FINAL

Members Present:

Patrice Scott (Chair), Butch Cushing(Vice Chair), Omer C. Ahern Jr., Howard Burnham, Tom McGlauflin (Alternate), Freeman Plummer (Excused)

Others Present:

Brian Murphy, Land Use & Planning Director

Call to Order and Roll Call:

  • Patrice Scott opened the meeting at 7:00 pm and took roll call of the members present.

Approval of Minutes 1/3/17 & 5/2/17:

  • Omer C. Ahern Jr. made a motion to approve the January 3, 2017 minutes as written, seconded by Howard Burnham. All in favor.
  • Howard Burnham made a motion to approve the May 2, 2017 minutes as written, seconded by Butch Cushing. All in favor except for Omer C. Ahern Jr. who abstained.

Announcement:

  • Announcement of Withdrawal of Application from Plymouth Whyte Properties 1, LLC, Case #207-009SE/SE/VAR-04-17. This case had been continued to a date certain from the April 4, 2017 meeting.

Public Hearing:

  1. Application 214-006SE06-06-17---Request for a Special Exception from Article III, Section 304 (Table of Uses) to allow “manufacture of goods sold on premises:

including bakery, printshop, publishing, etc.”

A request by owner David Sanborn, 52 Huckins Hill Rd, Holderness, NH 03245. A Special Exception is requested through Article XII, Section 1204.2 of the Plymouth Zoning Ordinance. The property is located on NH Rte 25 in the Agricultural Zone.

  • David Sanborn, partner of The Last Chair and Sublime spoke about the project. He stated they are looking to move the brewery from inside the restaurant to over by the storage units. This will take up about 1800 square feet. They are running out of room in the restaurant and are busier than expected and sooner than they expected. The brewery will take up 4 storage units and the other 4 units will still be for storage.
  • Tom McGlauflin asked if they will be bottling the product and sell it at the location as well.
  • Greg Aprilliano, the other partner of the business stated that they will not be bottling at this time. They are in the first phase of testing the market to see if there is a thirst for their product. At this point they are maximizing their product and are selling out of what they have. They have had several area merchants ask to sell their product in their businesses and at this point they cannot as they do not have enough product for the demand or enough room to accomplish the several tasks involved. They are excited for the expansion, even though they did not expect this to happen for a few years.
  • David Sanborn & Greg Aprilliano noted they are only selling the product at the Last Chair and it is selling out. They have been invited to a few festivals in the state and they are having a hard time maintaining the inventory to be able to attend the festivals and bring more tourism to Plymouth. They are already part of the list of breweries of New Hampshire and people are requesting tours of the brewery.
  • Howard Burnham inquired about additional parking.
  • David Sanborn mentioned that he hopes to close June 16th on an acre and a half piece of land next door. The customers would access through the existing entrance, go between the restaurant and storage units and the new parking area is behind the restaurant. Customers would use the existing entrances of the building.
  • Patrice Scott verified that this was the property discussed at the Planning Board meeting and that the total acreage is now 2.6 acres.
  • Howard Burnham verified that the brewery is on the agenda for site plan review with the Planning Board.

Public Hearing Opened at 7:09pm:

  • Frank Miller spoke in favor of the application. The application speaks to the Master Plan for economic development. The request is well within the bounds of the property and that the abutters should not have a problem with this project.
  • Kathy Bentwoodmade a request for non-alcoholic beer.

Public Hearing Closed at 7:11pm:

Facts and Findings:

  • The business is in the Agricultural zone on 2.6 acres now.
  • This is an existing business.
  • Nobody spoke against the business that is very popular.
  • Provisions made to expand parking issues.
  • Proposed size of the brewery will be roughly 1800 square feet.
  • No additional town services needed.
  • Using existing curb cut.

Special Exception Criteria:

1.The proposed use shall be only those allowed in this ordinance by special exception. True. Unanimous.

2.The specific site is in an appropriate location and of adequate size for the use. True. Unanimous.

3.The use as developed will not adversely affect the character in the area in which the proposed use will be located. True. Unanimous.

4.There will be no nuisance or serious hazards to vehicles or pedestrians. True. Unanimous.

5.The use will not place excessive or undue burden on town services and facilities. True. Unanimous.

6.There would be no significant effect resulting from such use on the public safety and general welfare of the neighborhood in which the use would be located. True. Unanimous.

  • Tom McGlauflin made a motion to approve the application as presented, seconded by Butch Cushing. All in favor.
  1. Application 213-005-003VAR06-06-17---Request for variance relief from Article III, Section 304 (Table of Uses) to allow a thirty dwelling-unit building on a twelve acre parcel. A request from Brian G. Young, P.O. Box 329, Plymouth, NH 03264 through his agent, Jeffrey Lewis, P.E., Northpoint Engineering, 5 Sheep Davis Road, Pembroke, NH 03275. Relief is requested through Article XII, Section 1204.4 of the Plymouth Zoning Ordinance. The property is located on Boulder Point Drive in the ICD Zone.
  • Jeffrey Lewis, North Point Engineering spoke on behalf of the applicant. He introduced Peter Kelleher, President and CEO of Harbor Homes and Peter Bennett, Winer and Bennett Law Firm, both are from Nashua. He is presented an overview of the project. The project started a little over 2 years ago and is known as Soldier On up to this point. The parcel is located at the top of Boulder Point Drive across from the medical offices. The project was started by several community groups including Kathy Bentwood, The Bridge House and Alex Ray to tackle homelessness of Veterans in our area. The organizations were looking for permanent housing options for the homeless Veterans. All the organizations have been working together with Brian Young, Soldier On and North Point Engineering on this project. The project started as 52 units and has now become 54 units. Soldier on has been working on funding for this project. They have received half of the funding from the Veterans Administration; they were also looking for funding from HUD. That has not come through yet. This was going to come through last fall, however, this has not happened yet, if they had the project would be well under way. There are a lot of great projects in the state who also need funding. Late winter Harbor Homes came in to the project in the late winter to help save the funds for the project that Soldier On started. They have a very short timeline to move forward. They would like to start building late summer and have the project completed by May 2018. They are here for a variance due to the project being a little different than what Soldier On was proposing.
  • Peter Kelleher, President and CEO of Harbor Homes gave an overview of their program. He has been with Harbor Home for about 35 years and working on housing for the homeless Veterans for about 15 years. They work with about 750 Veterans across the state each year. They have 4 projects they have done that serve honorably discharged homeless Veterans. 2 of them are located in Nashua, 1 in Manchester and 1 in Claremont. They help Veterans in other facilities and capacities. Their passion for the last 15 years is to try and end Veteran homelessness. They have been recognized recently in the greater Nashua area as affectively ending Veteran homelessness. Their goal is to make this possible state wide. Most of the homeless Veterans in the state suffer from PTSD or some other crisis in their life that have made them homeless. Most of the housing for the Veterans is transitional housing. They temporarily house them in shelters. Through their work with the Veterans they realize the most need is in this area. They have also learned that most of the Veterans enjoy having a full kitchen. This is different than what Soldier On would supply for kitchen facilities. The facility would also have case management on site and would work closely with the White River Junction VA. They believe they can pool all necessary facilities in the area to make this project happen as long as they have all the approval required from the Town.
  • Tom McGlauflin asked how many units it took to alleviate Nashua’s homeless Veteran problem.
  • Peter Kelleher stated that they have in total 90 units for homeless Veterans in Nashua. One project that is 25, another one that is 40, another 5 and 21 scattered apartments.
  • Howard Burnham asked if there would be facilities on site for case management.
  • Peter Kelleher stated that there would be an office for the tenants on site as well as other case management services for Veterans in the area. This is to ensure they have the support to succeed in living in the facility.
  • Patrice Scott asked if any kind of medical services are included.
  • Peter Kelleher stated they would only facilitate access to medical services.
  • Howard Burnham asked about the screening process.
  • Peter Kelleher stated they typically get referrals from the VA and then research to make sure they qualify with their current income. They also complete criminal record checks on anyone accepted into their program.
  • Omer C. Ahern Jr. asked if they will have vegetable gardens for their residents at any of the facilities.
  • Peter Kelleher stated their plan is to have vegetable gardens at their facilities.
  • Howard Burnham asked what their plans are for the acreage left after the building is put on the property.
  • Jeffrey Lewis handed out current plans to the Board. He stated that a lot of the project is still in the design and development stage. The plans at this time show a 2-story, 30-unit building. The plans show covered parking with the hopes to keep it this way. There will be a memorial area in the front, community areas and the rest would be a large grassy area. They are in the development stage at this point due to the funding that is available.
  • Omer C. Ahern Jr. asked if the units house couples and or families as well.
  • Peter Kelleher noted that it is possible to have couples and families in some of the units. He noted that the majority, roughly 85% of the units are single individuals. There are individuals post 911, however; the majority of these individuals are Vietnam Veterans.
  • Patrice Scott noted this project is one of a network of Veteran’s housing they have established. She asked if the NH Housing Authority has an application process and criteria to meet eligibility that they could help determine if someone is appropriate for this type of housing. She also wants to know the other housing configurations in Nashua and Manchester.
  • Peter Kelleher stated this process is highly regulated. They have to supply reports to the NH Finance Authority on a regular basis which also oversee the project and complete annual inspections as well. He stated the buildings in Nashua and Manchester are similar to this project. One building with several units.
  • Omer C. Ahern Jr. stated that he feels this is a great location for this project due to being near all the different facilities. His only concern is adequate parking. He asked if there will be at least 1 spot per unit.
  • Peter Kelleher noted that their goal is for adequate parking for the Veterans and their visitors. This will create a sense of community for the Veterans.
  • Howard Burnham asked if this property would pay property taxes.
  • Peter Kelleher noted that the Town had worked with Soldier On with a plan for taxes. He stated that they will have to work with the Town to come up with a similar plan as Soldier On’s plan (ie, a P.I.L.O.T)
  • Tom McGlauflin asked if this building will be steel frame or stick built.He asked where the funding for the building will be coming from. He verified that their rent will be calculated by the Veterans Association.
  • Jeffrey Lewis believes the building will be stick built.
  • Peter Kelleher stated that the development side of the project will be funded by the NH Housing Finance Authority, State of NH tax credits and private funds through pledges. Their rent will go through the Veterans Association.
  • Butch Cushing asked about turn over.
  • Peter Kelleher stated that the buildings in Nashua are transitional housing which is 2 years. This building will be long term housing and he feels people would stay 3-4 years.
  • Jeffrey Lewis went over the differences from the Soldier On project to the new project. The project is very similar, however; this is now considered a multi-family over 6 units. The units are also larger with full kitchens. There does not seem to be a provision in the Zoning Ordinance for a multi-family building over 6 units. If they broke the units up into multiple buildings with 6 units in them they would not need the variance. For a construction standpoint and cost affective measure, they did combine the units to one building. They feel this project will stay within the boundaries of the neighborhood and will not affect the value of the business in this area. The project is coming to the area at the request of the public and the 12 acre lot meets the density criteria. This project meets the general welfare and need of the community.
  • Patrice Scott asked if there are any restrictions on the building. Her concern is them not being occupied in the future.
  • Peter Kelleher stated that 25 have to be for Veterans and 5 are Veterans preferred. They can go to the Veterans Administration if they have a problem filling them.
  • Tom McGlauflin asked if the water system is adequate and able to pump that high.
  • Jeffrey Lewis stated that it is adequate and that they did perform a flow test last fall.

Public Hearing Opened at 7:47pm:

  • Frank Miller spoke in favor of the project. He feels that the efforts show the people in the community want to see this project move forward.
  • Kathy Bentwood stated she has been working on this for 6 years and would like to see this move forward. She knows there is a huge need for these units. She has a Veteran that is a regular at the Bridge House that continues to ask if this building is completed.
  • Omer C. Ahern Jr. asked how many Veterans they have at the Bridge House today and throughout the years. He asked if they would be part of this process to be able to get into one of the units. He feels this is large step to help end homelessness.
  • Kathy Bentwood stated that they had 4 as of yesterday and 2 as of today. She noted that they have had 89 in the past 3-4 years. She noted that they would definitely be part of this process.

Public Hearing Closed at 7:50pm:

  • Patrice Scott stated her concern regarding the building not be permitted as there is not specific definition in the table of uses in the Zoning Ordinance. She does not want to overstep the Planning Board.
  • Brian Murphy noted that this is a permitted use in the residential area. They will be presenting preliminary plans to the Planning Board.

Fact and Findings:

  • The proposed use is actually less than what another configuration would allow.
  • The lot is 12 acres.
  • This is a commercial area.
  • Well established need for this project.
  • Similar proposal was approved by the Board previously.
  • All utilities are present.
  • Building size is suitable for neighboring properties.

Variance Criteria

1204.4 Variances

A. The Board of Adjustment may authorize a variance from the terms of this Ordinance, where the Board of Adjustment finds that all of the following conditions apply:

1. Granting the variance will not diminish the value of surrounding properties. True. Unanimous.

2. The variance will not be contrary to the public interest. True. Unanimous.

3. Denial of the variance would result in unnecessary hardship to the applicant upon proof that:

a) The zoning restriction as applied to the applicant’s property interferes with the

applicant’s reasonable use of the property, considering the unique setting of the property in its environment; 4 True. 1 False (Patrice Scott).