Planning Board - Regular Meeting

welcome folks online and elsewhere we're gonna call the regular meeting of the planning board to order we have a full board tonight so first set I'm under agendas approval in May 21st 2026 meeting minutes motion to approve the minutes any discussion because you weren't here any other discussion all those in favor aye any opposed We have withdrawal of the request of Borough LLC as owner for property at 150 Portsmouth Boulevard. That does not require a vote. The applicant has withdrawn the application. The request to postpone by Reagan Electric as owner and Chinberg Property as applicant for property located at 94 Langdon Street and 98 Cornwall Street, requesting site plan review approval.

I will be recusing on that one.

Are we postponing to a date certain?

was gonna say we need to continue this to the July motion to postpone items a and B to the July discussion all those in favor so I can explain later but we'll get to it when we talk about a change in the regulations so moving on to public hearings new business and as usual procedure for public hearings we follow presentation by the proponent questions by the planning board members public comment limited comments to for against the application of proposal anyone providing public comment you have to provide your name and address for the record anyone wish to speaking wish to speak in the up to three rounds has to speak in the preceding rounds so you have to speak in the first round to speak in the second second speak in the third First round is up to three minutes, oral comment only. Second round, if we have one, is a maximum of five minutes. You can do a presentation if necessary. And third round is a maximum of five minutes, oral comment only, after which the public hearing is closed. First item we have a public hearing is a request of Liberty mutual insurance company's owner for property located at zero Borthwick Avenue requesting a wetland conditional use permit from section 10, 10, 17, 50 for maintenance of a stormwater detention pond at the Liberty mutual property. This project involves a replacement of a failed 24-inch culvert, along with removing two feet of sediment from the existing detention pond, unburying two existing culverts which would be cleaned and reset, and removing and trimming vegetation. Total surface area impacts within the prime wetland buffer include approximately 9,500 square feet of temporary impacts of dredge work, 700 square feet of wetland buffer disturbance for replacement of the culvert, and 225 square feet of direct prime wetland impacts. This property is on Assessor's Map 240, Lot 3, and lies within the Office Research OR District. Who is here to present this application?

Good evening Damon Burt Fraggle Rock environmental were presenting for Liberty mutual You gave a great summary on our projects. That's relatively straightforward So a lot of that Really goes into most of the details that we're proposing We have Gone to the Conservation Commission meeting. You folks should have received an April 13th letter discussing the Wednesday, April 8th meeting. We presented the proposal in front of the Conservation Commission, and they were in favor of recommending approval for our project. So we've submitted also an invasive species management and stormwater maintenance plan that you should have received. Basically, the existing detention pond has been maintained over the years, but not regularly. And, you know, the culvert has failed, and that's on basically the – That would be the east side. I don't see the North Arrow on that plan, but where the yellow is that's right where the cursor is right in that area. So that's our closest to the prime wetland and we have photos in there and you know, it's really the size of the wetland. Certainly the disturbance around it probably doesn't necessarily dictate that the wetland is you know of super high functioning right there with the phragmites and stuff but it's really the size and the city has designated that as prime wetland so we're definitely noting that and uh requesting uh to do the work within that prime wetland buffer so we have about 9 500 square feet and that's the uh orange area so we're going to go through we did some limited probing there and it seems like there's vegetation and a bunch of stuff sediment that's accumulated in the bottom of the pond we're proposing to take out about two feet of it along with some invasive species management in the area uh... so that's that's our main and then will be resetting the uh... the culvert twenty four inch culvert which we actually couldn't find uh... so right now the water sort of going in and we think it's baby going out through through the material a little bit but actually weren't able to find the culvert so we went back to the original design and it was a twenty four inch culvert we're proposing to install right in the same location you know obviously about to be excavated and get down to that and you know work with a contractor to set the culvert correctly so it doesn't fail again but so we're not changing any of the stormwater original stormwater design as part of this project just basically restoring its function so it will detain water and allow some to go out That's our main focus. There's also inlets to the pond and those ends of the culverts are also with time have gotten covered up. So we're proposing to remove some of that material and free up those basically the head walls where the culverts come into the stormwater area. So we have a few of those areas. And then we have some limited tree clearing, and that's in the green zone. We are close to the railroad right away. So we're just going to do basically on the top of the bank. And we do have some photos later on that show some of the trees are basically starting to fall over. They're basically like quaking aspen and limited. you know pretty quick growing trees but they get blown over so we're proposing just as part of this maintenance to clear some of those trees and the conservation commission asked us how many many trees were proposed to be removed and i just want to confirm the total we had 15 trees in that zone so we have three red maples um two white pines and 11 of the quaking aspen so but we're not gonna uh some of the photos later on um i'm not sure if you have that um figure that has yeah in that section if you go down to photos there are some yeah that's the parking lot and you know uh photo five you'll see uh phragmites and obviously the wetlands adjacent to that have a lot of phragmites invasive species so we're going to manage that and truck it and bury it five feet off site there isn't a you know adequate area on site to deal with the invasive species so we're going to work with a contractor and have it buried per basically the standards for invasive species five feet underground we'll truck it off site so some of the trees in photo nine you'll see like the quake and aspen they're up on that little section of bank and you go farther up there's some nicer oaks along the railroad track we're not proposing to take any of those But basically right now, obviously when we do it, we'll clean up some of the trash that accumulates. Even during the time we're working on it, stuff just shows up there. And I don't know who would dump stuff there because obviously it's Liberty Mutual and there's plenty of cameras. But there's a lot of stuff that shows up and is in the wetlands that we'll certainly deal with as part of the project. So that's our main scope. I think of anything else that you may have questions about. We're basically going to follow the guidance for invasive species in the management and certainly take rid of the sludge material basically that will come out. is the 24 inch pipe there and just buried or do you think it was not installed i'm pretty sure it was there and buried but we can't find it i mean we could have but it was kind of like mucky and digging i we just couldn't find it uh we suspect it's there um are you going to are you going to be removing this debris with the equipment outside of the area with like with arms going in or do you have to go into the area we'll probably be going into it we're still finalizing with a contractor but we do have um there's a couple arrows and that'll be an access point that likely will get excavators down in there and we'll try not to go much into there but I think it's just logistics of distance that will have to be partially in there we'll do whatever we can from the bank basically of the of the detention pond and reach in and clear but I think there's likely gonna excavators gonna have to go into the pond and may access that that culvert area from within the pond rather than the other side of know the dig probably from the top down possibly i'd we were still sort of figuring out that concept from a contractor but we don't propose to be out in that yellow area to work or within the pond to work or on the top of the berm and then what happens with the debris the the soil that the two feet yeah we're going to do the same practice and basically just bury that off-site because it has the seed source so we're going to consider it all basically the same as invasive species because the soil itself will have the phragmites seeds we we don't anticipate a ton but if it's you know well probably in the tons obviously but um you know a couple feet of Material will come out so you know several truckloads will bury off-site Thank you In addition to the tree removal plan I think there's a mention here from the concomitant tree planting. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes good point So we are gonna plant though 13 trees And basically pick native trees. We have not formalized that with the landscaper that's on-site through Liberty Mutual, but we'll basically do similar on-kind. I know we probably won't recommend quake and aspen, but likely red maple would be appropriate. white pine possibly alongside the parking lot so we just have to communicate so we are gonna uh we've already liberty already liberty mutual said that we could plant the 13 trees and those are going to be along the parking lot it might be a long section of this detention pond but um you know along that general work area we will be proposing we don't have a final count i mean we have the count of trees but we don't have locations yet

Yeah. What's the motivation for doing this?

through the city the city at the uh basically the property got transferred to liberty mutual and public works was the one that um my understanding is they were the ones that realized that there was not outlet or the pipe was buried in the pond so the requests came from the city to first from public works and public works have been involved in the project that way

so that's that's how it started yeah counselor moreau um you talked a lot about some trash that's gotten into the area and trying to look at some of the pictures and the just the guard rail that's there is there a way you could design it to try to prevent that from happening because i'm guessing like wind and maybe even plows when they're plowing things get caught up i'm just wondering if there's some sort of like some sort of even fabric barrier or something that would keep stuff from flowing in there i'm just curious if there are ways

no that's a great question i i really honestly don't know the majority of the history but i know there's you know some people that you know probably don't have homes that use that general area and cross through that so some of that trash potentially comes through there i don't really know all the details of that the landscaper that deals with the snow we as part of this proposal we updated the snow management plan and so a lot of the piles that have been previously along this pond area or stormwater area we're not going to be using that for snow storage snow storage is going to be Basically outside the buffer of the hundred foot as much as possible I mean, that's that's the guidance and that's what Liberty Mutual basically wrote up so we're gonna there, you know, there's no the contractor and has that documentation that we're gonna so we are adapting so the answer is yes we're working on that and so really any trash associated with the snow should be not near the pond so a hundred percent i can say yes um the plan is there and the guidance so hope is the contractor follows it and what contractor i know personally has received the plan okay i you know so and if they certainly if they have questions they could contact us so i i'm pretty sure and and talking to liberty mutual they had conversations um i'm just not in the process of uh guaranteeing anything but all all intents and purposes there won't be any snow storage in that area i mean certainly there'll be plowing and working in the area but no like major storage and we have had previously when I first started on the project there were large piles and that's not going to happen so that's a great question because that really gets to a lot of a lot of the issue so yeah thank you for that sure I might have missed it but the timing of your work

We're entering this time of year where we have microburst storms. Like we just had a few hours ago.

Yeah. I saw the trees, the branches. Yeah.

And you're pretty close to your property line. It looks like with those filter socks on the outlet, assuming you do expose that culvert and you assume you can get a flow back going to the east. Um, if you haven't gotten all of that stuff mucked out of the pond,

just i'm concerned about timing you might need to keep an eye on the weather oh yeah oh for sure for sure yeah because um we would know that we'd want to try to do it during a dry period and our expectation likely that it would just be a few days so we would in a dry period you know i'm timed right it's an easy job time badly it could be a mess exactly so if it you know say if one of those bursts came through but we wouldn't expect to be during that period we'd go for a real dry dry period so we don't anticipate but we'd certainly berm up the exit and then have any uh contingent

uh plans for any storm water uh to hold on site and basically not discharge anything that's and do you have a and this is another thing i might have missed i've been busy with things uh a maintenance plan so it doesn't get as gummed up as it has yes yep yep we have uh you've got it you don't have to explain it you've got it oh sure yep i'm good yep any other questions for the applicant if not i'm going to open the public hearing thank you very much sure anybody here on zoom wishes to speak to for against this application one more call anybody here on zoom wishes to speak to for against this application if not I'm going to close the public hearing

I'll make a motion. Vote to find the condition of use permit application meets the requirements set forth in section 10.1017.50 of the ordinance and adopt the findings effect as presented.

Second. Discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

I'll make another motion to grant the condition of use permit with the following conditions. I'm going to reference the staff memo of 2.1 through 2.4 in that motion.

Add a correction to the first condition sure that the applicant shall provide a planting plan to the planning department instead of the planning board Any other discussion all those in favor aye Thank you very much, thank you appreciate your time I

We have requested the City of Portsmouth New Franklin School as owner for property at 1 Franklin Drive, requesting a wetland condition use permit from Section 10-10-1750 for work within the 100-foot wetland buffer area in conjunction with building additions to the New Franklin Elementary School. This project proposes a site increase of 535 square feet of permanent impervious impacts within the wetland buffer area. Additional stormwater infrastructure has been added to offset the increase in impacts within the buffer. This property is on assessor's map 220 lot 2 and lies within admissible M and highway noise overlay districts. Who is here to present this application?

Good evening. Ken Lynch, Director of Building Grounds for Portsmouth Schools. I have Adam as well from EEI, our general contractor, and Neil from Ty and Bond. We're here before you to present the final phases of our elementary renovation project. As you know, we started with Little Harbor School in 2015. We went on to Dondero as part of the... Reviews of the elementary and redistricting New Franklin was then the next school up for renovations This phase here before you is to begin the three-year phase project To allow us to then start shuffling the students in the building around to get to school adequately to the same value and Design as the other schools as well. So I'm gonna hand it off to Neil and He can give a little insight on the back side, and I can answer any other further questions for you as well.

Good evening. Neil Hanson with Ty and Bond. So the focus of the application for the wetland CUP is the addition closest to the highway. The site is primarily, or the playground to the west is surrounded by wetlands. So that area where that addition is going, the drive aisle and the parking is within the 100-foot buffer. um the one of the objectives of the project was to not lose any parking on site however once we had the wetland buffers we did end up eliminating four parking spaces so we didn't have any additional impervious surface within the 50 foot buffer there is a small increase in impervious within the 100 foot that's just a result of the the drive lane needing to maintain that full width access around the rear of the school for emergency access and then also maintaining as much of that parking on site as possible for anyone that's been around there it's a pretty tight site in general um and then with within that work area within the uh 25 foot buffer where we are proposing to restore and replant that with a conservation seed mix and then the other piece of mitigation we're redirecting the storm water which right now sheet flows directly into that small wetland adjacent to the highway that'll be collected into a closed drainage system deep sumps soil or the water separator hoods and discharged into the existing closed drainage system away from the wetlands

um that's that's really the uh the gist of it and we'd be happy to answer any questions questions of the applicant kind of a random one there was a note on the plans about removing sheds and coordinating with an owner is there a different owner of some of this others owned by someone else no that's ours so those are our pta sheds okay they're right with the parking spots we're just going to put them over to the left next to the uh the blue garden shed I just wasn't sure if it was a different landowner or something.

Any other questions? Yes, Bill.

So the letter winds up with the sentence, the proposed additional impervious area within the wetland buffer is in the best interest of the public as the proposed project will address existing student overcrowding issues at the new Franklin School. This is speaking of the current enrollment at the school.

Yeah, so what we're talking about there is current enrollment at school, but also current needs of the students in the school. So we have a lot of staff members who are not working in classroom or office spaces. They're actually working either in closets, quarter spaces and all that and this whole process if we look at the plan as a whole is to get them into educational spaces when we have more one-on-one pieces and this phase one here allows us to start that that shift in the school of rotating and moving towards the the end goal of the student needs

So that's the current state. I'd like to think kind of master plan and capacity of the impact and infrastructure in the city and such. I think the new Franklin School catchment area would include the outer Market Street and outer Woodbury area, which has two projects that we know of. One is in process and the other was going to be with us tonight but was deferred, that together we'll have a population of about 1,000 people? Correct. Within the catchment area for New Franklin. Is there a... So if this uses up all of the space that is expandable, pushing it a little bit into the wetlands which surround the school and you've got roads on either side, is there a strategy going forward if you have a significant number of students from these thousand people that will be phase two?

for new Franklin there is a plan in place so in just long story short this is one of two additions next year we're going to be putting on four classroom on addition to help alleviate that right now we work with the planning board of seeing what infrastructure for new housing is coming in strategically throughout the city and then we strategically look at what is being built in those in those housing units one bedroom two bedroom three building and how do we calculate what students are coming in now and or what's coming into the future and some of these plug and plays what we would say is you talk about market street we have atlantic heights who goes to little harbor school but then you have spinnaker point Osprey landing that goes to New Franklin's we strategically look at bigger development smaller developments and in what school district that we will then bust them to or Identify them into as part of the redistricting of the school So we're where we have a separate school committee on that as well as well as working with the planning board and the city councilors to ensure that I Don't come back to you Five years down the road and I got to blow out the whole backside of the wet one to put on 15 more classrooms So we're well aware and we try to stay ahead of that of that curve of the building I think councillor Moreau wants to add to this to the City Council as a whole has actually toured all of the schools and

we've worked very closely with the school board who's actually in charge of the districting so when new projects come on they can then make a decision if it's one really good sized project as it going to a specific school it doesn't necessarily mean it has to go to New Franklin it might go to Little Harbor because Little Harbor has more space I can tell you out of all three schools New Franklin definitely needs the most upgrades and expansion it's not up to the level of our other two schools in for sure so this is these are necessary needs now so the sooner we can get these done the better but it's really the the amount of populations of children i mean you start to look at like west end yards that didn't really bring a whole lot of children believe it or not to the area so we do have some larger projects that might bring children but it's really not our job to look down the road at that it's the school board's job to work with the planning which this they do very closely with the planning department knowing what's coming and then they can make those strategic decisions about where those kids will go to school well we have a we have a reflection of this plan in the master plan this plan what do you mean by this plan well that if the district understands the coming

they're doing yes they're doing student population projections and that they they have been talking to you to about that so we will have that yes okay and the implications for the structures in the three schools yes and now we're off topic so these people who are waiting so let's let's get into that we've got a master plan conversation towards the end so we can any of the questions of the applicant Okay, I'm going to open the public hearings. Anybody here or on Zoom wishes to speak two-four against this application? Second and last call. Anybody here or on Zoom? Is anybody on Zoom at all? There's no one. There's not even there. Okay. All right.

I'm going to close the public hearing. Move we vote to find the conditional use permit application meets the requirements set forth in section 10 10 17 50 of the ordinance and adopt the findings of facts as presented Any discussion all those in favor any opposed Vote to grant the conditional use permit and with the conditions outlined in the staff memo.

Second. Any discussion?

All those in favor? Aye.

Any opposed? Thank you very much. We have a request by Riggs. RIGZ Enterprises LLC is owner for property located at 806 Route 1 bypass, requesting a fourth one-year extension to the site plan approval that was originally granted on June 23, 2022. The third extension will expire on June 23 of this year. Peter, do you want to explain the extension process?

I do, and also the engineer is here, so if you have any questions for him. Okay. you recall this project was approved the city of Portsmouth the city market retail retail market the property next door became available and they purchased that and that's where they built the city retail establishment and this site has not been there been some drainage improvements that were tied to that property that were done but The site plan review agreement and conditions precedent for this project were never satisfied, so they didn't vest the project. And so while that project next door was being built, this project has come back for several extensions. They went to TAC this month. Nothing has changed with the exception of adding an eight-foot fence along the rear of the property, which now can be constructed a permitted fence but they're still moving forward I don't know that they have a full plan on what's what it's going to be but they're still considering it just going to be retail and so the project next door is wrapping up and they're looking to get their bond back for that project and I would assume they would then move forward with all the conditions they need to meet to satisfy invest this this project you have questions for the we have folks have questions for the engineer or do we have any reason to think that we would have to give another extension to this project because I'd be really weary I can't speak for the applicant about what what their time frame is but certainly if they come back you could you can't deny it without having a public hearing right so But they can maybe speak to their timeline.

Paul, do you have a question?

For the chairman or Peter or both, can we grant a fourth and final extension to the project?

I think it's a site plan, right?

It's a site plan. You could grant a fourth, if they come back for a fifth, you could not grant that.

I could not grant this one.

You have to have a public hearing, which is not, it's not on the agenda for a public hearing. We have to bring it back. You could grant an extension with the understanding no more will be granted.

I guess I'm trying to understand if perhaps they can help us that as approved, this project What would it be? A mirror of the new one that's right next door?

Well, I think they're still considering just going to be retail.

Wine in one building, beer in the other.

They're considering they used to be retail. I don't think it's going to be the same as what's next door. Mr. Chair.

Would we like to hear from the applicant? Yes, Tony.

If we can hear the applicant before my question. I was just going to ask if there's any precedence. Do we have any presence of approving these extensions to this extent?

I've never seen this many.

I can tell you in the time I've been here, I've never seen four.

Would you like to approach and introduce yourself and give us an explanation?

Yes, thank you. I'm Alex Ross, engineer and surveyor. I prepared the site plans for this. And, yeah, we didn't mean to set a record on this one. It was so complex. with all the utilities for both of these sites we were working with the city and DOT mainly on drainage that just kind of cut through every every which way and was in poor condition ran underneath buildings So that was really time consuming. I'm here with the builder, Dave Grzybowski, he can speak more to it. But the actual work on this site, because we had to do so much next door that kind of intermingled with this, The remaining work on this site is really small I think he has an estimate together, you know for the site work is $30,000 and The plan is to jump right on that. So I don't think there's any need for another extension So the idea that this may be the last extension fits with your plans, yes, I

can support that yes tony and then joe when does the when does it expire next week tuesday next week nothing like pushing it right to the final

for a meeting yes joe uh just seeing that i mean i recall approving this um you know previously i don't recall it being a difficult or controversial project and i think denying it doesn't do anyone any good um the fact that they're ready to go i can jump on it immediately i i wouldn't be inclined to Again, if it came before us for a fifth time, I think that would just be silly, but I'm going to take their word that they're ready to jump right on this and get this over with.

And you are going to do the eight-foot fence in the back?

We actually have already. Yeah, there was some damage to the existing fence. And we worked with the neighbors on exactly what they wanted to see. And we've kind of submitted and given that material to Peter.

That's the only issue I remember as being a problem. So if it's done, it's done. Would somebody like to make a motion?

Motion to grant a one-year extension of the site plan approval to June 23, 2027.

Second. Any other discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Thank you. See you in a year.

See you in a year.

See you in 15 minutes.

I think they know better not to come back again.

So did folks get a chance to look at the proposed revision to our rules and procedures?

Yes. Yes.

Uh, the way that works, we can do that at a public meeting. It does take a vote, but I assume folks have a question. Um, the idea of continuances and by the way, legal has reviewed it and they're good with it.

So they are good with it. That was going to be one of my questions. I knew it would be. That's why I asked.

Um, so the idea of continuances strictly going by the book. You come in here for a public meeting, public hearing. If you ask for a continuance, it goes to the next meeting. There's no additional notice. So the abutters don't know what's going on. If they're here that night and they hear the first request for continuance, they are here to hear it. But it's typical for them not to show up at subsequent meetings. So some applicants I know sometimes have used this, and I'm not saying anybody has in this instance, but I've seen it in other jurisdictions where this has been – to pick up on the vice chair's question at one of our meetings it can be a divisive way to sort of avoid public input this is intended to avoid that and you can't do it without having a rule so this is a rule basically would allow one continuance you don't have you don't need a reason you want a continuance you get a continuance if you want a second continuance for cause means they have to demonstrate a reason that the board would vote on and that's it you get up to two the way it's written

Yes. This is really silly, but just because it was part of the public comment that had prompted this clause, is there a way that we can put a piece of paper on the door that says, hey, FYI, 123 Main Street has been postponed or continued so that at least people in the audience will know?

Well, we post the agendas on the board, and those are updated if applicants request to postpone.

Yeah.

I mean, we could certainly...

I mean I just it was it's more actually more than that one comment yeah it is something that's because I've seen it here since I've been on this board with other boards it's just better practice because what it what this does is it requires applicants to be ready when they request a slot on the agenda otherwise it takes a lot of staff time to go through applications that they're rereviewing and rereviewing and then they get

continued that's that's a horrible waste of staff time I guess along the lines of your concerns I think it would be important I know when I first joined the board we actually made a really big deal of actually suspending the rules and pulling things out of order and bringing them all up front for the purposes of postponement right so that would be one whole vote and then we'd read them into the record and in postpone them each individually And I think on top of maybe making it slightly more formal, we also need to explain to the public anything that is postponed that was a public hearing will not happen. The public hearing will now be at the next meeting. And I just think if we're much more deliberate about spelling that all out, maybe we won't run into the circumstance that we did previously.

I don't know if this is drafting or by design, but the way this is written, you get one free bite at the apple where you don't have to notify the abutters, and it's only the second time that you get a continuance that you have to notify the abutters.

The first one, everybody's already notified. That's why it only says it. So the first meeting, everybody's been notified. So you can't request a continuance except in a meeting where the abutters have been notified, and presumably if they're interested, they'd be here. so that's why it doesn't say that because to get to get on the agenda they have to be notified initially so that that first meeting like the public hearings we just had those were the abutters were notified right if the new franklin school wanted to be continued for some reason under the new rule they could city be different but anyway they'd get get a continuance one continuance for free but the abutters had been notified for tonight but they haven't been notified for the second one they would if they're here under this they would yeah they would

I don't read it that way, but I guess I'm alone. Applicants are allowed one continuance for any reason to the next meeting of the Board. To the very next meeting, yep.

So that's defined as to when. In that case, the abutters are all here in the room or they're watching if they're interested in participating, right? So they hear that continuance. That's that's their notification that that is there, right?

Yeah, we could we could require formal Some master plan consultant texting me for some reason Where you are There could be an additional, we could make it an additional requirement for re-notice. Yes. But presumably, the thought was they've been noticed, they're here if they're interested. She's really, okay.

She's watching and she has some information. Yeah, the only person watching.

The thought is that people would be here and would know that it had been delayed. And if they were not here, they wouldn't know.

Or they're not interested. And that happens too. However the Board feels about it.

I was wondering if there's an option to continue it to not the next meeting, but they would have to notify. if it's like say something came up with the sewage in the middle of it the you know underground utilities they're like we're going to need to we're going to need a few months to fix this you know and before we come back to you we'd like to preserve our first continuance but if that's the case we have to re-notify everybody we could put under a provision that it just gets re-notified and then it's just covered

Another example is during the meeting, a resident or an abutter has a comment that the applicant hears, and they say, well, I can address that. That is something I hadn't heard before. I can address that. Let's continue this for the next month. We'll engineer it and fix it, and we'll come back with the proper. In other words, it's not always a tactic that's used. No, no. Right. It could be used to benefit.

that's also one of the that could be just cause for a second continuance to something came up uh... this guy what could make it the first meeting this came up with those issues that need to be addressed that's a good reason for another continuous question is one of notice if we could require additional notice new everyone it's our rules so i don't think there's any harm to the public if there's if they want to go to three months

to work on it as long as they re-notify the public i think maybe if they're not going to be noticed directly if they're not going to be scheduled from that meeting to the next meeting then they have to re-notice yeah whenever it is right so if you're going to go from this meeting three meetings out you'll have to re-notice but as long as you're going to the direct next meeting and people are here and know that i think that's a okay long as this conveys that which I'd have to read it again that's a small text change yeah it's a pretty minimal I think to just make sure if you're going to postpone to any point beyond the next meeting you're gonna have to read it if not continue to the next month's meeting this you'll be renotified exactly that is trying to say yeah okay I'd be good with that

Yes.

Do you need a vote for this? Yeah, we do.

Can I just add my comment? Yeah. From our administrative staff, the second to last sentence says the applicant may withdraw the application without prejudice and resubmit the application when it and the applicant are ready to proceed. We just want to make it clear that in that case, they'll have to pay new application fees. And so the suggestion would be to after ready to proceed, um it would be and is subject to all associated fees so that so that they we know they know they have to they know that they'll have to not just pay renoticing but a new application how about put that right after resubmit the application with all associated fees with all associated fees yep two simple changes

Where this was most commonly confusing when I was a chair of one of the committee's boards is someone could come to the podium or even just walk through the door and see which members were present that particular evening and read the tea leaves for the predictive vote. And at any time during a presentation if they felt their application was out of favor They would they could say it used to be that they could say I want I want to stop presenting tonight and continue To another time Does this capture that as well?

The applicant has right to do that so long as the public hearing has not been closed I

the zoning board has a provision that says if the public's hearings been opened if your application has been read into the record you can postpone but as soon as the public hearing starts you can't do that because because of that so it has to move forward right but what if he's just in your example it sounded like he was still presenting his application and hadn't actually opened the public hearing yet

so what does the zoning say that was I made a note did the board have any other issues I tried to make this simple so the way it is right now I would make a motion to approve it with the two amendments

Any discussion on that? Mr. Chair?

Yes, Bill. So the subject that Rich Dipantema wanted to talk about one or two meetings ago when he was here and we deferred it and he wasn't notified that it was going to be deferred. Except that he did hear that. So go ahead. Right. I understand. We're not making any provision to notify people, the abutters, if something has been deferred.

yes we are it was a continuance that's what they requested was a continuance this would change it so that and that particular application has been continued in multiple times this would require a withdrawal and if we absent a withdrawal would be denied without prejudice so it gets removed from the agenda so he would be notified before the meeting the about it would be notified before the meeting so they would know not to bother to come that's the Well, if you're getting notified, there's going to be a new meeting. So, yeah, in that case, you want to come.

Okay.

Any other discussion on the motion?

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Do we want to do anything else with the rules, like allowing withdrawals, leave it the way it is?

It's not happening very often for us. No, it isn't. I don't think it has happened for us, but...

i was in another community the other night and one of the people who was in this room did exactly what you said for that reason so it is applicants were aware of it people good with that i'll just quickly not bother folk we're going to have a meeting about zoning amendments that we've got a whole bunch including site plan revisions including parking and all that stuff I'll check to see if Zoe, our consultant, had anything else. The master plan people are currently working on a video overview of the draft plan recommendations. It's going to be posted on the website probably by the end of this month to enable people to get a quick sense of the vision and recommendations, where we're at with that so far. They're going to have flash vote surveys in July and August. additional input for master plan questions one perhaps two of those because we're limited to five questions at a time will be regarding historic district issues so we'll get a chance to have input on those questions for those flash votes they are working on plan text and layout in preparation for hopefully publication of a full draft and in the fall, so they're cranking away on that. And then the last thing they were specifically asking about was the photos, as I mentioned, with the meeting we had with the HTC. Let me see what she texted me. It's not on my iPad. okay yeah it's just a confirmation that it's all good so unless there's anything else i think we're done in before eight o'clock we are adjourned thank you very much