Planning Board
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Meeting Minutes

The Harrisville Planning Board held a regularly scheduled meeting and public hearing on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at the town offices.

Members present: Ryan Stone, Co-Chair; Jon Miner; Courtney Cox; Kate Neary; Andrea Hodson, Select Board Representative

Absent: Don Scott, Lisa Anderson, Pete Thayer, Ned Hulbert

Attendees: Howard Clark, Don Kilgus, Kate Kilgus, Kristie Brown, Scott Stone, Wendy Pelletier of Cardinal Surveying

Co-Chair Ryan Stone opened the meeting at 7:00 pm.

Agenda and voting members – Mr. Stone noted the voting members for the evening were Jon Miner, Courtney Cox, Kate Neary, Andrea Hodson and himself. For the agenda, he noted that the timing of the Recycle Center Committee update may be adjusted due to the arrival time of the committee representative. Members agreed with the adjustment.

Minutes of August 10, 2022 and September 6, 2022 – The board moved to approve both sets of meeting minutes. All voted in favor.

Minor Subdivision and Boundary Line Adjustment Application, William Raynor Estate, Katy Lane, Map 40 – Lot 46 – Wendy Pelletier of Cardinal Surveying represented the property owner.  Referring to exhibits and plans submitted to the board, she explained the overall proposal to subdivide the Raynor’s current 102-acre parcel, such that the existing house would remain on 5.79 acres, and the remaining 97.2 acres would at this time remain undeveloped land. A proposed boundary line adjustment with Map 40 – Lot 46-4, also owned by Raynor, would provide the needed frontage for the newly created and vacant parcel.

Courtney Cox noted that she and board member Pete Thayer reviewed the application for completeness following its submission by Ms. Pelletier at the August Planning Board meeting. Ms. Cox and Mr. Thayer focused on both the proposed lot line adjustment and on the proposed subdivision.

Co-Chair Ryan Stone noted that the board would also go through the checklist for completeness, comparing it to the paperwork submitted. The board subsequently did so, acknowledging the requests by the applicant for waivers on the checklist requirements related to property development, as there was no planned development for either lot at this time. Members believed the waiver requests were reasonable under these circumstances.

The board further agreed that the survey map provided met all board requirements. Subsequently, Courtney Cox moved to accept the application as complete. Kate Neary seconded. All voted in favor.

At 7:25 pm, Co-Chair Ryan Stone opened the public hearing. Members invited Wendy Pelletier to present the proposal in greater detail. Ryan Stone noted the presentation would be followed by questions from board, and then comments from abutters for and against the proposal.

Ms. Pelletier began with the explanation for the Boundary Line Adjustment, which was to allow for access from Katy Lane to the newly created lot. She showed the location of the original lot line separating Map 40 – Lot 46 with Map 40 – Lot 46-4 and how the additional portion acquired from the existing 40-46-4 would serve as the private road/Katy Lane extension, providing the access way to the undeveloped 97 acre lot. (For purposes of discussion, the map and lot number referred to for the subdivision’s larger parcel was 40-46-8 but this would be confirmed by the Assessor.) Ms. Pelletier’s plan also showed the proposed new boundary line.

The board then discussed the existing private road maintenance agreement, recorded at the Registry of Deeds subsequent to Mr. Raynor’s approved 1996 Subdivision. The existing Katy Lane lots, and the private road, were created as part of that subdivision. Ms. Pelletier noted this recorded “Declaration” requires updating to reflect current conditions along the road, in addition to possibly requiring updating to reflect approval of the application currently before the board.

Andrea Hodson asked the board and applicant if an extension of Katy Lane was part of the application, and if it had to be if it isn’t. She raised this as a question of required 250 feet of frontage per lot to meet subdivision regulations. Ms. Hodson described the application as creating two new lots.

Ms. Pelletier explained that the existing plat does not indicate this length of frontage for each lot but could be modified to do so. Members then reviewed the original subdivision plan approved in 1996, which shows Katy Lane but without the extended section that would serve the new lot. The board agreed any proposed extension should be incorporated into the plan and application. The board then discussed that this could be a condition of approval of subdivision and plat, and considered whether another condition of approval should relate to upgrade of the road at such time as any development is proposed.  Members agreed this made sense and that the board could review a revised plat submission before granting approval.

Returning to the road and driveway maintenance agreement, Ms. Pelletier stated she would work with the Raynors to redraft it, though the PB agreed it’s not in its purview to make any requirements related to private driveway agreements.

Abutters Don and Kate Kilgus thanked the board for bringing the Declaration to their attention, as they were not aware of it. The PB further clarified for abutters that any future development of Katy Lane would require a return to the PB for review.

The board then discussed options for layout of a road extension and whether or not, or how much of, the extended road would have to brought up to the required road standards in order to have the required frontage. The applicant and board confirmed the existence of a “woods road.” They worked with the applicant to consider and diagram different options and both the applicant and board agreed that Ms. Pelletier would modify the new boundary line between the lots, so that the required extension would be 150 feet, the additional frontage that needed to be depicted on the plan. Thus, the proposed extension and configuration of Katy Lane on the plat would accommodate 250 feet of frontage for the proposed two-lot subdivision.

With no further questions from the public, at 8:52 pm, the board closed the public hearing portion to deliberate the extension of 250’ of the existing private road known as Katy Lane and the timing for road improvement along the extension to be required upon plans for any future development. During its discussion the board and applicant explored ways to minimize as much as possible the length of the road extension. Ms. Pelletier she would discuss this with the property owners.

As the public hearing would need to continue to allow time for plan revision, the applicant granted permission to the PB to extend the timetable for PB review. Following discussion and agreement from the applicant, the board noted the public hearing on the Raynor Estate proposed Subdivision would continue to Wednesday, November 9, at 7:00 pm at town offices. There will be no discussion of the matter at the October meeting, due to travel schedules.

Master Plan Review
Kate Neary noted she met with Ned Hulbert and Mary Day Mordecai to synthesize the Transportation section of the Master Plan. Other members and subgroups also continue to work on their sections.

Education – PB members will look at training options.

New business
Transportation Committee – The PB moved to reimburse Mary Day Mordecai for expenses for supplies for the TC booth at the 150th. The Co-Chair wished to note that, despite the vote in favor to approve the expense, it was not previously requested by the TC or discussed by the board.  Separately, the board reviewed and approved the revised description of the TC for posting on the town website.

PB appreciation brunch – Mr. Stone noted the brunch will be rescheduled for Oct 15 or Oct 22 and he will send out a request for rsvps or these dates.

Kate Neary will share with Ned Hulbert information she has from SWRPC on the subject of workforce housing.

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm.