Town of Hinesburg
Development Review Board Minutes
October 19, 2010
-Minutes Approved November 16, 2010-
Members Present: Tom McGlenn, George Munson, Zoë Wainer, Dick Jordan, Dennis Place, Ted Bloomhardt
Members Absent: Greg Waples
Also Present: Alex Weinhagen (Planning/Zoning Director), Peter Erb (Zoning Administrator), Mary Seemann (Recording Secretary), Jan Bedard, David Lyman, Dwight Bissonette, Jessica Stolz, Phillip Stolz, Pat Hendee, Ellen Foster
Tom M called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Dick J stated he had not attended the last meeting but did go on the site visit and had viewed the previous meeting on VCAM. The Board members felt he was up to speed on the application and agreed he could sit in on this discussion.
George Bedard: Sketch Plan 8-lot subdivision on Texas Hill. #06-01-63.100 - Members: Tom McGlenn, George Munson, Zoë Wainer, Dick Jordan, Dennis Place, Ted Bloomhardt
There was a site visit to the property on October 14th in which some Board members and interested parties attended.
Zoë W presented Mary S with a list of interested parties who went on the site visit for the record. The Board members who went on the site visit were Dick Jordan, Dennis Place, and Zoë Wainer.
The following is Zoë W’s narrative on the site visit and her general impressions.
Dennis P looked at the road access but didn’t go into the property with Zoë W, Dick J, George B and some of the interested parties.
The group started at the road access which is across from Bishop Road (east access) and looked at the sight lines from that access. Looking to the east from that access there are plenty of sight lines. They saw the pines and the bank that would need to be cut back, that the Board had talked about in the meetings; looking to the west from that area. They also got a sense of where the property boundary was between the Foster/Mawe property, the Bedard subdivision property and the 75’ buffer that has been discussed in past meetings.
George B also pointed out the septic reserve area that is on the Foster/Mawe property and noted that it would be a conventional septic system and that is where, at this point, all the septic is proposed to go.
They then walked back up the road to look at the west access which is the one that goes straight in on the two plans the Board has. They again looked at sight lines and the same bank of trees that would need to be shaved back and/or cut down to the west access road (they are the ones that curve between the two proposed accesses to the east). Then looking west there are some hemlocks and other trees that looked like they would need to be taken out in order to have the 200’ of required sight distance.
They noted the pole that power would be pulled from, which is on the other side of the road from this subdivision.
At that point, Zoë W thought this is when Dennis Place and some of the other visitors left the site visit. The rest continued on and walked up the proposed road. As they went up George B pointed out potential house sites, depending on which approved lot plan they were looking at. They followed that all the way down crossed one of the major seeps (that is actually drawn as the property line between lot #7 and #8.) Looking at the access that goes straight in there was a running stream at that point which one could step across. They keep looking at different lots and ended up in the general cul-de-sac location.
At that point George B pointed out the Hubinger boundary line and they got to see the very steep back hill of what would be lot #7. They saw where the Barber home was in relation to the new lots and the Foster/Mawe homes. They walked back down the 75’ buffer. They did a loop and came out near the Bishop Road access. They also looked at the swale that is on the Mawe property which deals with the drainage off the hill on George’s property and George pointed out the last sag is on lots #1 and #2 and he feels this would be an area for some kind of storm water detention.
Zoë W’s general observations; it is a very rolling sort of steep to plateau with lots of little running drainages running across it. She said she guessed that is just the nature of the property in her observation.
Dick J said there are trees in both directions that look like they need to be taken out, and he pointed out that there is a wet spot on the road that would need attention. Dick J also discussed the acreage for the lots, the Homeowners Associations responsibilities and a possible hiking path.
Dennis P said he likes the access across for Bishop Road and talked about ditching that would have to be done.
George B said the power pole to feed the new houses is on the Fritz property and the power lines would run over the road on to the property and then go underground to the houses.
Ellen Foster, an abutting neighbor was still concerned about the water situation on the hill stating some of the wells that have been drilled up there are deep and poor producing. She is wondering if there is any relief for the existing homes if the new wells deplete the water from the older wells.
It was discussed and agreed that this is a very hard issue to deal with. There is no “sure-fire” way to tell if the new wells would have any impact the existing wells. Studies that have been done in the past were not able to establish the path of water to know what would and would not impact the direction or flow. Ellen stated water and the possible lack of it still has some neighbors concerned.
George B handed out a list of all the wells (22) that have been drilled in the surrounding area; showing their location, the depth of each well and the gallons of water per minute it delivers.
Ellen F stated that the surface water is high.
Jessica Stolz stated that large wildlife is still abundant on the hill, even in the daylight hours. This led to George B discussing that some property owners in Huntington have been warned about bear activity and to be careful. George B went on to reiterate that animals will wander where they want to, they don’t care about dividing lines, setbacks and the like.
Tom M made a motion to close the public hearing and have the Board take up the discussion on this application up in a deliberative session. Dick J seconded the motion. A vote was taken. 6-0. - THE MOTION PASSED.
Dwight Bissonette: CU extension of a non-complying structure at 38 Old Pump Rd. Tax Map #(14-21-52.000): Members: Tom McGlenn, George Munson, Zoë Wainer, Dick Jordan, Dennis Place, Ted Bloomhardt
Dwight gave a narrative while Alex W showed the slides of the property. Dwight explained the tearing down of the old shed and replacing it with a new larger shed. Dwight stated the new shed would be 20x24, a little larger to the north side not the lake side and it would still be a non-complying structure.
Tom M asked if there were any trees that would be coming down and Dwight B showed the one tree he knew would be taken down and stated there was another tree he would have to wait to see what condition it is in before he makes a decision whether or not to take it down.
Pat Hendee, (Dwight’s neighbor) said he came to see how much difficulty Dwight B was going to have with this application in case he wanted to do some adjustments on his property.
Ted B asked about the percentage of coverage on the property. Ted B also stated there should be wording to the affect that the new structure “fit in with the surrounding neighborhood”.
Alex W said it could be put it in the Conclusion section.
Tom M made a motion to close the public hearing and have Peter E write up a draft approval with the amendments included. Dennis P seconded. A vote was taken. 6-0. - THE MOTION PASSED.
Tom M made a motion for the Board to go into deliberative session to discuss the George Bedard application at 8:35 p.m.
The Board came out of deliberative session and the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Next scheduled meeting: November 2nd
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Seemann
Recording Secretary