Town of Prospect-Boards & Commissions

Planning & Zoning Commission

Approved Minutes

August 2, 2006
Board Members Present: Vice Chairman Gil Graveline, Tom Galvin, & Al Havican
Alternates Present: Jack Crumb
Others Present: Bill Donovan, Land Use Inspector
Members Absent: Robert Hiscox, Don Pomeroy & Al Delelle (alt.)

Vice Chairman Gil Graveline called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. J. Crumb was seated for R. Hiscox. The meeting was taped.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by A. Havican, seconded by T. Galvin to accept the minutes of the July 19, 2006 meeting as amended. Unanimous.

Correspondence: none

Public Participation: Ed Diloreto from Prospect Service Center & Towing was asked to come to the meeting and discuss his site plan at 1 Old Schoolhouse Road. There was to be a fence that separated the property from 20 Union City Road and the fence is still not completed. Mr. Diloreto stated the fence has been completed and as of this week a gate was installed. G. Graveline stated that the original plan called for a fence without a gate. B. Donovan mentioned letters that were sent to several businesses in town, including the Citgo Station at 20 Union City Road, regarding signage. The property is owned by Mr. Diloreto. B. Donovan also mentioned additional site work that could cause drainage problems to an abutting property. Mr. Diloreto stated that the neighbor has had drainage problems for years, before his business was there. The Commission stated they are fine with the gate being utilized for emergency purposes only. Motion by A. Havican, seconded by T. Galvin to amend the site plan approval for Prospect Service Center & Towing to place a gate on the fence between the properties at 1 Old Schoolhouse Rd. and 20 Union City Rd.

Unanimous.

Charlene Spreda, 35 Candee Road wanted to bring to the Commission’s attention an on going problem that her property has had with the Prospect Estates Subdivision on Cook Road. There are a number of wetlands issues. Mrs. Spreda stated that there have been several soil deposit events going into her pond from upstream problems with this subdivision. She read a letter she had written noting all the problems her property has incurred. Mrs. Spreda asked that the Planning & Zoning Commission is notified by the Inland Wetlands Commission regarding the problems and also that the Planning & Zoning Commission notify the Inland Wetlands Commission if Prospect Estates requests a release or reduction in their bond. Mrs. Spreda stated that her pond is permanently discolored and there is a lot of sediment. She feels that the developer has not followed through with several other things. B. Donovan stated that Mr. Beausoleil was pumping and stabilizing the detention basin to allow his machine to start excavating and setting the grades. The road is paved the curbing is around the cul de sac. G. Graveline asked if the town engineer Bob Oley can submit a report. B. Donovan stated that Bob Oley will be making an inspection as the process moves along and the Town will ask for an as built of the detention basin after the project is completed to compare with the original plans.

Old Business: (see page 2)

Public Hearings:

  • 7:10 p.m. Motcat Inc., 80 Straitsville Road. 1-lot Re-subdivision application. (Public hearing continued from 7/5/06) G. Graveline read letter from Nancy Levesque dated July 31st, 2006 stating that the applicant has withdrawn their application.

  • 7:20 p.m. HESCH, LLC, 54A Talmadge Hill Rd. Zone Change application from Planned Congregate Elderly (PCEH) & Business District (B) to Residential One Acre (R1A). (Public hearing continued from July 5, 2006) G. Graveline read a letter from Claudia & Ray Lapalme opposed to this zone change due to traffic concerns. Frank Marcantonio was in attendance representing Hesch, LLC. T. Galvin asked how many acres the property is. Mr. Marcantonio stated it is 47.2 acres. B. Donovan asked what types of zones surround this property. Mr. Marcantonio stated that there is mostly Residential One Acre (R1A) surrounding the property; therefore this zone change would be compatible to the surrounding areas. Vice Chairman G. Graveline asked for comments from the public: Greg Ploski, Clark Hill Road discussed with the Commission the Plan of Conservation & Development. Mr. Ploski feels that this zone change does not comply with the Plan. He also mentioned the Plan shows this property as being residential two acre (R2A). Mr. Ploski stated also in the Plan this particular piece of property is slated as a potential school site. Mr. Ploski stated that if this property was changed to R1A it could potentially become a tax deficit to the town. In regards to traffic, Mr. Ploski stated that a Planned Congregate Elderly development would be older people who don’t necessarily drive; with a residential development he feels there would be more traffic. Mr. Ploski feels leaving the property at its current zone is a much wiser decision and it won’t create additional problems. Mr. Marcantonio discussed a similar assisted living development where over 200 people worked, which would be over 200 additional cars. Mr. Marcantonio also mentioned if a Planned Congregate Elderly Development came in the sewer would have to come in and the Town would have to pay taxes and fees on that. Tony Ciramella of 21 Horizon View asked how much of the property is wetlands. Mr. Marcantonio stated that whoever develops the property will address the wetlands issues according to whatever regulations are in place. Mr. Marcantonio stated that he is not looking for a subdivision he is only looking for a zone change at this time. Mr. Ploski again stated that this zone change is not in compliance with the Plan of Conservation and Development. Mr. Marcantonio granted the Commission an extension of time on his public hearing to August 16th. The public hearing was continued to 7:10 p.m. on August 16th, 2006. B. Donovan wanted to mention that this property is within a pubic water supply watershed.

    • New Business:

    Attorney Edward Fitzpatrick, attorney representing Dominick Mirabelle, 44-50 Waterbury Rd. Proposal to amend Section 4.12.3 of the Zoning Regulations – Restaurants & Banquet Facilities. Atty. Fitzpatrick representing the applicant stated that there are a few mistakes on the application that was submitted. The name of the applicant is Dominick Mirabelle, the Section he is proposing to amend is 4.12.3 (not 14.12.3) and they are proposing to delete the entire Section. Atty. Fitzpatrick stated that he will send to the Land Use Office a corrected application. Mr. Fitzpatrick stated that this regulation does not work with the current Plan of Conservation and Development that encourages clustering of businesses along Route 69. The applicant asked that the public hearing be set for September 6th, 2006. Motion by T. Galvin, seconded by A. Havican to accept application submitted by Dominick Mirabelle with modifications, to eliminate Section 4.12.3 of the Prospect Zoning Regulations. Unanimous. Motion to set a public hearing for an application submitted by Dominick Mirabelle with modifications to eliminate Section 4.12.3 of the Prospect Zoning Regulations that requires separating distances between restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages and other restaurants serving alcoholic beverages as well as churches, public schools, meeting places, playgrounds or libraries, for September 6, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. Unanimous.

    Old Business:

  • Finno Development, Inc., 80 Cook Road. Application for a 27-lot residential subdivision. (Public hearing closed 7/5/06) G. Graveline read a letter from Atty. Duffy dated August 2, 2006, generally questioning legal procedures for providing changes and new technical information on this application after the close of the public hearing. Another letter from Atty. Duffy also dated August 2, 2006 stated the new drawing requested by the Commission is not complete and the applicant will not be attending tonight’s meeting. T. Galvin mentioned slight modification as opposed to large modification. T. Galvin mentioned changing the subdivision application process for the future to require a preliminary review to discuss in general the subdivision and where the Commission would like to see the open space. A. Havican feels that the applicant should do what the Commission asked them to do. The Commission had discussion on this application and changes to the subdivision plan. G. Graveline stated that the Commission either needs to ask the applicant to withdraw and resubmit or proceed with everything that came in after the public hearing was closed. A. Havican feels that the Commission made a good decision, the Commission just needs to clean up procedurally. B. Donovan discussed the reasoning for public hearings. G. Graveline suggested that B. Donovan speak to Atty. Duffy and the applicant and ask them to withdraw and resubmit without prejudice and without any further application fees.

  • Town Line Restaurant, 280 Cheshire Road - Request to release bond. B. Donovan discussed history of bond for Town Line Restaurant. He stated that the new owner made site improvements. G. Graveline read letter asking for bond release. B. Donovan recommended a full release of the remaining $14,700.00 Motion by T. Galvin, seconded by A. Havican to release the remaining bond of $14,700.00 for Town Line Restaurant. Unanimous.

    Quality Hardwood, 80-84 Scott Rd. Reduce bond. T. Galvin stated that he drove by the property and it looks much better and the gate is up as of tonight. J. Crumb stated that he also feels the property looks much better. B. Donovan recommended setting a new bond for Quality Hardwood, 80-84 Scott Road, for $25,000.00 to cover any remaining site improvements such as the driveway and fire road construction. Motion by T. Galvin, seconded by J. Crumb to approve $25,000.00 bond for Quality Hardwood, 80-84 Scott Rd. Unanimous.

    Land Use Inspector’s Report: B. Donovan discussed the bond at Pond Place Medical Facility. B. Donovan recommended that the Commission release the bond of $310,000.00. Motion made by T. Galvin, seconded by J. Crumb to release the Pond Place Medical Facility bond for $310,000.00. Unanimous. B. Donovan asked for the consensus of the Commission on creating a rear lot as a “first cut” or first split of one parcel. B. Donovan stated that his interpretation of this issue is that since the first division is not considered a subdivision he feels that it falls under the zoning regulations which, in the Table of Bulk Regulations, requires a minimum of 150 feet of frontage. B. Donovan stated that since rear lots are identified and shown in the zoning regulations however, does the Commission then feel that they are also permitted under our zoning regulations. The Commission will discuss this at the next meeting when there are more Commissioners in attendance. Motion by T. Galvin, seconded by A. Havican to accept the Land Use Inspector’s report. Unanimous.

    Public Participation:Greg Ploski asked about length of driveways and he asked about Industrial or Commercial driveways. He wanted to know the Commission’s view on the length of driveways on a non-residential property. T. Galvin stated that longer driveways in non-residential properties might be better for appearance. T. Galvin mentioned getting input from the Fire Marshall etc. on what their thoughts are on this.

    Adjournment: Motion by A. Havican, seconded by T. Galvin to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. Unanimous.

    Robert Hiscox
    Robert Hiscox, Chairman