| Voting Board | Chairperson Neil Faiman; member Jim Tuttle; alternate members Joanna Eckstrom and Ron Hanisch. |
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| Clerk | Diane Nilsson |
| Agenda | Lester W. Hutchinson (owner) & Quinn Bros. Corp. (applicant) - special exception |
Chairperson Neil Faiman called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. and explained to the applicant that only a four person board could be found this evening and that the applicant had the option of postponing the hearing for a month in the hopes of having a five member board next time. He also explained that since this application involves a wetland crossing, the board is obligated to hear the case over two meetings, so a final decision cannot be made until the April meeting. The applicant chose to go ahead with the hearing.
Lester W. Hutchinson (owner) and Quinn Brothers Corporation (applicant) have applied for a special exception under the terms of section 11.4(b) of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance, to permit the placement of a culvert and fill in a wetland area on lot B-5 (near Forest Road, on the Wilton/Lyndeborough Town Line), in order to provide access to the lot.
Dawn Tuomala, with Monadnock Survey, presented a letter from Mr. Hutchinson, authorizing her to represent him, regarding this application. Mr. Faiman read the letter into the record. She then presented an existing topographic plan and an excavation and reclamation site plan for lot B-5. She stated that the applicant had made application for a dredge and fill permit with the State and that these plans are identical to the ones sent to the state. She showed the board photos of the location for the wetland crossing from various directions and explained that the applicant would like to cross 775 feet of wetland in order to access lot B-5 from adjoining lots B-9 or B-10 that they currently own. This would keep the gravel trucks inside the lots rather than having them leave one lot and travel up Route 31 to enter lot B-5.
The existing wetlands were mapped and located on the ground. Furnace Brook is on the western side of the property. It is a year-round brook and it flows into Stony Brook. The Wilton/Lyndeborough Town line is on the northern boundary, and the railroad tracks mark the eastern boundary. There is already in place a culvert under the railroad tracks and a gravel road crossing the tracks and entering lot B-5. The applicant would like to straighten out the current road, place a culvert and fill at the location marked on the map, and build a 16 foot wide road to access the property.
Mr. Faiman read section 11.4(b) from the Wilton Zoning Ordinance. He then explained that the ordinance requires that the board get an external review of the project. Usually the board hires Keach & Associates to do the review, and since they are already reviewing the proposal for a planning board application, it would make sense to ask them to add into the review the evaluation of this proposal for the wetland crossing for the access road. Mr. Faiman agreed to call Mr. Keach the next day and ask him if these plans show an accurate representation of the proposed wetland crossing and ask his opinion of the suitability of this wetland crossing proposal. If there is an additional charge for this review, Mr. Faiman will get back to the applicant about it and hopefully, the board will have his report in time for the April 12 ZBA meeting.
Ms. Eckstrom requested that the last word in paragraph 6 on page 1 be changed from "it" to "the road".
| Motion | Ms Eckstrom moved to approve the minutes with the correction, seconded by Mr. Tuttle with three in favor and Mr. Hanisch abstaining. |
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