PLANNING BOARD
Town of Greenland Greenland, NH 03840
11 Town Square PO Box 100
Phone: 603.431.3070 Fax: 603.430.3761
Website: greenland-nh.com
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING BOARD WORK SESSION
Thursday, January 03, 2019 – 7:00 p.m. – Town Hall Conference Room
Members Present: Frank Catapano, Jamie Connelly, Stu Gerome, John McDevitt, David Moore Rich
Winsor, Steve Gerrato (Alternate), Catie Medeiros (Alternate), Paul Sanderson (Selectmen’s Rep)
Staff: Mark Fougere – Consultant
Chair Gerome opened the Planning Board meeting at 7:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by the Chair; he announced a quorum was present and the meeting was being recorded.
- Pease Development
- Fougere reviewed his talking points for the Portsmouth Planning Board meeting on Thursday, January 17, 2019 (copy on file). He has been in contact with Juliet Walker, Planning Director. Their staff had requested an updated traffic analysis on a few intersections; no response has been received from Lonza. M. Fougere will know Tuesday, January 08, 2019, if Lonza will be going to the Planning Board on January 17, 2019.
- Fougere has discussed Lonza’s proposed staged approval process with Greg Michael, Greenland’s attorney. Initially, the shell of the building is proposed to be approved; Attorney Michael felt this should be appealed. He pointed out that if the shell is in place, the Portsmouth Planning Board wouldn’t deny a project that just needs to be filled in. M. Fougere explained that Lonza has agreed to return to the Planning Board for approvals to fill in the shell; Greenland would be notified of the regional impact. If the project is scattered and premature, it shouldn’t be approved. Any appeals would be made to the PDA and not the Portsmouth Planning Board.
- Fougere continued that the City of Portsmouth is receiving quite a lot of money from Pease development. There is a federal law that limits how the money can be spent. M. Fougere explained how money could possibly be put into a fund without impacting the federal law that limits where money can be spent. The Board may need to meet with the PDA to resolve some of the issues. R. Winsor stated that Greenland would need assistance to ensure the Town has all the information.
- Sanderson stated that one of the unknowns is how they were going to get other services, notably water which may be coming from the Greenland well. P. Sanderson explained that Underwood Engineers did a study funded by the State Drinking Water Fund of the Breakfast Hill Road water line. The water line would allow the City of Portsmouth to pressurize and go down the Lafayette Road corridor; it could be viewed as a development plan for the Lafayette Road corridor for Portsmouth at Greenland’s expense. There was discussion about the water line. P. Sanderson stated that Fish and Game has tested fish in the area and is now testing wildlife at Pease; there is concern that deer are contaminated. They are also testing shell fish in the Bay. Testing of trout in Berry Brook will continue for a period of time.
- 2019 Goals
The Board reviewed the goals for 2019 (copy on file). The Town Attorney was unsure if there was a way to prohibit private roads from becoming public roads. He felt it could possibly be done through a deed restriction required at the time of approval. Requiring roads to be built to Town specs and the Planning Board Engineer inspecting them doesn’t help. R. Winsor asked if there was an opportunity for an acceptance fee if a private road became a public road. M. Fougere responded they could be made to bring the road up to Town standards; P. Sanderson also responded it wouldn’t be an impact fee. A current use fee was suggested; P. Sanderson responded there was nothing in the State statutes. M. Fougere added that the owners have a right to petition the voters to accept the road “as is”. F. Catapano suggested adding a deed restriction that the owner(s) could not petition to have the private road become public.
Other discussions: J. McDevitt would like the Building Inspector to explain his request that Cottage Industry be further defined. Members felt the existing definition was fine. M. Fougere stated that work force housing would have to be a work topic this year. Towns are required to provide a reasonable and realistic opportunity for owner occupied and multi-family work force housing.
- Topics for Public Hearing: Thursday, January 17, 2019
The Fire Department Building Committee will be at the meeting on Thursday, January 17, 2019 to review the proposed fire station. The Library safety meeting has not been rescheduled.
- Approval of Minutes
MOTION: R. Winsor moved to approve the minutes of Thursday, December 06, 2018. Second – J. Connelly; all in favor. MOTION CARRIED
- Payment of Invoices
MOTION: C. Medeiros moved to approve payment of the invoice from Fougere Planning & Development from the Town Budget in the amount of $498.18. Second – R. Winsor; all in favor. MOTION CARRIED
- Other Business
Sign up for office: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 through Friday, February 01, 2019. Members whose terms will be expiring: Dave Moore and Jamie Connelly.
- Winsor felt that the Board should have a solution to encourage potential commercial development to Greenland. It needs to be in the Board’s forefront in discussions because the current situation is untenable and unsustainable. Can an avenue be created for potential revenue? Are there any blocks of property that might be candidates? There isn’t any available real estate within the Town’s Commercial Zone. M. Fougere suggested a tax break; D. Moore suggested rezoning some areas. The 50 acre parcel owned by the Town near Coakley Landfill is restricted on groundwater, but is not contaminated as a soil. Development of that parcel may be a viable option. P. Sanderson stated that the answer to industrial is along Portsmouth Avenue and make it water and sewer; it would naturally change over from residential. There was discussion about the 50 acre parcel being rezoned and similar to Autumn Pond; Town Meeting approval would be needed to sell the land. The agreement between Portsmouth and Rye for water to the 10 houses in Seavey Way would need to be amended to run a water line to the 50 acre parcel.
There was a brief discussion about the empty pad at Target and Lowe’s. The pad is owned by Stop N
Shop, which no longer has stores in New Hampshire.
The crosswalk is up on Post Road across from Bramber Green.
- Gerrato reported that the RPC is pushing for a 10 year corridor study. If they get a corridor study, Greenland won’t get what they want regarding gridlocks. He suggested getting ahead of RPC and 2021: know what should be done at the three major intersections. Does Greenland qualify for roundabouts? He suggested M. Fougere research SIDRA standards (Sidra Intersection is a software package used for intersection (junction) and network capacity, level of service and performance analysis, and signalized intersection and network timing calculations by traffic design, operations and planning professionals) and enter information from the traffic study; it will indicate if roundabouts would work. S. Gerrato requested that the Planning Board add $30,000 to their budget for conceptual drawings. M. Fougere agreed that alternatives may be the way to go. J. Connelly, also a member of the Budget Committee, didn’t think the Budget Committee would approve the additional funding.
- Winsor asked what the Planning Board would get for investing $30,000 in conceptual drawings; M. Fougere will contact Vanasse. He stated it would give the Board an idea of a possible solution; pricing would be done based on that information. The goal is to get traffic to move; the Winnicut River Bridge is the pinch point. There was a discussion about a petitioned warrant article.
- Catapano clarified that S. Gerrato was suggesting it was better for the Planning Board to do the studies rather than a corridor study which would put the Town behind. F. Catapano felt that the Board should ask for the funding. P. Sanderson reminded members that there was no growth in the Town last year and the expected tax impact this year.
- Gerrato asked that M. Fougere research the traffic study.
- Adjournment
MOTION: R. Winsor moved to adjourn at 7:58 p.m. Second – F. Catapano; all in favor. MOTION CARRIED
NEXT MEETING
Thursday, January 17, 2019 – 7:00 p.m., Town Hall Conference Room
Respectfully Submitted: Charlotte Hussey, Secretary to the Boards
Approved:
We have posted these minutes to our site, in an easy to navigate format, for your reference and convenience. These are copies only, and we strongly suggest you follow the link to the original copy to ensure you they are the most up-to-date filing.
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