Vassalboro Planning Board
Minutes of May 1, 2007
Present:
Planning Board: Virginia Bracket, George Gould, Doug Phillips, Sally Butler
CEO: Paul Mitnik,
Public: Shirley Miller, Pine View Homes; Rick Pershkem, A.E. Hodsdon Consulting Engineers; John R Power, Gervais Fence / Guardrail; Jane B Wells; Joe Clauette; John Heckman; Mary Grow
The meeting opened at 7:03.
Review of March Minutes: George motioned to accept the minutes as presented. Doug seconded. All in favor.
John Power
Gervais Fence and Guardrail
Minor Site Review
Tax Map 5, Lot 17-4
John Power is proposing to use the former Burns construction building as a storage facility for his fencing and guardrail business. The building is being leased from Karen Burns. Ginny inquired about the changed use of the building. John replied he will be driving a truck in and out of the Burns Road which is a private road. The truck is about the size of a fuel oil truck. There is an office there which John will use on a temporary and infrequent basis. Water and sewage disposal from a bathroom are provided and adequate to meet the needs of John’s business. A large part of John’s business is installing guardrails as a subcontractor for DOT.
After Paul added the John’s name and address on the site plan, Virginia asked for a vote on acceptance of the site plan. George made a motion to approve, seconded by Doug. All in favor.
Next compliance of the performance standards in the Ordinance was checked.
1.Provisions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
2.Location of proposed structures - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Sally. All in favor.
3.Provisions for on-site landscaping - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
4.Sewers, sanitary and storm drains, water, solid waste, fire protection - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
5.Storm water - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Sally. All in favor.
6.Soil erosion, ground and surface water - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Sally. All in favor.
7.Exterior lighting - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
8.Financial Capacity - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Sally. All in favor.
9.Safety and access for emergency vehicles - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
10. Noise, vibrations, fumes, odors, dust, glare not an issue - George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
The application as a whole was accepted as follows. Doug made a motion to approve. Seconded by George. All in favor.
Michael Ayer
Pine View Homes
Conversion of Partridge Hollow Drive to Town Standards
Tax Map 11, Lot 107
Pine View Homes owns the subdivision accessed by Partridge Hollow Drive off Crowell Hill Rd. They want to convert it to a town road. Pine View Homes was represented by Shirley Miller and Rick Pershkem of A.E. Hodsdon Consulting Engineers. This subdivision was first approved in October of 2005 as the Vannah Swan Subdivision and amended twice in July of 2006 and November of 2006. In the July Planning Board minutes indicate Pine View Homes had purchased the subdivision and the number of lots was reduced from 13 to 10 lots. In the November amendments, one of the lot boundary lines was changed and approved.
A discussion ensued over whether the road plans should be reviewed under Vassalboro’s Road Construction Ordinance or as an amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance Permit approval. The subdivision plans of the November subdivision amendment indicate Partridge Hollow Drive as a private road. The subdivision approval indicates that the road met conditions of the road ordinance for a private road but not a town road. The design standards are not significantly different accept specifications for pavement thickness and curve tangents. The curve specifications do not apply here, since there are no curves.
Doug indicated that the Planning Board does not approve roads as Town Roads. That has to be done by a vote at a Town Meeting. Paul indicated that Vassalboro’s Road Construction Ordinance requires Planning Board approval before a vote can be made at a Town Meeting. Section IV of the Road Construction Ordinance indicates that an application must be submitted to the Board, prior to construction. Section V of the ordinance would appear to indicate that Planning Board approval is necessary as is approval at a Town Meeting.
The original road plans have not been located by the former owner and Paul has not been able to locate any of the road plans or files from the approval in October of 2005 in the Town Office. Since the original plans were unavailable, Ginny suggested that the Board go through the approval process as indicated in the Road Ordinance.
Rick indicated that the road was built with a lot of on-site material that was inadequate. An additional base of 18” will be added on top of the existing road. Rick indicated that the former owners of the subdivision should have applied for a DEP Stormwater Permit and he is assisting Pine View in applying for this permit after the fact. Doug asked Rick if putting new material over inadequate material was a good practice and whether the old material should be removed. Rick indicated that they have done this in other situations and it has worked out all right.
Ginny asked for a vote on completeness of the application. George made a motion to accept the application as complete. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
The road design standards were then checked Rick offered to assist and read the following standards off the plans.
Average daily traffic 60 per day
Right of way 50 feet
Pavement width 20 feet
Shoulder Width 2 feet
Aggregate Subbase 18 inches
Hot bituminous pavement 3 inches
Roadway Crown ½ inch / foot
Maximum grade 7.3%
Minimum Angle at Intersect. 75
The two criteria for curves are not applicable since there are no curves on Partridge Hollow Drive. The proposed specifications meet the design standards of the Ordinance. Ginny asked for a vote for approving the whole application. George made a motion to approve. Seconded by Doug. All in favor.
A brief discussion ensued about the revision of Vassalboro’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. The Planning Board still hopes to have a revision completed by November 1. Ginny indicated that this means that they must have something by mid September to have preliminary approval by DEP which may take up to 45 days. Doug is still hopeful that he can meet this target.
Doug brought up the subject of Bread of Life subdivision application. It has been more that six months since the preliminary plan was approved by the Planning Board. The Subdivision Ordinance under Submission of the Final Plan (page 15) indicates that if the application for the final plan is not submitted within six months of the final plan approval, the Board shall require resubmission of the preliminary plan. Doug first indicated that he wanted Bread of Life on the agenda for next month, but after a discussion, it was decided that Paul could write a letter explaining this to Bread of Life.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30.