November 15, 2007

Agenda: The Town of Stratham, Planning Board conducted a Public Hearing on Wednesday, November 15, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., at the Stratham Town Hall, 10 Bunker Hill Avenue, Stratham, NH to consider the following:

Application Acceptance and Public Hearing:

1. Map 2 Lot 30 – Proposed 45, 000 sq. ft. Roasting Plant by Lindt & Sprungli, One Fine Chocolate Place, Stratham, NH.

2. Gateway Commercial Zone Master Plan Committee – Public Review Session

Public Hearing for Amendments to the Building Code:

To amend Article 1 section 2 to update the reference to the international building codes.

Members Present: Chair Janet Johnson; Mike Debitetto, Gordon Barker, Bruno Federico Mary Jane Werner, Jeff Hyland, Joe Russell and Charles (Chuck) Grassie, Town Planner.

Before the meeting began, Marty spoke in front of the board regarding the Charles Drive property. Lot 14 has no View easement and the owner has planted trees Mr. Grassie has spoken to the owner prior to adding the trees so that we may continue the view easement but the owner does not want to.

Another problem with the house is that the house blocks a lot of the view.

Application Acceptance and Public Hearing

Map 2 Lot 30 – Proposed 45,000 sq. ft. Roasting Plant by Lindt & Sprungli, One Fine Chocolate Place, Stratham, NH.

Brad from Appledore Engineering stated that Lindt would like to add 45,000 sq. ft. in the rear of the parcel, along with putting in additional parking in the back of the addition warehouse for trailer storage. Lindt will have 6 employees in a normal shift. They will ask for a waiver from the normal parking requirement due to the limited number of people that will be using this building.

Kathleen Breslin was concerned about the smell coming from the Roasting Plant and was wondering about some small matter coming out from the Roasting Process she heard that it might cause health problems with people with heart and lung problems. Peter Breed from Lindt stated that he is installing air pollution control equipment that will take care of particulate and the smells. They have bag filter houses inside the plant that will remove any dust that may get into the air. In addition, he stated the State does issue and regulate permits. Mr. Breed stated the State does not allow that kind of discharge to happen anymore. Mr. Breed assures that they are not allowed to discharge into the air.

John H. from Stratham stated he lives in the Vineyards development and they are concerned about the additions because of air quality and odors. He wants to know what standards the board will impose upon approval and how can it be enforced for the life of the plant. Mr. Grassie responded by stating the Board has no qualification to enforce or to apply any standards, he states that is done by the State of New Hampshire and the Federal Government, they have to receive a Federal Permit and State Permit to have a smoke stack.

Mr. Breed briefed the board about the letter from Weston Solutions, Inc, which explained the New Equipment. Mr. Breed stated they will be using the best available technology and that is what the State requires.

Mrs. Werner made a motion to accept the application as complete Mr. Federico seconded the motion the motion passed.

Continued Public Hearing until December 5, 2007.

2. Gateway Commercial Zone Master Plan Committee – Public Review Session

Mark Sykas introduced the members of the committee. Mr. Sykas stated that the board is looking at the current commercial zone and trying to see how it can be improved after assessing the problems that they have seen. The zone runs from the Exeter boarder to the Stratham Police Station. In the Draft report, there is an approximate outline of the commercial zone and it is inaccurate. Mr. Sykas stated this was just for a draft.

Mr. Sykas stated the current commercial zone has too few restaurants and that is because of the septic system. Traffic on Portsmouth Ave is an issue, along with lack of crossing walks. Very little office space in the area, no apartment style housing in the area. Mr. Sykas also stated doing something about the current commercial district is probably the last best chance to have a Town Center in Stratham.

Mr. Sykas thinks the current shopping area is not built out to the density it could be. There are large empty parking lots. Mr. Sykas thinks a way to improve the density is by putting some of the buildings up along Portsmouth Avenue and try to have smaller parking areas that are surrounded by buildings, so when you go shopping you can walk from store to store. This would also improve the traffic on Portsmouth Avenue. Clustering the retail would expand the office and the apartment style living above the businesses. By interconnecting the parking areas, you would avoid going onto Portsmouth Avenue. Mr. Sykas stated there is a need to get sewer and water services into the Commercial District, which will give a broader diversity of business such as restaurants.

Jon Sapienza of Raeder Drive asked if there was going to be a domino affect with regards to municipal sewer and water that might go out beyond the commercial zone, and impact the residential side of the question. Mr. Sykas responded by stating the whole approach is to containerize this effort not only for sewer and water but also the commercial impact.

Doug Scamman briefed the Board and thought this was a great idea. Mr. Scamman thinks it is important to allow more building off of the backside of the ramp road, because it should be on both sides of the roads. Mr. Scamman thinks they are going to have to expand the zone more to accomplish what they want.

Pete Wiggin, Bunker Hill Avenue wants to know if we will recreate the Town Center. Mr. Sykas responded by stating they would like to make a center for people to meet with friends accomplish municipal kinds of purposes.

Lucy Cushman stated we need to look at the whole zone before it all gets built up within 10-15 years or we will loose the opportunity to improve on what we don’t do now.

Fred Emanual wants to do what they can as townspeople to get the business district looking nicer, but there are issues why they cannot, which include water supply, sewage, drainage, lot coverage, and set backs. Mr. Emanual doesn’t think we can do this without working out the water supply or sewage issues.

Jen Mayer, of Chase Lane, loves the Town of Stratham and wanted to thank the board for trying to improve Stratham. Mr. Mayer also wanted to know how the Town can make Market Basket and Staples looking better.

Gordon Bailey owns a small business in Town and thanks the Board for trying to fix the commercial district. Mr. Bailey thinks this will help small local business’s to thrive in town. Mr. Bailey thinks that that signage is a huge problem in Stratham. Mr. Bailey states that the signs are not large enough to tell people what businesses are around.

The Gateway committee thanked everyone for their input and will continue redrafting their report.

Public Hearing for Amendments to the Building Code:

1. To amend article 1 section 2 to update the reference to the international building codes.

Charles Grassie stated that in order to amend the building codes they needed to have a public hearing then recommend to the Selectmen based on previous RSA. The RSA’s changed a short time ago and they can no longer do that. What they need to do is adopt by reference but have to send to the voters. The current and proposed language is as follows:

To amend Article 1 Section 2 to update the reference to the international building codes.

Current

Section 2: In accordance with RSA 674:52 the town of Stratham hereby adopts the following national building codes: International Building Code (publication date of June 2001 with an ISBN #1-892395-26-6; International Residential Code (publication date of May 2001 with an ISBN #1-892395-17-7); International Plumbing Code (publication date of January 2000 with an ISBN #1-892395-25-8); International Mechanical Code (publication date of January 2001 with an ISBN #1-892395-33-9); and International Electrical Code (publication date of April 2001 with an ISBN #1-892395-22-3) (Rev. 3/02)

Pursuant to the provision of NH RSA 674:52 (VI), the town of Stratham Building Code may be updated or amended after a public hearing held by the Planning Board. Following a public hearing, said updates or amendments shall become final upon approval by the Board of Selectmen and recording by the Town Clerk. (Rev. 3/02)

Proposed Amendment

To repeal Article 1 Section 2 in its entirety and replace with the following:

Section 2: In accordance with RSA 674:51 and RSA 674:51-a, the town of Stratham hereby adopts the following building codes as adopted by the State of New Hampshire by reference:

1. International Building Code;

2. International Residential Code;

3. International Plumbing Code;

4. International Mechanical Code;

5. National Electrical Code;

6. National Fuel Gas Code;

7. Uniformed Fire Code;

8. Life Safety Code; and

9. State Fire Code.

After a brief discussion, Mr. Federico moved to recommend this amendment as presented. Mrs. Werner seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Mr. Federico made the motion to adjourn at 9:00 p.m. and Mrs. Werner seconded. The motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Sarah C. Del Rossi

Secretary Stratham Planning Board