HINESBURG DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

OCTOBER 21, 2003

Approved 11/04/03

Present: Howdy Russell, Greg Waples, Clint Emmons, Wayne Burgess, and Ted Bloomhardt (vice-chair, who ran the meeting).

Members Absent: Tom McGlenn and Robert Gauthier.

Member of the Audience: George Munson, Ruth and Tim Ayer.

1. MINUTES - Howdy Russell made the motion to accept the minutes of October 7, 2003 and this motion was seconded by Clint Emmons. The motion passed with Wayne Burgess abstaining from the vote.

2. FROST – CONDITIONAL USE Anne Frost was present for a continued public hearing for a request for a conditional use permit to locate an apartment in an accessory apartment. The Frost’s property is located on the Boutin Road off the Shelburne Falls Road.

At the last hearing, the Board had requested that the Frost’s present a new plan which would have this apartment be only 600 square feet in size to meet the requirements of Section 5.9.1(2) of the Bylaw. The Frost’s had submitted 4 options of what they would like to have as living space for this apartment. It was felt that option number 1 would meet the requirements with a living space of 516 square feet. Option 4 with a living space of 516 square feet and a separate entrance for the office area, may also be acceptable.

The Board members and Anne were also given materials by Holly explaining the requirement that an accessory apartment must meet State septic rules.

Anne explained that it was her understanding that at the Select Board public hearing the previous evening the Bylaw may be revised to allow apartments in detached buildings to be over 600 square feet.

Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to continue the Frost conditional use public hearing to the November 18^th DRB meeting. This motion was seconded by Wayne Burgess and passed unanimously.

3. AYER – FINAL PLAT Ted Bloomhardt opened the public hearing for a review of a request for final plat approval by Raymond and Ruth Ayer to create one new lot from their property on the east side of Gilman Road. Raymond was present with George Bedard, his surveyor, and Bernard Chenette, as engineer from Heindel and Noyes, LLC. George explained the following aspects of this proposal and Bernie answered questions on the roadway: (This portion of the meeting was tape recorded by Raymond).

This proposal had been denied subdivision approval by the DRB on 10/03/02, and the applicants had appealed that decision to the District Environmental Court. As a result of negotiations, with the Town’s Agent, the applicant had hired an engineering firm for this private road and submitted to this board new plans for the roadway, a revised survey, and new draft deed language.
This project will require a revision to the State Act 250 permit granted to the Ayers for their golf course and property.

Alex Weinhagen, Town Planner, had written the memo to the Board members on this project and Ted went through the issues that were brought up in that memo:

The underground utilities are not shown on any of the plans and they will be on the revised engineering plans. The survey and the first 2 sheets of the engineering plans would be recorded in the Land Records.
The slope of the driveway to this new lot is about 10% and Alex felt that could be a danger coming down onto this new roadway. A portion of this driveway could be decreased to 3% and then the remainder to 5%.
The areas that are disturbed during the construction of this road will be protected with biodegradable netting and seeded.
The roadway from the turnaround is sloped to the north or upper side into a ditch and this will prevent heavy runoff on the south down to the creek, which eventually goes into the LaPlatte River.
The runoff from this upper ditch will travel down to Gilman Road with some of it sheeting on lots #3 and #4. This water will then go through a culvert on toward the LaPlatte River. There will need to be an easement from these lots to allow this to happen.
The engineer felt that with only one new lot here at this time, guardrails were not necessary and this is an issue that could be looked into in the future if more development occurs on this road.
Bernie said that he could inspect and certify this road once it is constructed to ensure that it was built to the specs of these plans.
He also explained that State Storm Water Regulations could require a Homeowners’ Association be formed to manage this runoff.
There was some confusion about the sharing in the cost and upkeep of the septic system and it was explained that each lot has a separate pipe to the houses. However there needs to be revised language on the maintenance of the common leach field.
The Ayers will continue to own the land under this private road, which will be within a 50’ wide right-of-way. The portion of the land connecting to the remaining land on the east will continue to be 100’wide.

Ted Bloomhardt then listed the issues that need to be further addressed by the applicants and the general consensus of the Board members was that these could be covered in the conditions of approval. These issues were:

The roadway from the turnaround to the new drive should be sloped to the north or upside and the grade of this new driveway should be decreased.
The deed for lot #3 should be revised to reflect the obligation to share in the maintenance of the waste water system.
There should be a road association addressing the responsibilities of maintaining this private road and how this will be managed.
The location of the underground utilities should be indicated on the engineering plans.
There should be easements granted by the owners of lots 3 and 4 for any storm water onto those lots.

Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to close the Ayer final plat public hearing and direct the staff to draft conditions of approval for the consideration of the Board members at the next meeting. This motion was seconded by Greg Waples and passed unanimously.

4. EPPSTEIN – CONDITIONAL USE Maggie Eppstein was next on the agenda to request a conditional use permit to add porches to her home, which is located off Sunset Lane East on Sunset Court. Her property has received several variances and conditional use permits to previous additions to her home site, as it is a pre-existing complying structure. Maggie explained her request:

· This proposal is to add porches with a portion being screened on the western side of her home and raise the roofline by adding a loft space. It was agreed that the raised roof would not require approval, as it is not adding to the degree of non-compliance.

· Under Section 5.10.3(4)(a) of the Zoning Bylaw this expansion must be “planned and constructed in such a way that the applicable setback standards are modified as little as practicable based on the existing building orientation, lot size and site constraints and that the modification will meet the standards of Section 4.2.1.”

· Greg Waples felt that this incursion of 7’ into the side yard setback was a small modification. The Board had received a letter from Nancy and Kenneth Baker, the landowner to the west stating she did not have a problem with Maggie’s proposal.

· Maggie stated that this is their last proposed addition and they are trying to make a camp look like a nice home and add to their neighborhood’s appearance.

· She understands that this addition of screened porches will also increase the percentage of lot coverage to 13½ %, which is above the allowed 10%. They had gotten a variance in lot coverage with the additional of her garage. Their plan is to connect this garage to their house as required by the conditional use permit granted on 10/01/96.

Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to close the public hearing and direct the staff to draft conditions for of approval for consideration of the board members at the next meeting. This motion was seconded by Greg Waples and passed with Clint Emmons abstaining from the vote.

5. BISSONETTE – CONDITIONAL USE Dwight Bissonette returned to the Board for a request to increase the height of a camp is building to replace an existing camp on Pump Road at the end of Lake Iroquois. Dwight had received a conditional use permit on 7/15/03to replace the existing camp with a new one.

Dwight explained:

· That the original elevation had been done by him and when he contacted an architect they realized that proportionately it would be better to have a steeper roof.

· The footprint size and setbacks will not change from his original plans.

· He also stated that there are now 4 bedrooms in the camp and they will not be adding one in this new attic space in the 3^rd floor. The new camp will only have three bedrooms on the 2^nd floor.

· He felt there would not be more people using the camp than previously and he had dug up the septic tank and found that it is concrete. He does not know the location of the leach field. It was questioned whether digging and laying a new foundation could affect that field and cause pollution of the lake.

· The trees on the north side of the camp will have to be removed to build the new structure.

· It was agreed that the condition requiring plantings and screening on the lake side should remain with this new proposal.

· The new higher structure does not seem out of character with other camps and houses in this side of the lake.

Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to close the public hearing and direct staff to draft conditions of approval reflecting the new house design, foundation drains, and number of bedrooms. This motion was seconded by Wayne Burgess and passed unanimously.

6. Action was not taken on the approvals for Mead or Hultgren due to the fact there was not a quorum of members present from the last hearing. The meeting was then adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Holly Russell

Recording Secretary