PLANNING
COMMISSION
P.O.
BOX 308
Thursday,
September 14, 2006
7:00pm Town
Hall
a.
Continuation Subdivision Application #393, 24 lots (Gillette’s Crossing),
180 Battle Street & 7 Eleanor Lane, KRL Builders
(09/14)
Chairman
Karl Walton called the public hearing to order at 7:10pm and the legal notice
was read.
Sandy
Aeschliman explained that there were some unresolved issues, specifically with
regard to the “double tier” of lots which does not currently meet the
regulations, and cannot be waived.
Also, whether or not a right of way should be left into the Lamb property
for future development has not been addressed. The plans as presented do not appear to
be able to comply with the regulations.
The
Commission discussed the amount of extension time the applicant had left to
grant to the Commission and there was enough time to go the next Commission
meeting on September 28, which Mr. Leno requested to do.
A
motion was made by Brad Pellissier, seconded by Michael Collins, and unanimously
voted to accept the applicant’s extension of time for Subdivision Application
#393, until September 28, 2006, and to continue the public hearing for this
application until September 28, 2006, at 7:00pm in the Town
Hall.
II.
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman
Karl Walton called the regular meeting to order at 7:35pm. Members Mike Collins, Brad Pellissier,
Karl Walton, and alternate Greg Genlot (seated for Cliff Bordeaux) were present
and constituted a quorum. Town
Planner Patrice Carson and Engineering Consultant Mervyn Strauss were also
present.
III. OLD
BUSINESS:
a. Discussion/Possible Decision: Subdivision Application #393, 24 lots (Gillette’s Crossing), 180 Battle Street & 7 Eleanor Lane, KRL Builders
No
action was taken on this item since the public hearing was
continued.
b.
Discussion/Possible Decision:
Subdivision Application #395, 2 Lots (Eleanor Road Subdivision), 23
Eleanor Road, Eleanor Road, LLC (09/28)
Becky Myers, an associate at
Design Professionals presented for the above-mentioned subdivision. Some small revisions have been made to
the plans. The parcel is 24.9 acres
on the north side of Main Street to be subdivided into two residential
single-family house lots accessed by Eleanor Road. A variance has been granted to allow the
driveway on lot 2 to cross lot 1 to avoid any wetlands crossing. The houses will be serviced by public
water and underground utilities, but will have private septic
systems.
A
letter addressing the changes was submitted and they were reviewed with the
Commission. Mrs. Carson noted that
the appraisal for the entire parcel came in at $355,000.00, and each lot will
pay $17,750.00.
A
motion was made by Brad Pellissier, seconded by Greg Genlot, and unanimously
voted to approve Eleanor Road, LLC’s 2-lot subdivision, application #395, in
accordance with the plans known as “Eleanor Road, LLC Subdivision, 23 Eleanor
Road, Somers, Connecticut”, dated:
04-24-06, revised: through
09-12-06, 8 sheets, which is conditional on the following:
1.
A note shall be placed on the plans:
“The filing of a $35,500.00 fee in lieu of open space ($17,750.00 per
lot) is required to be paid to the Town of Somers upon the sale or transfer of
each lot.”
The Town of Somers shall also place a notice on the land records to
insure payment.
2.
The $800.00 fee for the appraisal for open space shall be paid in full
and proof of payment shall be submitted to the planning
office.
3.
Within 90 days of this approval all iron pins and monuments be set and
certified in accordance with the plans or a $10,000 bond received by the Town in
accordance with Section 213-54.c. of the Subdivision
Regulations.
4.
The signatures of the Town Engineer and Town Sanitarian shall be on the
plans signifying their approval of the plans in accordance with Section 213-19
of the Subdivision Regulations.
5.
All appropriate seals and signatures of the design professionals for this
plan shall be on the plans.
6.
A Quit Claim Deed shall be provided to the Town of Somers for the strip
of land between the road pavement and the street line established by the
subdivision plans running along the entire frontage of the property on Eleanor
Road.
7.
A small segment of land on the southerly end of the frontage on lot #1
shall be conveyed to the Town of Somers.
8.
The line of sight for Eleanor Drive at Main Street shall be noted on the
plans in feet.
9.
The location of the Connecticut Water Company well on the north side of
Wells Road shall be noted on the plans.
10.
The numbering on the 1”=200’ scale Area Map for lots 25-6 and
25-7 on Main Street shall be changed to 26-6 and 26-7 to
match the abutter listing.
The
Planning Commission finds with these conditions the plan meets the requirements
of the Somers Subdivision Regulations.
c.
Other
– There was no other Old Business.
IV. NEW
BUSINESS:
a. Reconfiguration of Lots, 353 & 367 Hall Hill Road (Map 37, Blocks 13A & 13B), Roy & High Ridge Estates, LLC
The
Commission reviewed the reconfiguration plans which would give property to High
Ridge Estates which will become part of the subdivision next on the agenda. Part of this property was given to the
neighbor Barnes in an earlier reconfiguration.
A motion was made by Brad
Pellissier, seconded by Michael Collins, and unanimously voted to approve the
reconfiguration of property of Ida Roy & High Ridge Estates LLC at 353 &
367 Hall Hill Road (Map 37 Block 13A & 13B), as shown on map entitled, “Lot
Reconfiguration Plan, Property Survey Prepared For High Ridge Estates, LLC, Hall
Hill Road, Somers, Connecticut”, dated:
04-26-02, revised through:
04-17-06, 1 sheet. This
reconfiguration does not constitute a subdivision because no new lot is
created.
b.
Subdivision Application #396, 14 Lots (High Ridge Estates), Hall Hill
Road, High Ridge Estates , LLC
Mike
Leaska, representing High Ridge Estates, LLC, presented the application for
acceptance. Mr. Leaska was amenable
and offered to donate a fee in lieu of open space. The Commission will refer the
application to the Open Space Committee for review and comment at their October
4 meeting. A Wetlands Permit has
already been issued for the project.
Staff
will review the plans and get comments back to the applicant, and a public
hearing will be set at a future meeting. The applicant has been working with Town
Staff. Mr. Leaska will wait for
staff reviews on the new set of plans and will then be scheduled to return to a
Planning Commission meeting.
It
was reviewed with the applicant that when the public hearing is held on this
application, he should be prepared to present a full and detailed presentation
to the Commission and the audience.
A
motion was made by Brad Pellissier, seconded by Greg Genlot, and unanimously
voted to accept High Ridge Estates, LLC’s subdivision application #396 for a 14
lot subdivision on Hall Hill Road.
c.
Other
– There was no other New Business.
V.
DISCUSSION: PLAN OF
CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
Mrs. Carson noted that
she and the First Selectmen should be meeting with CRCOG regarding the
Agricultural Viability Grant and information should come in after that. The next meeting will probably be into
November sometime.
VI.
STAFF/COMMISSIONER REPORTS
Mrs. Carson and Mr.
Strauss have been working on the agenda items, the majority on KRL Builders
subdivision, and two future ARH applications.
There were some comments
on how the Town Engineer is given work and how applicants get his comments. Mrs. Carson explained to the Commission
that when she began work in Somers 19 years ago, she was instructed by the Board
of Finance that any work going to the Town Engineer was to go through her
office, so that it would be controlled and not just anyone would call Merv. Otherwise there would be no control of
the billable hours and sometimes questions are asked that can be answered by the
Planner and don’t need to go to the Town Engineer. Over the last 19 years the standard
operating procedure has been that all correspondence to and from the Town
Engineer goes through the Planner’s Office. The applicants do get the Town
Engineer’s comments because he sends copies to not only the applicant, but also
their professionals.
Mrs. Carson also
reminded the Commission that it is the applicant and his design professionals’
responsibility to obtain a copy of the Town regulations and prepare their plans
to meet those regulations with guidance from the staff and their comments. Merv noted that it is his practice to
number all his comments and drop the specific comment and its number from
subsequent reviews as the comments are satisfactorily
addressed.
VII.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
– There was none.
VIII.
CORRESPONDENCE AND BILLS
It was the consensus that the
Chairman signed the yearly contract with NCCD for the services of David Askew,
Wetlands Officer.
Bills were received as
follows:
JI –
08/03 hearing
$125.92
JI –
08/03 meeting
$78.70
Stewart Appraisal Services Valuation Impact
Analysis
$125.00
A motion was made by Greg
Genlot, seconded by Brad Pellissier, and unanimously voted to pay the bills
presented.
IX.
MINUTES APPROVAL:
August 3, 2006 & August 30, 2006
A motion was made by Greg
Genlot, seconded by Michael Collins, and passed by a vote of 3 in favor, 0
opposed and 1 abstention (Pellissier) to approve the minutes of August 3, 2006
as presented.
A motion was made by Greg
Genlot, seconded by Michael Collins, and passed by a vote of 3 in favor, 0
opposed and 1 abstention (Collins) to approve the minutes of August 30, 2006 as
presented.
A
motion was made by Michael Collins, seconded by Brad Pellissier and unanimously
voted to adjourn the September 14, 2006 Planning Commission meeting at 8:20
p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Bradley
Pellissier
Jennifer Boudreau
Commission
Secretary
Recording Secretary
MINUTES
ARE NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVAL AT A SUBSEQUENT
MEETING.