Planning Board - Regular Meeting

All right. Uh, this is Mary Brener, senior planner. Um, I'm going to call this meeting to order because the chair and vice chair are both absent this evening. Um, and we have one alternate here today that is needed for quorum. So, uh, Joey Kosa will be participating as a voting member this evening. Um, first order of business. Can I get a motion to elect uh Ken Cost as the chair prom for the evening? So moved.

All right. So that was moved by Andrew Madison, seconded by Mayor Khan. All those in favor? Opposed. All right. I'm going to hand it over to you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The hour of 6:30 having arrived, I will call to order this regular meeting of the planning board. The meeting is being broadcast live on the city of Keen YouTube channel and channel 1302. The video is also streamed on the city's website and is posted on the website by the end of the next business day, barring any technical difficulties. Anyone wishing to view a copy of the agenda and supporting materials will find it on the city website. All actions taken during this evening's meeting will be will also be posted on the planning board web page. To receive electronic copies of future agenda packets, please go to the homepage and subscribe to the city meetings email list. The public and other board members will be recognized to ask questions and make comments on the agenda item under discussion. After being recognized, all remarks are to be made through the chair. Will staff please conduct the role? Harold Fairington, Robera Master Giovani, Mayor Jay Khan,

present. Councelor Molly Ellis, David Burggeron, present. Michael Hayer, Kenneth Cost here. Andrew Madison here. And for the alternate, Stefan Mayu, um Tammy Adams, and Joey Kosa here. Okay, thank you. The uh first order of business is to approve the minutes from uh March 23rd. And is there a movement to approve the minutes? A second. Second.

Are there any comments or questions or changes? All let's approve the minutes. All in favor? Opposed? Minutes are approved. The next item on the agenda is an extension request. This is for PB2025-06 cottage court conditional use permit major site plan and surface water protection conditional use permit. Guitard Homes Court Street. Applicant Fieldstone Land Consultants PLLC on behalf of the owner Gdard Homes LLC requested a second extension to the deadline to satisfy the precedent conditions of approval for the proposed 29 unit single family cottagec court development on the undeveloped lot at zero court street t number 228-16- the parcel is about 9.7 acres in size and is located in the low density district. And um we'd like to invite the applicant to speak on this request.

Mr. Chairman, just really quickly um just so everybody knows with the air conditioners running right now. It's very hard to hear in here. So please make sure you your microphones are on and you're speaking clearly so everyone can hear you. Can you can you hear me? Okay. Or I can talk louder. I just see staff having the worst of it. We do have extra chairs.

Um so, Mr. Chair, the applicant is not here tonight for this extension request. This extension request was um done at the request of staff because there was a a lapse between when the application would have expired and this evening um of just a few days. And so they submitted the extension request to make sure that their application wouldn't expire prior to the granting of final approval this evening. So they met all of the conditions for final approval prior to the expiration but had to wait for this planning board meeting date. Um so that was the entire reason for the extension request. Um staff let the applicant know that they didn't need to be here this evening um for the extension request. So, uh, we'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have, but essentially the the project is ready to get started.

Thank you. Does the board have any questions? Like to hear from the I'd like to hear from the applicant is not here. Yeah.

Is not here. I'm sorry. Was there a question? No. Okay. Yeah. I I'll put a question to it, Mr. May. Yes. Mr. Chair. Yes.

U I I think that this is a very visible project. uh one where there's it's a pretty active site and uh I'm wondering what what is the hangup in getting so I mean this is for final approval tonight. Uh, I I guess I I just like to know. I think the public is interested in this project uh and has an interest that it's moving forward in a in a straight line. Uh, and that uh I think some commentary beyond they missed it by a couple of days uh isn't fully in the public's interest of wanting to know the status of the project. And a for instance uh the clearing of the site was going to be in phases uh and uh it seems that that isn't the case. Uh and I just wonder you know what what is the plan for execution given that it's seems to have evolved since the time that we approved it.

Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Mayor, I'll attempt to answer that question. So, this project um re I think they received one extension before this. I could be wrong. Um but basically, they've been working on meeting their conditions of approval for quite some time. They were able to meet their conditions of approval, but it was after the last planning board meeting before this planning board meeting. And because they met the conditions of approval um before this planning board meeting and the planning board meeting date was a few days after the expiry date, that's why they submitted the extension request to keep their approval valid. So the project is still moving forward. Um they did do some clearing on the site and they have started to install some of the erosion control measures just to make sure that there's no um sedimentation or anything leaving the site. Uh but no site work can begin until after they receive final approval from the board this evening. And so they've done the clearing and they've done some minimal um installation of erosion control measures, but other than that um they're waiting on this final approval to get going with the project. The project is still um planned to occur in phases. Um so phase one, if you will recall, is the phase that's closest to the street um in order to get the transmission lines in. I think it was something to do with Eversource and where their pole was located and where they had to get the lines through. Um they had to do some additional tree clearing that wasn't shown on the original plan. And so they're they proposed to um replant that area after the the clearing has taken place. Um but they had to do that in order to get the electrical line in, I

believe. So, um I think that's the only change from when the plan was approved by the board. It So, if I hear you right, the electrical lines are being fed from the back of the property to the front.

No, they're coming from the street. And so, there was supposed to be um a buffer of mature trees that was left between the road and the site. And there are still some trees there, but they had to remove some of them in order to get that line through, if that makes sense. Um, the back of the site, they just ended up clearing that at the same time as the front of the site. Um, I'm not entirely sure what the rationale was for that other than they already had the people there and they were doing the clearing. So, I'm not sure. I actually don't recall that they were going to clear in phases, but that's now that you mention it, that sounds right. Um, but the the tree clearing was done, I think, a few months ago at this point. Do you remember when that was done?

A month ago. A month ago, maybe. Yeah. So, yeah, it is very visible. It It is very visible. Yeah.

Can Can we um turn that off and if it gets too hot because it's really it's hard to hear and probably for everyone. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um so this is um we need we want a motion to um grant the extension request. Move to issue a second six month 180day Can you turn on your microphone please?

Yes. I'll move to issue a second six-month 180day extension to the time frame to satisfy the precedent conditions of approval for the project PB 2025-06.

Second. All in favor? Opposed? Passes. The next item is um final vote on conditional approvals and make sure I am this is a standing agenda item. As a matter of practice, the board will issue a final vote on all conditionally approved plans. After all of the condition conditions precedent have been met, this final vote will be the final approval and we'll start the 30-day appeal clock. Are there any applicants tonight that are ready for final vote?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mary Brener, senior planner. We have two applications tonight that are ready for final approval. Um, one of which was listed in the agenda packet and is PB-2025-06, a cottage court conditional use permit, major site plan and surface water protection conditional use permit for Guitar Homes located at zero court street. tax map parcel number 228016000000. Um there were see six conditions precedent including that the owner signature appears on the plans submittal of five full-size paper copies and a digital copy of the final plan set including renderings. Submittal of an updated plan set that addresses all outstanding comments from the city engineer and shows the proposed name for the private driveway. Submittal of a security in a form and amount acceptable to the community development director to cover the cost of landscaping, sediment and erosion control measures and asbuilt plans. Submittal of draft written documentation of the required utility easements and any other necessary legal instruments required for this application which shall be subject to review by the city attorney. And then finally, the approved permit numbers for the shoreline protection, alteration of terrain and wetlands permits, as well as any other required state permits um shall be added to the proposed conditions plan of the plan set. And all of those conditions have been met.

Any questions from the board? Then we need a a motion to approve final approval. I'll move to issue final approval for planning board 2025-06. Second. All in favor? Opposed. Okay, that passes.

Right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. There's one more um application that's ready for final approval this evening. PB 20225-29, a another cottage court conditional use permit, surface water protection CUP, and major site plan. This is for the property at 454 Elm Street. This application had four conditions precedent to final approval, including that the owner signature appears on the plan set, submitt of five paper copies, and a digital copy of the final plan set, submitt of a security form and amount acceptable to the community development director, and finally, we have um the fourth. Is this the one where we're switching this to the condition subsequent? Yes.

Yeah. So, the fourth condition precedent was submittal of draft written documentation of the required utility easements and any other necessary legal instruments required for this application subject to review by the city attorney. Um staff are recommending to make that a condition subsequent to final approval and you should see that on your um suggested motion language. Um, and this would also include, this was done at the request of the city attorney who felt that it would be better to include a condition that also required that the easement would be executed. Um, and so staff are recommending to make that a condition subsequent to final approval. But the first three conditions have been met and then if the board decides to issue final approval this evening and make that condition a condition subsequent then um that would be met after the plans plans are finalized and signed.

Thank you. Does board have any questions? Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I guess my big question is I'm not seeing this one in the in the agenda or uh any supporting documents for it in the agenda packet.

Yeah. So, this this application actually met its final condition of approval today. So, they um it's kind of a little bit I know this has always been something that has thrown planning board members for a loop a little bit, but because the agenda packet comes out 10 days before the meeting, applications that meet their conditions for approval in between the time frame of when the agenda packet goes out and the meeting, we just have to bring to you the night of the meeting. Um, however, I do have the full folder here. So, if you wanted to take a look at the plans, you can. Um, I could put them up on the board if that would be helpful. But this is for that 18 unit cottage court on Elm Street. Uh, see, it's like right by Route Nine on Elm Street where the tree clearing has taken place and where the historic Satic Keys, if I'm saying that name right, uh, home was located. Um, so yeah,

understood. Thank you. Other questions, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, question for staff. Uh, if I may, that the, uh, will this require a subsequent action of this committee?

No. If you issue final approval this evening, then that's the final approval. Um, however, staff would follow up on all of the conditions subsequent and then if the applicant were for whatever reason to not comply with those conditions subsequent, we would go through um an enforcement process which could ultimately end up coming back to you to revoke the approval. However, that's very very rare. And the review is specific to the utility easement subsequent review. So the uh there's a number of conditions subsequent um that they would be held to. I can read those for you. Um so we have subsequent to final approval would be um that prior to the commencement of site work the community development department shall be notified when all erosion control measures have been installed and the 30-foot surface water buffer is flagged by a surveyor licensed in the state of New Hampshire. Two, community development staff shall inspect the erosion control measures and wetland flagging to ensure compliance with the approved plans and all city of Keen regulations. Three, submittal of recorded utility easements and any other legal instruments necessary for this application to the community development department. Four, the applicant shall obtain final acceptance of the new utilities from the Keem City Council following the completion of all infrastructure construction. Five, following the initial installation of plantings, the community development department shall be contacted to perform an initial landscaping inspection. And then six is the final landscaping inspection that happens one year later. So those are the currently the conditions subsequent that they would have to meet and they wouldn't get their security back until the landscaping is you know has survived for a full year in

good health and they provide the asbuilt plans and all of that.

Just to add a little bit more there. So we're actually we're proposing a subsequent condition number seven which is the uh re the staff review of that utility easement. Um the applicant actually did submit draft documents in time, but um staff has not been able to thoroughly review them. And staff felt that delaying approval, final approval for this application by a month just because um we were working on some easement language to the benefit of the city. We didn't feel that was appropriate. um by making it subsequent, we also tied it to the issuance of a building permit for the first new unit for this project. So before we issue a building permit for them to build, um they have to make sure that all these easements and and utility documents are all squared away and executed and we have copies of them. Um so there still is uh uh time for staff and the applicant to work on these documents while not um unnecessarily delaying the project. Thank you. Other questions? So, can I get a motion to for final approval of PB2025-29?

Do it. Move to issue final approval for PB 2025-29 with the following condition subsequent. Seven. Prior to the issuance of a building permit for new dwelling unit construction, the utility easement shall be reviewed to the satisfaction of the city attorney and city engineer and executed and recorded by the applicant. Proof of recording shall be delivered to the community development department. Thank you, Mr. Madison. All

second. Thank you. All in favor? Opposed? Passes. Next on the agenda is a public hearing for PB. Make sure I have the right one. PB 2025-21 subdivision and surface water protection conditional use permit. Applicant Cardinal Surveying and Land Planning and applicants owner Fernand and Margarite Seir proposed to subdivide the 10.6 acre lot at 315 Old Waffle Road, TMP 2102700 into a 7.9 acre lot and a 2.7 acre lot. About 7,815 square ft of impact to the surface water buffer is requested for proposed driveway and grading for a leech field. The parcel is in the rural district. Does staff have recommendations for completeness of the application? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Evan Clemens planner. Uh the applicant has requested exemptions from submitting a separate existing and proposed conditions plan, landscaping plan, lighting plan, elevations, traffic analysis, soil analysis, historic evaluation, architectural and visual appearance analysis, and all other technical reports. Staff has made the preliminary determination that granting the requested exemptions would have no bearings on the merits of this application and rep and recommend that the board accept it as complete. Does staff have Okay, so motion to accept the applicant as complete. We need a motion.

Second. Second.

Yeah. All in favor? Opposed? The applicant application is complete. So now we'd like to invite the applicant to present their proposal. Good evening. I'm Wendy Peliter from Cardinal Surveying representing Fred and Margarite Seir.

I'm Josh Jawsen with Grass Engineering also representing the property owners. So, we have, as was read, we have a 10 point I know this is going to be hard. We have a 10.6 acre parcel. This is 315 Old Walpole Road. Um, way out almost before Wyman Road is up here. This is Abbott Road right across the street.

Okay. Um, there's currently a single family home on the lot and they're proposing to subdivide the lot into two into two parcels. That's much better. Um, it is surrounded by other single family homes on on smaller lots. So, this is, in my opinion, a great use for the property. Um, the rear of the lot here, I don't know if you can see that well enough, is prohibitive slopes. So, there'll be no no building from here back. The front of the lot is encumbered by a wetlands. The orange line is the wetlands buffer. So, there'll be no building within that. This is the the proposed lot and the only building area is right here highlighted in yellow which is about a half an acre. The house and the septic system is proposed down in this corner and as Josh will show you there's a driveway that's proposed to come up through here. Um I'll let Josh

Can everybody hear me if I don't use the mic? You have to use the mic. You have to use the mic. You can take it off and hold it. I'll just I'll bring it over to me. You can take the mic off if you want. Yeah, why not?

Okay. Yeah. So, my name's Josh Johnson. I'm with Grass Engineering and I did the conditional use permit for the work within the surface uh surface water protection overlay district. As Wendy pointed out um on her map, this is the frontage here with access for the driveway coming in right here. And there are wetlands that we're going to be within the 75 ft buffer of and crossing a wetland. So, if can everybody see this plan? I do have extra copies I could pass out if it's easier. Um if we're all good. Okay. Um, so essentially you've got wetlands here down to the south and another wetland here up to the north that does have an existing culvert uh that's recently been replaced by the property owner because there is some old paths out here that were accessing the back of the land out in this area. So, we're proposing the driveway to come in as far to the north as we can on this property, essentially hugging this property line, maintaining the 3-foot uh setback requirement for the driveway off the property line, and matching it back up to uh one of those existing paths where it crosses the cover. And basically, it's a 300T driveway out to the building site. We're proposing to keep it uh 10 feet wide to minimize the disturbance in that area. We're also proposing to cross pitch the driveway so that it's all going to be cross pitched down to the south where it'll be caught by a drainage swell here that flowing back towards old Walpole Road and dissipating through a stone level spreader before it enters uh the roadside ditch here and runs um down towards the south along Old Walpole Road. Uh there's a high point in the covert right in this section um that basically

splits the flow down to another swell here and into a stone level spreader that we're proposing at the furthest point from that wetland uh to dissipate water before it re-enters the wetland. And then down along this side of the driveway, losing my easel. along this side of the driveway. We're we're proposing um either a curb or a burm depending on whether or not the driveway remains gravel or is paved. And that's going to capture the water from the driveway up in this section and dump it into a swale right here and eventually into that stone level spreader will it will be dissipated. Uh you can see the thick bold lines right around the driveway. That is the proposed silt fence. also the limit of clearing basically the minimum required in order to u maintain as big of a buff buffer from this wetland as we can. Uh this does also need a dees approval for that the replacement of that covert which will be submitted tomorrow. I just got comments back from the conservation commission today which I've been waiting on for uh submitting that to the dees. Um, this is basically a zoomed up version of that crossing section. So, the culvert is right here. This is that burm I was talking about that's going to carry water from the building site across the crossing into a swale and then dissipating through that stone level spreader. And we are proposing to pick that driveway up about 2 and 12 to 3 ft to get proper cover over that um culvert. And we're proposing boulder retaining walls so that we don't have any extra grading into that wetland. So those are going to be about three foot high retaining walls to get about two and a half feet of cover over that cover. Um with that I'll open it up to any questions from the board about this or about the subdivision.

Any board members have questions for the applicant? Did you say that the culvert that's there now was that that was replaced once already or is that the original culvert that was there? That was replaced um Fred about a a couple years ago. I replaced a couple years ago. They must did something must have took some trees out like 15 20 years ago maybe longer. Yeah. Okay. And they had a piece of junk in there. We're going to need was it metal metal called metal? This is a Yeah, this is a HDP. Excuse me. Um, can you repeat that with the microphone so that it could be recorded? Thank you.

Um, it was all piece of junk metal culbert was squished like a pancake. So, I took it out and put a regular one in and there's very little hard no water going through it anyways on that culbert. Okay. Um, just really quickly just for the minute taker and anyone watching, this is the owner of the property or one of the owners. Correct. Yes. Fred Seir, right? Seir. Yeah. Okay.

I had um any other questions from anyone? I I had a question just looking at the drawing just trying to figure out what the old at the end of the day what the distance will be to the wetland for from the edge of the driveway. I'm looking at the drawing here, but I'm trying to figure it out because there's a lot of lines and

well, I I guess essentially at the closest point there is no setback because it's it's the crossing, but um for the most part I was trying to keep 60 30. Um 25. That's 30 uh approximately between uh 30 and 35 ft along the length um up until you hit that crossing point. And then we did design it with the the low point at the stone level spreader uh to be about 45 feet from the wetland. So that way we're capturing all the water from that driveway at the furthest point. Um so that it does have a 50 or 45 ft flow path before re-entering. Um and I should also mention that all of our proposed seating within the 75 ft buffer is a New England buffer zone mix. Um, so rather than just lawn, it'll be a mixture of wild flowers and things that are good for uh for slope restoration and uh enhanced buffer zones.

I had one more question because you mentioned it could either be paved or maybe unpaved. Yep. We don't know that yet. Does in the engineering of it does it make a difference if it's unpaved? Is that more pvious surface and maybe more and no?

Okay. We treat gravel as imperous only because it's um once it gets compacted and lifts and then driven on you really don't see any extra infiltration. Uh the only kind of I guess major not major design change but design change would be that this burm here if it is paved it'll be a modified Cape Cod BM. So it'll be 1T wide batuminous burm with a 4-in reveal. And if that uh remains gravel, then it'll be an embankment burm. Um so we'll make it a little bit higher and it'll be uh lomemed and seated and so it'll be like an earth berm rather than the the patuminous curb.

Thank you. Other questions?

So I'd like to other questions and invite the staff to comment. Thank you. Take a seat. Good evening everyone. Evan Clemens, planner. Um so as the applicant described, it's an existing uh roughly 10acre parcel with a proposal to uh subdivide about 2.7 acres off it, create a new building lot. Um uh the some significant encumbrances on um the existing parcel and the building lot that we're working our way through. Uh so the purpose of the conditional use permit is really proof of concept that um the proposed lot to be subdivided is actually uh it's feasible to build on uh for residential development. So, um, the review of this application is two-part. Both, uh, the subdivision regulations as themselves, which I'll kind of just, uh, get through as quickly as possible because, uh, the majority of the work here is going to be on that surface water conditional use permit um, as described by the applicant with that driveway. Um, so the uh uh uh for the lots, the proposed lot uh meets all dimensional requirements in the rural district with 80 feet of frontage on a class 5 uh roadway being old Walpool Road and the remaining lot will have 159 ft of frontage. So that standard is met. Um the character for the land for subdivision uh the applicant uh has described the front half of the parent

parcel as sloping between 3 and 8% uh the rear half being prohibitive uh significant wetland systems and um with the prohibitive slope of the rear. Um ultimately you will need to decide this evening in approving this application and approving the conditional use permit um if you believe that this land is appropriate to subdivide. Um so in regards to the character or premature uh the proposed lot uh is uh um going to be located on an existing city road in a developed residential area. Uh so this uh proposed subdivision is not premature. the standard is met um for preservation of existing features. The applicant proposes to minimize impacts to the existing uh wetland system by designing the driveway to cross at the narrowest point of the wetland. Um the prohibitive slope is not proposed to be impacted in any way. Uh the stone wall along the road will be altered to create the driveway entrance otherwise it will not be touched. Um and in regards to the interior stone walls as far as this application is concerned uh are not proposed to be altered in any way. So you'll need to determine if that is sufficient to uh uh for the preservation of existing features. Uh monumentation is uh 5/8 inch cap steel rebar to be set at uh each new corner. an angle point and a condition of approval related to the monuments being set or financial security uh given to ensure the monumentation of this is proposed in the suggested motion language. Uh the lots are not in a special flood hazard area. So that's not applicable uh for fire protection and water supply. Uh there is a fire hydrant 08 of a mile uh from Old Walpool Road and 71 miles from a hydrant on Wyman

Road. Uh the fire department did not raise any concerns uh related to serving this proposed building lot uh with this application. So we believe the standards this standard has been met. Uh for utilities, the proposed building lot will be served by private well and septic systems. Um, NHDEES subdivision approval will be required for the new lot as it is less than 5 acres in size. We've added a condition of appro approval related to the dees subdivision review and approval with a suggested motion. Um, okay. Surface water protection. First one is the relocation of the proposed use and activity. Uh basically the question is is uh has the applicant done everything that they can to uh limit the amount of proposed impact? Can it be put somewhere the driveway be put somewhere else that would further reduce the impact to the wetland? Um after reviewing the application uh we believe that the uh the applicant has uh made a real effort to minimize uh impact to the wetland. Uh examples being uh crossing the wetland at the narrowest point to it, keeping the pro proposed driveway as far away from the wetland as possible with the proposed new lot lines while also utilizing the existing topography of the site. Um the buffer encroachment is uh uh proposed to be 7,815 square ft of the 75 ft buffer. The driveway is designed to meet the long driveway st standards in section 935 of the land development code. Excuse me. These standards include the requirement the driveway be no wider than 10 ft. Um so that reduces the amount of impact to the buffer. The design includes the installation of two stone level spatters drainage swale and berm to control storm water runoff from both the wetland and the public rights of way. Uh the impact

for the leechfield uh is related to the grading to install the system. Uh the leechfield itself will not be located within the buffer which is a requirement of the regulation. Um as far as adverse impacts are concerned um the applicant has shown uh that most of the future residential development on the property is proposed to be located outside the wetland buffer. Um, so the the residential building box that's shown on the plan is outside of the um the the the buffer the driveway turnaround uh the the septic system. Um and then uh storm water management systems are proposed with the driveway and take advantage of uh the existing soils on the site which uh percolate very well. Um so there's good infiltration there. Um and then the amount of clearing proposed is limited to what is necessary to install the driveway and associated infrastructure. Uh for preservation of the buffer, as the applicant just stated, uh they're limiting cutting to what is absolutely necessary. And then they are proposing a a native wetland buffer seed mix to restore impacted areas um to really uh uh preserve the buffer as much as possible. Um and then the applicant did note that uh the existing condition of the but the buffer is a very minimal uh low growth vegetation. So they're actually hoping that the seating involved in the driveway is going to improve the uh the understory and the vegetation around the wetland system. uh additional criteria. Uh the applicant in their study of the system notes uh that the existing wetland system is small and was created by a minor watershed that drains into already developed land. The system is not connected to a larger wetland system in

any meaningful way. No potential uh potentially endangered species were observed and the NHDES data check tool provided a negative response with respect to the presence of endangered species. Then the applicant also notes that due to the condition of this wetland system, it's unlikely to be used as a wildlife corridor. Uh the last thing that I will have is to go over the recommended motion uh and suggested conditions of approval for this application. I would like to note that we are adding uh one more subsequent to final approval motion. Um, once I get through the rest of it, I'll I'll note it again. So, prior to final approval, approval and signature by the planning board chair, the following conditions, precedent shall be met. Owner signature, uh, wetland scientist stamp to be shown on the subdivision plans. Submittal of four full-size paper copies, two myars in a flattened PDF for the final plan set. Check in the amount of $51 for recording fees. Inspection of lot monumentation by the public works director um or the submitt of a security in the form and amount acceptable to the director to cover the cost of monumentation. um submittal of documentation demonstrating the subdivision approval has been granted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and um a revised storm water manage report to be reviewed and approved by the city engineer. Um just some minor discrepancies going back and forth between the city engineer and the applicants engineer. Um, so we're uh just giving uh the applicant a little bit of time here to to resolve uh some of the the methodologies with the storm water um simulation and report if it's deemed to actually need to be altered. Um but it's not an uncommon occurrence. And then um subsequent to final approval

uh the following. Prior to the issuance of a building permit for new residential construction, a plan showing the proposed building envelope, driveway grading, and erosion control measures shall be submitted to the community development department for review by the city engineer. That is uh the conditional use permit and the approval for the conditional use permit effectively in action. Um the applicant this evening is um like I said earlier, it's like a proof of concept that this lot is buildable. The future end user may be interested in potentially changing the driveway layout um relocating where the house is. that may trigger um a a new requirement to either amend the surface water conditional use permit or some other mechanism um that we really can't anticipate at this moment. So, um, when the buyer of the land, the the new lot comes in and they propose to build, um, they will either hand back exactly what you've approved this evening to us, saying, "We're going to do it exactly as the planning board approved it," or they're going to say, "No, we're going to do it differently." And then you may see them again um for a new uh surface water conditional use permit for their actual proposed development. And that's why that condition is there. Um and then uh prior to the commencement of site work, the community development department shall be notified when all erosion control measures have been installed and the wetland buffer is flagged by a surveyor licensed in the state of New Hampshire. Staff will inspect the erosion control measures and the wetland flagging to ensure compliance with the approved plans and all city of Keen regulations. And then just a a C condition. Condition C is going to be a smittle of a copy of the approved dees wetland permit um that the applicant stated they're submitting for tomorrow. Um so we would like a copy of that approved permit for the project

file for this application. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time. Thank you. Does um board members have any questions? Mr. Mayor, is there a house on this property currently? Yes. Any of the 10 acres? Yes. Can you turn on your microphone, please? Sorry. Uh so in in the existing remaining seven plus acres there's a house within that perimeter.

Yes. Yeah.

Oh and don't let me forget I actually have one more thing to add after your your question Mr. Mayor. Uh so there is an existing single family residence and a couple of out buildings. Uh they're located uh fairly north westerly of the um of the of old Walpool Road. So they're kind of tucked away uh out of the the wetland system. Uh this piece of property is actually really interesting. The it's it's a very gentle slope up away from Old Walpool Road and then it practically is a cliff face. It gets super steep super fast. Uh, so the existing residence is is kind of tucked back up there. Um, and then there's a little bit of clearing farther to the north and like I said, a couple of outuildings.

So, where I'm looking at what page? Page 34 where it shows a barn. That's approximately where the Can I point it out? Yeah. Okay. So, this is the proposed line. The house is right here. The barn that you're seeing is way up in this corner. So, this is a barn. There's a couple of little That's the existing house. This is the existing house. Okay. Proposed house will be down here.

I see. Thank you. And then the that is the the proposed house and the driveway to it is going to be where? Thank you. So this is this is old Walpool Road right here.

Yeah. The driveway starts here, comes up and over. Yeah.

And then this is kind of the the building area for the house. Doesn't have to be exactly here because it's outside of the wetland. And then they're proposing they did a test pit here for the leech field. So that's pretty much locked in place. They got a a turnaround for their cars where the driveway kind of flares out. That's a requirement of the driveway regulations. And then so all of this here is wetland. So, how how long is that driveway?

Just about 300 feet on the dot. And so, we've got long driveway standards. That's why it's got to be 10 ft wide, not any wider. It's why it has to have the turnaround at the very end of it. And the proposed the existing property is way not even on this. Yeah, that's why that's part of my source of my confusion is trying to site the two properties that didn't Yeah, of course. building sites together, but having trouble seeing that on the drawings. That's okay.

Can you go to the uh the other plan for me? is. Yeah. So, you see up here? Yeah. So, that's the existing house. Yeah. And then down here, go up a little bit more. Yeah. So, then right here is where the new building area is going to be. So, they're subdividing this off.

Thanks. I was having trouble reading this.

No worries. Okay, the last thing I wanted to mention is that this uh application did also Thank you very much. Um, it went to the conservation commission. The commission did hold a sidewalk. Uh, they had a couple of recommendations. Ultimately, it'll be your decision whether to include these recommendations into the final approval. Um so the three recommendations uh were uh uh the you the utilization of uh road salt best management practices on the driveway uh to reduce the amount of salt contamination into the wetland. Um invasive species management during construction. Um and then uh monitoring the silt dam weekly with repairs as needed by the developer. Um I would like to just remind the board that this is going to be a a single family residential building lot and uh we are sort of limited in in the amount of um enforcement of very specific conditions um for a development at this scale. Um so uh certainly the the conservation commission um noting best management practices for both erosion control and salt usage uh into the record for this application is productive. Um uh and then invasive species uh management is um a little tougher to uh keep track of. I'm not going to lie. But it is good advice uh for any builder to um be aware of any invasive species within their working area and any opportunity to address that issue uh during construction certainly be appreciated by the city.

Um and Mr. Chair, may I add one comment here just because I was there for the conservation commission's discussion. Um so as uh Mr. comments noted most of these recommendations are more suggestions for the owner um and sharing of of information and and the conservation commission recommends that. Um but they did have some concerns that with any fill that's being brought onto the property, it's getting more and more difficult to make sure that phil is clean and won't have invasive species um growing in it. And so they they're trying to uh raise awareness about that issue um because the spread of things like Japanese knotweed and burning bush and just all these bittersweet vines um are becoming a really big problem around the city. And so they're more trying to raise awareness and educate with these um recommendations. And I did also want to note that these were shared with the state as well um to be submitted with the wetlands permit application that the applicant mentioned earlier.

Thank you. And that is actually all I have Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Any questions? Other questions? Yes. I heard you say two different things about the conservation commission's recommendations. One is we can incorporate them in. The other is that they're just good management guidance, not necessarily needing to be part of the conditional use. I I guess I just want to get your recommendation really clearly that these should be incorporated into the conditional use permit.

Uh no. Um I miss Brunner said it much better than I did. That's not the intent of the conservation commission that we actually incorporate this into the approval. It's more about uh bringing awareness to a potential uh future uh uh homeowner who lives there uh and builder that that the conservation commission is recommending these best practices.

Thank you. I had um one one last question before we go to public hearing. And um in here it talks about um prior to issuance of a building permit for new residential construction, a plan showing proposed building envelope, driveway, grading, and all of that would come back to the city engineer. Um, so I understand from what you said if a future buyer builds the driveway as we're looking at it today, um, that's that's the test and and if if he wants to change it or they want to change it significantly, it comes back through this process. And for the house, I mean, the house just shows us a square and I assume some one will design a house that might be different than that or larger or or whatever. So, does that also come back or as long as it's cited in the same location, it doesn't matter?

It's a it's a great question. Um, so as long as the house is not proposed to be built in the wetland buffer, uh, bless you. Um, it it doesn't necessarily need to come back. Okay.

Um, but if the proposal is to alter the approved impact to the buffer, um, then it needs to come back. So, uh, the the the building box is sort of a a proof of concept. Um, as the applicant stated, there's about a half acre of buildable upland in kind of this space between the wetland and the prohibitive slope. So, that's just kind of citing an area that a house could fit. Uh but yeah, final design will be up to whoever actually builds the home and as long as it meets all of the requirements and it's not in the wetland setback, that won't need to come back.

Thank you. No more questions. So, we can move to um invite the public to speak. Is there anyone here who would like to speak on this application? If not, um, we opened and now we'll close the public comment portion and we can move to board deliberation. So, are there any concerns or any other remaining questions on on this? And also, um, well, I could say it, I guess. Um, I don't believe there is a potential for regional impact, so we could get that off. But any other comments, conversations about this application? None. So, we need a motion on this request,

Mr. I can do it. Okay, Mr. Madison, thank you. Am I reading the motion from the agenda or the one? Thank you. With the uh permit submittal at the very end too, which is probably not on.

Okay, I can wing it. Move to approve PB 2025-21 as shown on the plan set prepared by Cardinal Surveying and Land Planning at a scale of 1 in to 50 ft on September 17, 2025 and last revise on April 14th, 2026. and on the plan set prepared by Graz Engineering with a variable scale on March 22nd, 2026 with the following conditions. Prior to final approval and signature of the plans by the planning board chair, the following conditions uh precedent shall be met. A owner's signature appears on the plan. B. The wetland scientist stamp shall be put on the subdivision plans. C. Submittal of four full-size paper copies, two myar copies, and a flattened PDF version of the final plan set. D, submittal of a check in the amount of $51 made out to the city of Keen to cover the cost of recording fees. And E, submission of the wetlands permit from NHDES to the community development department.

There's a back side. Oh, sweet. Oh, God. I correct myself. E. Inspection of lot monuments by the public works director or in lie of this the submittal of a security in a form in amount acceptable to the public works director to cover the cost of monumentation. F. Submittal of documentation demonstrating that subdivision approval has been granted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. G. A revised storm water management report to be reviewed and approved by the city engineer. Two, subsequent to final approval and signature of the plans by the planning board chair, the following conditions shall be met. A prior to the issuance of a building permit for new residential construction, a plan showing the proposed building envelope, driveway grading, and erosion control measures shall be submitted to the community development department for review by the city engineer. B. Prior to the commencement of site work, the community development department shall be notified when all erosion control measures have been installed in the 75- ft surface water buffer is flagged by a surveyor licensed in the state of New Hampshire. Community development staff shall inspect the erosion control measures and wetland flagging to ensure compliance with the approved plans in all city of Keen regulations. and C submittal of a wetland permit from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to the Community Development Department. Second. Okay. Any discussion? Edits?

All All in favor? Opposed? Passes. Thank you. We can move on to um other business and then move on to staff updates.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um this evening there's only one staff update which is that the city has started a an update to the bicycle and pedestrian master plan. Um so the city was a pretty early adopter of bicycle and pedestrian plans. Um the first one was adopted in 1999 and was added as an appendix to the last master plan. Um and so you know this is an update that's long overdue. Um right now the the project just kicked off right around Earth Day. Actually, I think on Earth Day um was the project kickoff meeting with the Bicycle Pedestrian Pathways Advisory Committee. And we have a survey out right now for anyone interested. Um I believe I included a link in your packet. And the reason why I'm bringing this up to you now is that um at the end of the process, if this plan does get adopted by city council, um you may see it come back to you to be added as an appendix to the master plan. Um so if you're interested in following along with this process, uh a a link to the project page is in the packet. I believe you can also get to it from the bicycle pedestrian path advisory committee page. and um or it's keenh.gov/bikeped plan. And um we're hoping to do a good amount of outreach with the community this summer, including bike and walk audits, um focus groups, and community meetings. So, um in addition to the community survey. So, that's pretty much it.

Thank you. And new business. Anyone have new business? We do have upcoming dates of interest, but I want to just jump to the more time, see how people feel. Um, there's some training that's been postponed and postponed and um so if everyone's feeling okay um perhaps we can do some of this training. Good. Is everyone miss? Yeah. No.

I I guess I just offer Mr. Chairman if I might that we are pretty thin tonight relative to wanting to do training. I mean, we could try probably check the box, but is this really sufficient for doing it this evening? Well, the only the only it it would be recorded, so it would be on record if somebody does look back, but I think your point is good. Um, it just seems like we never get to it. And and I think the next session is going to be very heavy. So, um, we could take a just decide if we want to do it or not.

I would say let's, uh, let's hold off on it. I know the summer tends to get a little easier for folks. Um once we get through the next meeting that I think will be pretty pretty heavy. Um we can schedule a time to do this training so that we can get the most people in because I I don't just want to, you know, bang it out so that we can check a box. I want to make sure we get as many of the regular and um and alternate members um able to actually get the train because we do have a lot of new people on the board and I think they would they would benefit from it. So I think we either we could either do it that way or um community development could work to find a an alternative meeting date and time or a special meeting date and time for us to get that out so it's not you know on the agenda. And we could just bang it out on a, you know, an evening or a weekday when we got time.

Like a breakfast meeting with bagels. Yes. Okay. Okay.

I just wanted to add really quickly that the trainings that have been done so far are all on this city's YouTube channel. There's actually a YouTube playlist that um our amazing AV technician person has made for us and I included links to all of those um individual episodes. I think they range in length from like 1 minute 30 seconds all the way up to like the 7 minute range. Um so if you if you are ever interested in seeing what the past trainings have looked like, you can go there and watch those recordings. Um the initial idea from I think four years ago was to do um at every meeting just go through one development standard and then throughout the course of the year you'd you'd be trained up on all of them. But in practice it it's now stretched out over three years and we're only on I think development standard six. So I think that um Mr. Madison's suggestion might be good to just set aside a separate time to do all of this and and get it all out. So, I'll leave that up to you, but just wanted to provide that background.

I think that's a good idea that we could focus on it. It's not an add-on and although it's not very late tonight, it it a lot of nights people are ready to go home. So, okay. So, we will work on that. Um, upcoming dates of interest. The joint committee of the planning board and PLLD is May 11th at 6:30. The planning board steering committee May 12th at 12. The planning board site visit if it's needed is May 20th. And a planning board meeting the next is May 26 at 6:30. And with that, it's 7:44 and the meeting is adjourned.