NAVIAN PROJECT Update
October 2020
Planning Board Meeting Minutes – 10/6/2020
The following summary is not meant to be complete, my note taking skills are rusty at best. The PB accepted the application as essentially complete in order to allow public input. The formal minutes of the meeting are not yet available and may not be for a while as the meeting ended in a continuance until Nov 17th. A site visit is planned on October 20th at 5PM. A hydrologist report is expected by the Nov 17th meeting.
The engineering firm doing the planning presented updated plans. This is a very complicated project with a lot going on. They addressed snow storage concerns. Omitted from the plans were indications of public access, trash control, and dedicated landscaping. The MLPOA letter and the WLSA letter were read into the minutes. Abutters were allowed to speak. Property owners adjacent to the proposed project hired Attorney Kelley Dowd, of Keene. Attorney Dowd challenged the legality of the PURD regulations in use by the town. He also pointed out that the development did not conform to traditional PURD developments. He feels the project is consistent with “Village” plans… a designation which would not allow the PURD bonus of additional units. Public comments included criticism of the plan as not conforming to the existing town PURD regulations.
The Conservation Commission noted aquifer concerns, including recharge rates, runoff concerns, thermal concerns and lead concerns, (the property has been used as a shooting range for many years). They suggested a natural resource scientist be engaged to study the effects of the project on the flora and fauna. The Conservation Committee notes that it will be close to impossible to obtain conservation easement on the common land. They also noted lack of public access, lack of dedicated landscaping and lack of trash control measures.
The developer agreed to a hydrologist report. The board decided to have another hydrologist hired by the developer with input from Kirk Stenerson. That report will then be reviewed by yet another independent hydrologist. (It is not clear to me why the town doesn’t hire a hydrologist themselves and bill the developer). The developer verbally agreed to restrict the use of salt for ice control. Not clear to me how that would be enforced.
Don Wilson
President MLPOA
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