodations and group living category, the restaurant is before the Board as a Use Variance. Ms. Ahearn went over the applicable points of law for a Variance, to the Boards satisfaction. SPEAKING IN FAVOR: Katie Enright, Hancock Associates, Chelmsford, MA. Ms. Enright went over the location of the site, and the surrounding uses. She said that parking will be on all sides of the building and it will be between the restaurant and the hotel. She said the parking provided is per the Code requirements, and the restaurant is right in the middle of the requirements for the number of spaces. She said that all plans related to the landscaping, traffic, architectural features have been submitted to Planning Staff. SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION OR WITH QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS: Ald. Richard Dowd, 8 Ascot Park, Nashua, NH. Ald. Dowd said he’s not necessarily in favor or against the proposal, he said his only concerns are parking and traffic. He said the traffic issue relative to the traffic in and around the new Market Basket and the light going out onto Amherst Street need to be concerned. He said he’d rather see something developed there, rather than the foundation that’s been sitting there for so long, and it will bring in more revenue to the City for taxes. He said he didn’t see a problem with the hotel and restaurant going in, added revenue will help and it will help with the appearance of the area. Paul Okanak, 229 Cannongate Drive, Nashua, NH. Mr. Okanak said the intersection at this location is small, and said that they have about five hundred cars and people up at the Condo’s, and is concerned about the traffic at this one intersection, which is small. He said there’s been a number of accidents and near- Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 7 misses here. He said he’s surprised that none of the other hotels are here to discuss the case, as there’s four within walking distance. He said from Cannongate’s point of view, with five hundred residents, they’re concerned with traffic. Mr. Reppucci said that the Board doesn’t consider the competitive nature of the business. He said the points brought up about traffic are valid. SPEAKING IN FAVOR – REBUTTAL: Ms. Enright said that they submitted a traffic memo to the Planning Department, and their engineer has been working with the City’s traffic engineer. She said they believe that the infrastructure is adequate in this area for the traffic that the hotel and restaurant will bring. She said that there was a 6- story, 95,000 square foot office building proposed for the site, and the new proposal is for a 118-room hotel, and a 6,000 square foot restaurant, and it’s located in a park that is very much office and business, so a lot of the traffic will be off-peak. She said that one option is to put the restaurant inside the hotel, and just make it bigger, and it will be looked upon as an accessory use to the hotel, and wouldn’t be here for the variance, but they want to make the restaurant an amenity to the whole neighborhood. SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION OR WITH QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS – REBUTTAL: None. Mr. Reppucci said that the Board did get a letter of support brought to the Board from the applicant, and read it into the record, from Samuel Tamposi. Further discussion ensued. MOTION by Mr. Boucher to grant the variance on behalf of the applicant, as advertised. Mr. Boucher stated that a zoning restriction as applied interferes with a landowner’s reasonable use of the property, considering the unique setting of the property in its environment; no fair and substantial relationship exists between the general purposes of the zoning ordinance and the specific restriction on the property; and the variance would not injure the public or private rights of others. Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 8 Mr. Boucher stated that the request is within the spirit and intent of the ordinance, and it will not adversely affect the property values of surrounding parcels, it is not contrary to the public interest, and substantial justice is served. Mr. Boucher stated as a special condition of approval, that this approval is conditioned on the hotel being built, as currently presented to the Planning Board. SECONDED by Mr. Johnson. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0. 4. Sky Venture New Hampshire, LLC (Owner) 3 Poisson Avenue (Sheet A Lot 193) requesting variance to exceed maximum wall sign area, 150 sq.ft allowed, 305 sq.ft granted by ZBA on August 24, 2004, 265 sq.ft existing – an additional 114 sq.ft wall sign requested. HB & GB Zones, Ward 7. Voting on this case: Gerry Reppucci Jack Currier Rick Johnson Robert Shaw J.P. Boucher Attorney Gerald Prunier, Prunier and Prolman, P.A., 20 Trafalgar Square, Nashua, NH. Atty. Prunier said that the Sky Diving business, approved in 2004, has been extremely successful, people come from all over the world to the facility, and it’s been good to the surrounding businesses as well. He said the proposed indoor surfing use will be the only one in the United States, and will be the largest one in the world. He said it will be a great addition to the City of Nashua. Atty. Prunier said that Poisson Avenue slopes down quite a bit, and it’s below the existing CVS. He said the proposed sign is included in the package, it’s mainly letters. He said the sign is only what they need, it’s not a huge additional sign, and the sign is important for identification. Zoning Board of Adjustment July 23, 2013 Page 9 SPEAKING IN FAVOR: No one. SPEAKING IN OPPOSITION OR WITH QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS: No one. MOTION by Mr. Shaw to grant the variance on behalf of the applicant, as advertised. Mr. Shaw stated that the variance is needed to enable the applicant proposed use of the property, as discussed, this sign will add additional identification for the additional aspect of the business, and there are no other reasonable means to do this. Mr. Shaw stated that the request is within the spirit and intent of the ordinance, and it will not adversely affect the property values of surrounding parcels, it is not contrary to the public interest, in fact, if anything, it should help direct customers to the site, and substantial justice is served. SECONDED by Mr. Boucher. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5-0. MISCELLANEOUS: REGIONAL IMPACT: Mr. Falk said that there is an extra week in the application deadlines, and does not have an agenda. He said once it is available, he will email a copy to the Board members. MINUTES: None. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Reppucci called the meeting closed at 7:50 p.m. Submitted by: Mr. Johnson, Clerk. CF Taped Hearing