Wales Planning Board Meeting

April 10, 2006

Minutes

 

 

In Attendance:  Ed MacDonald (Chair), Alice DiPaolo (Co-chair), Lori Blier (Secretary); Lyndon Spaulding (WPB), Tom Goudreau (WPB), Brian Gagnon, Rick Valentine, Al Siderio (WFD).

 

Ø      The meeting was opened at 7:10.  Lori distributed the agenda, minutes from March 27, 2006 meeting, Site Visit Notes from March 25th, a copy of the amendments made to the Floodplain Management Ordinance, and a copy of the contours guidelines e-mail from Ferg Lea of AVCOG.  Alice distributed information related to mining that she found on the state’s web site.  The minutes and site visit notes were reviewed by board members and approved as written.

Ø      The board invited Al Siderio, Brian Gagnon, and Rick Valentine to present their business to the board relative to the Route 126 subdivision (Cedar Lane).  Mr. Valentine had a revised sketch plan and distributed copies for our review.  The two lots formerly known as 4 and 6 have been combined.  They would like the option to split that after the 5 years to allow for flexibility for which of the Gagnon brothers builds in the first phase and where on that lot.  They wanted to know if they would have to come back before us at that time or if they would be able to deal with the CEO on it.  We believed they would be able to bypass us to split that one lot after the 5 years, because you are allowed to split a lot once (after the five years) without it being considered a subdivision.  We indicated that if they also wanted to develop Lot 1 at that time that they might have to come before the board again. 

Ø      Mr. Valentine indicated he had another question regarding the center line radius with 100’ tangent on curves from our road ordinance.  He’s unable to meet those requirements without adversely impacting the adjacent wetlands and wanted to know if there was any way he could get away with what he’s presented on this revised sketch.  Board members indicated that waivers can be granted for the road requirements provided the road commissioner verifies that these reduced requirements are acceptable to him and that emergency vehicle access is not compromised by the lack of conformance.  Mr. Valentine will contact Horton to work with him on acceptable waiver requests regarding the road and common driveway requirements.    

Ø      Al Siderio presented his letter and materials regarding the proposed subdivision.  He asked about whether or not the road over the brook would be reinforced with a bridge or some other concrete structure to ensure its ability to hold up if fully loaded fire trucks needed to access the interior lots.  Discussion on the weight of the trucks empty and fully loaded followed.  Mr. Valentine indicated there was no bridge planned and that there was a large culvert currently.  He will look into the design and ensure it is capable of handling the load.  Al then indicated that it would be desirable to have a water source available.  He provided information on a fire cistern that could be installed that would hold 15,000 gallons of water.  He indicated that the fire department would maintain the water levels and check it yearly should one be installed.  He also indicated that a pond with a dry hydrant would be an acceptable water supply for the subdivision.  It was noted that there are only two town water sources, one on the corner of the East and School Roads and one at the bridges off the Avenue Road.  Mr. Valentine indicated they may need to put in a pond to satisfy the DEP after they work with them on expanding the crossing.  If this is the case, they’d like to have it serve both purposes and have a dry hydrant installed.  These are usually designed for 45 thousand gallons and they would need to get a permit and work with DEP for this type of implementation.  Mr. Valentine will let Al and the board know in which direction they decide to go with this .  There was some discussion about the maintenance of the dry hydrant systems.  We concluded the discussion on the Cedar Lane Subdivision with the clarification that the preliminary plan needed to be submitted to the CEO 14 days prior to the scheduled meeting of the planning board.  Mr. Valentine will ensure that this occurs and may see us at our May meeting.  We advised that we would also be having a public hearing on the Floodplain Management and Definitions Ordinances at that meeting, but that since they are state mandated changes we don’t expect much of a turn out.

Ø      The board reviewed the changes made to the Floodplain Management Ordinance and the Definitions Ordinance.  Although the section adding two separate charges was optional, the board decided to maintain those changes.  Alice will get a notice in the newspapers for the public hearing which we will hold during our normal meeting time on May 8.  Lori will print up a sheet to post in the 3 locations Paul usually posts these things.

Ø      Lori updated the group on her discussion with the Maine Municipal Association on the Henry matter.  According to their legal department, they don’t believe the variance should have been granted in the first place.  They indicated that we could perhaps record our letter with the registrar of deeds as a miscellaneous document if we just wanted a trail to indicate we had ruled on it.  As they read the law and the information I provided, the current variance is a “dead letter” and as such the Henry’s would need to come before the board again to request the modifications (which have already been done 15 years ago) and that we would have to deny them etc., etc.  However, the variance was granted under the town’s building code at that time and it may be reasoned that when the initial shoreland zoning ordinance went into effect that the property was considered an existing non-conforming lot that was grandfathered.  The board feels that we will let the letter we sent allowing for the rental stand and that at the time of the sale of the property it will revert or they can have their lawyers review the letter of the law and determine the status of the property.

Ø      The board briefly discussed the mining ordinance proposal.  Tom asked why we were pursuing this and Alice explained that Paul was concerned because Pat Cyr was looking into purchasing some property in town for mining purposes that could involve blasting and such.  We will all review the information Alice provided before the next meeting.  Tom has a lot of material on this from research he did a couple years back when Pat Cyr was looking to buy a piece of his property.  He will bring that with him to the next meeting.  Lori will try to find time to find a town mining ordinance she remembers seeing on the internet somewhere.

Ø      The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.  Next regular meeting will be held May 8, 2006.  At this meeting we will hold the public hearing for the Floodplain Management Ordinance Revisions and the Definitions Ordinance Amendment.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lori Blier, Secretary

 

 

Related documents:  Updated sketch plan for Hemlock Ridge/Cedar Lane (126 Property) Subdivision; Floodplain Management Ordinance revisions document