| Voting Board | Chairperson Neil Faiman; members Joanna Eckstrom, Carol Roberts, Bob Spear & Jim Tuttle; alternate members Andy Hoar and John Jowders. |
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| Agenda |
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Faiman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and introduced the board members.
Roberts noted a spelling error on page 2.
| Motion | Spear/Eckstrom to accept the 5/8/07 minutes with one correction. All were in favor. |
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Daniel and Judy Poitras have applied for a special exception under the terms of section 11.4 of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance, to permit the construction of a driveway, which would cross two wetland areas for a subdivision of Lot C-147, 39 Town Farm Road. (Continued from May 8)
Faiman stated that the regular board members would vote on this case and the two alternate members would participate in the discussion. He said that he, Spear, Roberts and Eckstrom, as well as Spencer Brookes from the Con Com participated in the site walk earlier in the evening. Tuttle walked the site on April 14.
Henry Kunhardt, with Sanford Surveying and Engineering, represented the applicants and presented a new plan. He explained that the previous plan had a shared driveway to a point and then when the new driveway split off to go around the Poitras property there was a 260 sq. ft. wetland impact to place the road there. He said board members asked the applicants to come back with a plan that didn’t impact the wetlands so heavily, suggesting that perhaps the shared driveway could be widened and used for a long enough distance to avoid the lower crossing. He said the applicants did not want to widen the driveway and didn’t want to share the driveway for safety and privacy reasons. He also said the culvert under that driveway would have to be increased in size and the ultimate impact there would be 258 sq. ft.
The new plan has a separate curb cut on Town Farm Road, 110’ south of the Poitras curb cut. The wetland impact is in a different location and encompasses 102 sq. ft. It will require a 36” culvert that is 20’ long.
Hoar asked if the road agent had approved the plan. Mr. Kunhardt said that the plan meets the requirements of the ordinance and he did not believe that the road agent had looked at it. Tuttle said that the road agent had a problem with a plan a few months back that had two separate driveways. Mr. Kunhardt said he believed that that plan had the two driveways 50’ apart and on the same lot whereas this plan has each driveway on its own lot and the distance apart as required in the ordinance.
Abutter Linda Pajanen said that she has lost a lot of land from washouts over the years. She asked if Mr. Kunhardt could guarantee that more washouts won’t occur due to the wetland crossings. Mr.
Kunhardt said that nothing in the present application increases runoff. The culverts that are proposed don’t divert or change the flow that’s going through there now. He said that they looked at her property earlier in the evening and saw the damage that runoff had done. He said the 36” town culvert that comes under the road and goes onto her land will still have a lot of water in it.
Ms. Pajanen asked who would maintain her property. Faiman said that to the extent that the culvert is causing the damage, then it’s a town issue, otherwise it could just be a lot of water flowing down. He noted that board members also saw Ms. Paganen’s property before the site visit. Spear said that Ms. Pajanen’s property has been altered from runoff and if the problem isn’t addressed in the very near future, she’s going to continue to have problems. He said Ms. Pajanen needs to speak to the selectmen and have them alter that swale on her property to divert the water coming through that culvert and that should take care of the problem.
Eckstrom stated that she saw erosion and water paths on both sides of the road, not just on the Poitras side.
| Motion | Eckstrom/Spear to close the public hearing. All were in favor. |
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Spear felt the reduction in wetland impact from 260 sq. ft. to 102 sq. ft. was good.
Eckstrom was happy that it maintains privacy for both lots. Her only concern was whether they could get the approval for the driveway cut from the road agent.
Faiman said that it makes a substantial difference to him that they managed to put the driveway entirely on the new lot. He said he would be happier if they could have done it with a single driveway, but said he could live with this.
| Motion | Roberts/Spear to grant a special exception to section 11.4(a) of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance with a total wetland crossing of approximately 172 sq. ft. as shown on the sheet labeled Alternative Driveway/Property Line plan, dated 6/8/2007, sheet 2 of 2, of the “Subdivision Plan of Map C, Lot 147, Daniel J. and Judy A. Poitras, 39 Town Farm Road,” which is included in the case file. This decision does not affect the authority of the town road agent to approve or disapprove the proposed driveway and curb cut. All were in favor. Motion passed. |
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Paul Joseph Poisson has requested a special exception under the terms of section 11.4(a) of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance, to permit the construction of a driveway that will cross a wetland area in connection with a proposed subdivision of Lot H-124, Captain Clark Highway.
Carol Roberts and Bob Spear chose to step aside as voting members on this case in order to allow alternate members Andy Hoar and John Jowders the opportunity to participate as voting members. Roberts and Spear still participated in the discussion.
Mike Carter, with Todd Land Use Consultants, represented the applicant and presented plans showing a proposed two-lot subdivision with an existing house and barn in the front 2.1 acres and a back lot of 7.5 acres. He said the driveway to the proposed building site follows a woods road that is currently in use and that does cross the wetland area in question, but since the road is not developed, there is no culvert in place. He explained that this particular wetland area is a wetland by definition, because of the vegetation that grows there, but it is not wet or marshy, whereas on the more southern parts of the property there are wet areas. He presented six photographs of the wetland crossing site taken on January 18th. He summarized by saying that the special exception request is to convert a woods road to a part of a formal driveway and to incorporate two 18” x 20’ culverts to restore hydrologic flow to that area. The total area of impact is 2,350 square feet.
Abutter Richard Keilig, 331 Captain Clark Highway, said that when there is heavy rain, water runs south from Potter Road. He was concerned that the wetland crossing and the property development would make this worse. Mr. Carter showed him the location of the crossing and the building envelope in relation to the wettest areas of the property.
Spencer Brookes, Wilton Con Com member, said that at their meeting last night, the Con Com voted against the crossing based solely on looking at the plan. But he and member Les Talarico were able to walk the site before tonight’s meeting and they both feel more positive about the project after seeing it.
Spear said he would like to schedule a site walk for board members, abutters, con com members and anyone else who might be interested. Mr. Poisson said he contacted Mr. Brookes and asked him to walk the property. He welcomes a site walk and thinks it’s the only way board members can really see the proposal.
The site walk was scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, June 23rd.
Board members decided to send the plans to Dennis LaBombard for independent engineering review.
| Motion | Eckstrom/Tuttle to continue the case until the July 10th meeting; to hold a site walk on June 23rd ; and to send the proposal out for review. All were in favor. |
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| Motion | Eckstrom/Spear to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor. |
The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Submitted by Diane Nilsson
Posted June 19, 2007