Planning Board Special Meeting ~ April 24, 2024

2024-04-24 · Planning Board · 3:05:41 · watch on YouTube →

A special Planning Board meeting on April 24, 2024, continuing business left unfinished from the April 10 agenda. The board took the Maine Custom Woodlands application at 1326 Hallowell Road, Map 8 Lot 12, through both conditional use and site plan review, working line by line through each criterion and its findings, and granted approval for a 6,000 square foot building housing a sawmill, subject to conditions on traffic, Cushing Road access, noise, lighting, a fire protection water supply meeting NFPA 1142 and a wetland report confirming the on-site pond is man-made. It then took up the Ruby Farm View subdivision amendment adding four lots, found the application complete, granted two waivers, and gave preliminary approval subject to thirteen conditions, including completion of the phase one road by September 30, 2024 and a town attorney opinion on whether the project can be approved after the fact as a phased subdivision. The board closed by noting its next meeting on May 1 will cover ordinance priorities and codification ahead of a May 7 meeting with the select board.

What was discussed

1. 6:40
   Opening and minutes

   John Talbot confirmed a quorum with five full members and noted this is a special meeting continuing the April 10 agenda. The minutes of the April 10, 2024 meeting were accepted, moved by Allan Purinton and seconded by Juliet Caplinger. There were no amendments to the agenda.

2. 6:40
   Maine Custom Woodlands: introductions

   The conditional use application is to expand the business at 1326 Hallowell Road, Map 8 Lot 12; public comment was not taken. Eric Dube, a professional engineer with Truman Engineering Group (?) of Yarmouth, appeared for the applicant, and the owner, Tom Cushman (?), arrived shortly after and introduced himself.

3. 6:40
   Description of the existing and proposed operation

   The owner said he runs Maine Custom Woodlands and MCW Trucking from a 7,600 square foot maintenance shop and office on Route 9, storing wood and equipment there. The proposal is a second building housing a small sawmill, with the lumber sold to wholesalers rather than retail. Eric Dube said the site suits a commercial use, being bordered by CMP lines and gravel pits with truck access off Route 9.

4. 11:55
   Site layout and power

   The new building is 6,000 square feet, roughly 50 by 100 feet, sited behind an existing truck scale with room to manoeuvre on compacted gravel, with a treatment pond proposed on the low side. Three-phase power cannot be taken from the adjacent lines without a costly substation, so the sawmill will run on a diesel generator mounted on a trailer with sound-dampening insulation. No bathrooms are being added in the new building.

5. 11:55
   Traffic and noise groundwork

   Eric Dube said the generated traffic does not reach the 100-trip threshold that would require a traffic impact permit, and that he worked with Bill Bray on the figures. On noise, the owner gathered decibel readings from comparable sawmills and from the generator so the board could see the levels at the property line.

6. 17:44
   Fire protection requirement

   Both structures are pre-engineered metal buildings. Working with the fire chief and the State Fire Marshal, the applicant calculated a fire flow of 1,750 gallons per minute for 120 minutes, giving 210,000 gallons, and proposes to draw from the existing pond at the front of the property using a stand pipe and filter.

7. 17:44
   Town planner's framing of the review

   George Thebarge explained the two-step process: first whether the proposed expansion meets the general conditional use criteria on noise, drainage and traffic, then the site design. The property was approved for its current use in 2009 and only the proposed change falls within the board's jurisdiction. He flagged an inconsistency between a submission describing a building housing the generator and a site plan showing it outside, and asked the board to settle which is accurate for the record.

8. 17:44
   Fire chief's account

   Chief Tripp (?) said the requirement is two dry hydrants on the same pond, one on the owner's property behind the gate and one closer to Hallowell Road that the town can use at any time. He said he has walked the site with the owner and the engineering firm and had several calls, and that cleaning up the pond and adding the two hydrants should suffice. He noted the generator and an 18-wheeler collecting sawdust outside both count as exposures if a fire occurred.

9. 23:38
   The pond

   The pond is man-made, understood to date from when the site was Shorty's asphalt plant and Cushing Road was improved, and it does not cross the property line. The applicant took depth measurements around it and applied local rainfall and evaporation figures to confirm it holds enough water year round allowing for ice. The owner said he has never seen it go dry since 2009.

10. 23:38
    Why two dry hydrants

    Chief Tripp (?) said the requirement of at least 1,750 gallons per minute cannot be met from one dry hydrant, which yields about 1,000, so two are needed even on the same water source, and siting them apart avoids two pumper trucks crossing paths. He said the town has about 25 dry hydrants, some out of service, and this adds one for that side of town. The gate is pinned rather than locked, so access is available at all times.

11. 28:47
    Contingency if the pond fails

    Asked what happens if the pond goes dry, Eric Dube said there is room on site to build a lined pond that is not an infiltration pond, and the owner has the excavators to do it. The board decided not to make a site visit at this stage. Members also established the two storm water ponds are separate infiltration and treatment ponds, not the fire supply.

12. 28:47
    Change of use and materials on the ground

    Members established the change is the additional building, which roughly doubles the building area on the site, plus the sawmill use itself. Logs have been stored in that area since 2009 so that is unchanged, and residuals such as bark and sawdust will go straight into a truck and be hauled off, which members noted reduces the combustion risk.

13. 28:47
    Noise study

    The applicant compared several sawmills and studied the generator separately. The standard is 55 dBA at the property line. The generator measured 45 dBA at 250 feet and will sit 750 feet from the property line behind a building. A member pressed for confirmation that the sawmill and generator combined will not exceed 55 dBA at the line.

14. 34:39
    Resource protection, wetlands and flood plain

    The resource protection area is on the other half of the owner's land across the power line, not on this parcel. A wetland delineation was carried out by a scientist named Mark, whose surname the recording renders inconsistently, in February or March; Juliet Caplinger asked that the report be sent. Members noted the National Wetlands Inventory maps the pond as a wetland while the applicant treats it as a man-made pond, and that a flood plain check was not specifically confirmed.

15. 39:48
    Traffic figures

    John Talbot pointed out an arithmetic error in the cover letter, which gave 68 total trips where 30 plus 28 comes to 58. Eric Dube confirmed the correct total is 58, an increase of 18 over the existing 40: ten employee vehicle trips from five additional employees and eight truck trips. Members asked what number the applicant would commit to, noting the road commissioner had raised concerns about large trucks.

16. 39:48
    Cushing Road access

    The southern access onto Cushing Road was created years ago as a second entrance for fire protection and is gated. The owner said it has never been used for anything but plowing and agreed to a condition limiting it to emergency use, after members explained the road commissioner does not want large trucks on that town road.

17. 44:49
    Lighting

    Members said the town's lighting standard is weak and asked what light leaves the property. The owner said lighting is building-mounted and downcast, with a cut sheet in the packet, and that nothing crosses the property line. Only the existing building lighting is proposed.

18. 44:49
    Hours of operation

    Hours are stated as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday, which matches the ordinance. The owner said no deliveries will come in before 7 a.m. and the sawmill itself will likely run until about 4 p.m., with the later hour a catch-all for a delayed truck. The generator will power only the sawmill equipment; lighting and everything not needing three-phase power stays on the existing underground service from Cushing Road.

19. 50:07
    Conditional use criterion: public health impacts

    The board read the criterion and the draft finding and took no amendments. The motion that the applicant has satisfied the reasonable burden of proof was moved, seconded and approved unanimously.

20. 55:32
    Amending the traffic safety findings

    Members worked through a confusion between two versions of the draft findings and between trips per week and per day, using the applicant's table: 15 employees at two trips each gives 30, seven trucks at two trips each gives 28, totalling 58. The finding was amended to read an increase of approximately 20 trips per day, the word commercial struck, and a third finding added that direct access to Cushing Road will be for emergency vehicles only. Measured sight distances at the Route 9 entrance were recorded as 650 feet plus looking south and 1,500 feet plus looking north.

21. 1:01:05
    Conditional use criteria: traffic, public safety and environment

    With the amended findings, the board approved the traffic safety criterion. It then approved the public safety criterion on its four existing findings without change, and the environmental impacts criterion, noting the sawmill goes on an existing cleared and gravelled surface with no tree cutting. Juliet Caplinger said she would return to the wetlands question at the site plan stage.

22. 1:06:15
    Conditional use criteria: scale, noise, interest and ability

    On scale and intensity a finding was added that the closest residential structure is roughly 1,400 feet away, with a 100-foot wooded buffer from Cushing Road and power lines on two sides. The noise findings were amended so that the generator is described as contained in an insulated steel structure and that all noise, from the sawmill, the generator and anything else, must stay below the town's 55 dBA standard at the property line. Right, title or interest and financial and technical ability were each approved without change.

23. 1:11:38
    Drafting the conditions of approval

    John Talbot proposed conditions on traffic, Cushing Road access, noise and exterior lighting. George Thebarge supplied wording for fire protection: under section 8.4, prior to occupancy the applicant shall install a fire protection water supply meeting the recommendations of NFPA 1142, water supplies for suburban and rural firefighting, acceptable to the Durham fire chief, which necessarily includes the two dry hydrants.

24. 1:17:30
    Conditional use conditions and decision

    The board adopted six conditions: construction in accordance with the submitted plans and testimony; increased traffic limited to approximately 20 trips per day; direct access to Cushing Road limited to emergency vehicles; noise to meet the land use ordinance standards; exterior lighting to comply with the land use ordinance; and the NFPA 1142 fire protection water supply. It then granted conditional use approval of the expanded use of Maine Custom Woodlands to include a sawmill.

25. 1:22:36
    Site plan completeness and the wetland report

    Juliet Caplinger said the wetland delineation report had not been submitted and she wanted to see it, her concern being that if the pond is a mapped wetland rather than man-made the proposed use could trigger a DEP wetland alteration permit. Members and Eric Dube discussed that a man-made pond remains man-made under DEP rules. The board voted the application complete on the understanding the report would follow, with the timing handled in the conditions.

26. 1:33:33
    Site plan findings: site use and roads

    The board approved findings on utilization of the site, that buildings and parking are on suitable land and natural drainage is maintained. On adequacy of the road system the finding was corrected so that with the proposed expansion vehicle trips per day will increase to approximately 60 rather than 68. Findings on project entrances and sight distances, with the Cushing Road limitation added, and on internal vehicular circulation were also approved.

27. 1:38:59
    Site plan findings: utilities, lighting, signage and buffering

    The utilities findings on the generator's 70 to 73 dBA figure were struck as confusing, since that is the level at the machine rather than at the property line, and replaced with a reference to the land use ordinance standard. Lighting and signage were approved with no new signage proposed. The fire protection finding was amended to add that the applicant will install dry hydrants on the existing pond. The buffering motion was reworded to drop the word landscaping because no landscaping plan exists, and the abutting CMP power line was recorded as being to the north and east.

28. 1:44:24
    Site plan findings: financial and technical capacity

    The applicant's project cost estimates total approximately $500,000, and financial capacity was approved on that basis. Technical ability was approved on the finding that the applicant has experience with this type of development and has retained qualified consultants and contractors.

29. 1:49:29
    Wetland report as a condition

    To resolve the wetland question without holding the application, the board agreed a condition that prior to issuance of a building permit the applicant shall submit a wetlands report verifying that the pond is man-made. If it turns out to be a wetland, the applicant would have to work with the fire chief on an alternative water supply.

30. 1:49:29
    Site plan approval

    The board granted site plan approval subject to seven conditions: construction in accordance with the approved submissions; under section 8.4(k) any change requires site plan review for the changed part; under 8.4(l) construction to commence within 12 months and be completed within 36; under 8.4(m) a copy of the approved site plan to accompany the building permit application; the wetlands report before a building permit; the NFPA 1142 fire protection supply; and the Cushing Road direct access limitation.

31. 1:54:39
    Ruby Farm View: outstanding items from the last meeting

    Rick Meek of Terradyn (?) Consultants of New Gloucester appeared for the applicant, Mike Copp (?), who was not present. Of the five items that had left the application incomplete, the applicant has responded on the performance bond, the first four occupancy permit dates and an engineer's estimate for completing the phase one road; the remaining two need advice from the town attorney. The engineer's estimate has risen from about $109,000 to about $142,000, driven by the price per ton of asphalt, and members asked for the paving quote as backup and for labour costs to be shown clearly.

32. 1:59:48
    The town attorney problem

    John Talbot said the town attorney is going out of business on May 31 and the town has to find a replacement, which makes the two legal opinions hard to obtain quickly. The applicant agreed to initiate contact and to pay the fees. George Thebarge advised that performance guarantees are normally dealt with at final approval and that it would be acceptable to grant preliminary approval now and take the $142,000 bond with the final plan submission.

33. 2:05:48
    Approving the project as a phased subdivision

    The second legal question is whether the board can, after the fact, treat the 2018 approval as phase one of a phased subdivision with the four-lot expansion as phase two. George Thebarge said if the attorney says yes the board has its authority; if no, the applicant would have to seek a new preliminary approval for phase one alongside the final plan for phase two. Either way the phase one road must be paved by September 30, 2024, and the ordinance bars final approval for a project in violation.

34. 2:10:52
    Solid waste collection

    Allan Purinton raised Casella's (?) proposed move to automated collection within 18 months, which would require two 64-gallon containers per house spaced three feet apart, meaning 34 containers for 17 houses. He said these cannot sit on the edge of Swamp Road and that either Casella must be allowed onto Ruby Lane or a collection area must be created. The board agreed to require a solid waste plan as part of the final plan submission.

35. 2:21:38
    Completeness and waivers

    The board found the Ruby Farm View application complete on condition that the septic test pit locations are provided with the final plan submission, the applicant having omitted them from the plan while showing well and septic exclusion zones. It granted a waiver from the on-site fire protection water supply requirement, with Chief Tripp's recommendation that each dwelling be protected by a residential sprinkler system as with the original 13 lots, and a waiver from the requirement to provide a future street interconnection with the abutting parcel, which already has frontage on both Ruby Lane and Swamp Road. A third waiver request, for a hydrogeologic assessment, was withdrawn as unnecessary.

36. 2:26:52
    Rick Meek's overview of the amendment

    The subdivision off Swamp Road was approved in 2018 with 13 lots for sale plus a 10.6 acre lot retained by the applicant. Since the September sketch plan meeting and site walk the road alignment has been adjusted to reduce wetland impact and to give each lot 40,000 square feet of contiguous building area. The amendment involves 4,735 square feet of wetland impact; with the original impact the cumulative figure of 11,787 square feet will go to DEP and the Army Corps under a new NRPA permit.

37. 2:26:52
    Storm water and services

    The project exceeds one acre of disturbance but stays under one acre of impervious surface, so DEP requires a storm water permit by rule. Lots will be served by underground electrical service, individual wells and subsurface sewage disposal.

38. 2:32:31
    Inland Fisheries and Wildlife letter

    George Thebarge noted the January 30 letter discusses turtle habitat and 300-foot intact riparian buffers along mapped and unmapped streams. Rick Meek said there are no named or unnamed streams within 300 feet of the property, and that no vernal pools were found.

39. 2:32:31
    Forested buffer along Ruby Lane

    A 50-foot forested buffer along the existing Ruby Lane abutting the new lots is to remain undisturbed apart from a driveway connection. Members asked how a future owner would know, and established the buffer would be shown on the recorded subdivision plan and written into the deeds, with a condition later added that buffers be referenced in the deeds.

40. 2:43:04
    Whether wetland delineations should be peer reviewed

    Juliet Caplinger argued for adding wetland review to the town's peer review scope as standard practice rather than picking projects, noting it was done at the Hallowell Road and Day Road subdivisions. George Thebarge and other members said those cases raised specific accuracy questions, that this applicant has used a licensed specialist and concedes the permits it needs, and that Gorrill Palmer did a permitting check rather than a delineation check on the earlier project. The board did not require it here but agreed to ask Gorrill Palmer what adding it as a standard would cost.

41. 2:53:42
    Preliminary approval conditions

    The thirteen conditions include technical review of the engineering, storm water and cost estimates; moving the transformer and conduit onto lot two so the buffer is not disturbed; engineer's construction estimates for the phase one road and the phase two road, electrical, storm water and erosion control; a map of subsurface disposal test pits with the final application; the standard ordinance timelines; treatment as a phased subdivision with phase one complete by September 30, 2024; town attorney confirmation at the applicant's expense that the board has authority to approve it that way; clearing areas and required buffers along wetlands and Ruby Lane shown on the final plans; street naming; limits of tree clearing; the engineer's cost estimate with a letter of commitment from a lending institution and a bond form reviewed by the town attorney; buffers referenced in the deeds; and a plan for solid waste container locations.

42. 2:59:21
    Preliminary subdivision approval granted

    The board granted preliminary approval of the Ruby Farm View amendment subject to the conditions as amended. Members told Rick Meek the solid waste plan should cover the whole subdivision rather than the new lots alone, and Allan Purinton relayed a Casella driver's view that a single collection point at the end of the road is more efficient than stopping at 17 houses.

43. 3:05:11
    Next meeting and adjournment

    John Talbot said the next meeting, on May 1, will cover ordinance changes and a discussion from George Thebarge on codification, ahead of a May 7 meeting to which the select board has invited board chairs and vice chairs to set priorities. Items already on the list include solar, resource protection and the historic commission. He offered as an example of ordinance problems that the ordinance forbids excavation within 25 feet of an existing grave, which prevents digging a new grave in a cemetery. The meeting adjourned, moved by Juliet Caplinger and seconded by Allan Purinton.

What was decided

• 6:40
  Accept the April 10, 2024 meeting minutes; moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Juliet Caplinger, carried 5-0passed
• 50:07
  Find that Maine Custom Woodlands has satisfied the burden of proof for the conditional use criterion on public health impacts; recorded unanimouspassed
• 1:01:05
  Find the traffic safety impacts criterion satisfied, with findings amended to an increase of approximately 20 trips per day, sight distances of 650 feet plus south and 1,500 feet plus north, and direct access to Cushing Road for emergency vehicles onlypassed
• 1:01:05
  Find the public safety impacts criterion satisfied on its four findings without changepassed
• 1:01:05
  Find the environmental impacts criterion satisfied; recorded unanimouspassed
• 1:06:15
  Find the criteria on scale and intensity of use, noise and hours of operation as amended, right title or interest, and financial and technical ability each satisfied; recorded unanimouspassed
• 1:17:30
  Apply six conditions to the conditional use permit covering construction per the submissions, traffic limited to approximately 20 additional trips per day, Cushing Road direct access for emergency vehicles only, noise and exterior lighting to meet the land use ordinance, and a fire protection water supply meeting NFPA 1142 acceptable to the Durham fire chief prior to occupancypassed
• 1:17:30
  Grant conditional use approval of the expanded use of Maine Custom Woodlands to include a sawmill, subject to the adopted conditionspassed
• 1:22:36
  Find the Maine Custom Woodlands site plan application complete, on the understanding that the wetland delineation report will be providedpassed
• 1:33:33
  Approve the site plan findings on utilization of the site, adequacy of the road system with trips per day corrected to approximately 60, project entrances and sight distances, and internal vehicular circulationpassed
• 1:38:59
  Approve the site plan findings on utilities with the generator decibel figures replaced by a reference to the land use ordinance noise standard, lighting, signage, fire protection amended to include the dry hydrants, and buffering with the word landscaping removedpassed
• 1:44:24
  Approve the site plan findings on financial capacity, based on project cost estimates of approximately $500,000, and on technical abilitypassed
• 1:49:29
  Grant site plan approval of Maine Custom Woodlands subject to seven conditions, including that prior to issuance of a building permit the applicant submit a wetlands report verifying the pond is man-madepassed
• 2:21:38
  Find the Ruby Farm View subdivision amendment application complete, on condition that septic test pit locations are provided with the final plan submissionpassed
• 2:21:38
  Grant a waiver from the on-site fire protection water supply requirement, each dwelling in the subdivision instead being required to have a residential sprinkler system; recorded unanimouspassed
• 2:21:38
  Grant a waiver from the requirement to provide a future street interconnection with the abutting parcelpassed
• 2:59:21
  Grant preliminary subdivision approval of the Ruby Farm View amendment to add four lots, subject to the thirteen conditions as amendedpassed
• 3:05:11
  Adjourn the meeting; moved by Juliet Caplinger, seconded by Allan Purinton, carried 5-0passed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from pb_minutes_04-24_2024_pdf.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• accept the April 10, 2024 meeting minutescarried 5-0

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Juliet Caplinger

• adjourn the meetingcarried 5-0

  Moved by Juliet Caplinger, seconded by Allan Purinton

Worth knowing

• 23:38
  Chief Tripp (?) said one dry hydrant yields about 1,000 gallons per minute against a requirement of 1,750, so the sawmill site needs two on the same pond. One will sit near Hallowell Road and be available to the town at any time. He said the town has about 25 dry hydrants, some of them out of service, and this adds one for that whole side of town.
• 39:48
  The applicant's traffic letter contained an arithmetic error, giving 68 trips where the figures add to 58, an increase of 18 over the existing 40. The board set the condition at approximately 20 additional trips per day and limited direct access to Cushing Road to emergency vehicles at the road commissioner's request.
• 1:59:48
  The engineer's estimate to finish the Ruby Farm View phase one road has risen from about $109,000 to about $142,000 on the price of asphalt. John Talbot noted the town attorney is going out of business on May 31, which complicates getting the two legal opinions the board needs, one on the bond form and one on whether the project can be approved after the fact as a phased subdivision.
• 2:10:52
  Allan Purinton said Casella's move to automated collection within 18 months would require two 64-gallon containers per house spaced three feet apart, meaning 34 containers for 17 houses, which cannot be set on Swamp Road. The board added a condition that the applicant provide a solid waste plan covering the whole subdivision before final approval.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 11 passages of motion language, against 18 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

← 2024-03-13 Planning Board2024-05-01 Planning Board →All meetings