roll call and the seaing of alternates I see an CR is with us Leanne here I don't see Steve Nelson and I don't see Scott psan Scott may be at the at the community center meeting okay yeah I talked to him earlier he thought that he would be here but but be that as it may and so with that Susan I'm going to see see you as an alternate for Scott so anyhow that's that's our lineup for tonight an Leanne Susan and me additions or changes to the agenda Allan we we were starting to talk just a little bit about the sequencing sequencing of events we as you know we got a proposed amendment to the original application with respect to a restoration plan that came in late last week and maybe maybe some early this week that we got to see all that so we've got that I I would think that we would accept that as an item Allen and then go into executive session and discuss the way ahead yeah that sounds reasonable Okay so what what I'll do is make a motion to change the agenda by eliminating item five the executive session will under new business we will put receive amendment to Gravel Pit application and then item seven will go into executive session well we might excuse me Jed go ahead I I'm thinking we may want to go into executive session first because I mean it's all related to the you know enforcement of the remediation plan so I I think it's it's fairly within the you know pending litigation which doesn't have to be about pending litigation pending litigation can be about you know
incoit claims that the commission may may have because what we talk about there may affect how we proceed so we may not want to accept that Amendment until it's clear that that's the best way to go forward okay I I got you and had some of those thoughts and so anyhow I rraw I'll withdraw my original motion and I'll make a new motion that under new business we put receive Amendment to the Gravel Pit application I'll leave item s executive session in there just in case we need to go back for anything but we'll do the executive session first then receive the application and then we'll we'll leave the rest of the agenda as it is and so that's the motion I would need a
second to that motion second it thank you an and then any discussion on the motion so I will Jed will you will do this with a a breakout room I assume same as last time yes so what I'll need is a list of people who are going into executive session and essentially who on the the call is excluded after I pause the recording I'll invite obviously yourself yeah so so who who's coming yes so it'll be all of the all of the commission members okay all the alternate members so we have we have the non the non-commission members there's someone on the phone with the phone number s 742 5475 I do not know who that is and then we have Amry deel as well yep I saw anarie just joined us and Scott pan is on his way he he's going to be a minute or two late so so the the the one phone number that you had mentioned I don't know who that is either so that's me Leanne Hutchinson oh oh okay lean I'll merge I'll merge you with the the video
just so we get it all together so say say the number you were talking about again John because I I saw a different number pop up from what I thought it was a 742 number but that's Leanne so I just merged her audio with her video so so it's all set okay is is Jim and Allen I assume are invited Jim and Allen and you y and then so Anar is the only one not invited nope she is here is an alternate oh she's an alternate I'm sorry Amry and and I would seat her as an alternate but Scott bran said he's on the way and so we'll we'll go with that when we get that and I see somebody else maybe it's Marina's connecting I see the town of vover seal yeah so at this point is everyone am I excluding anyone Katherine Hutchinson would not be able to attend oh okay sorry right right okay I get my Hutchinson's merge yeah okay so with with apologies to
Katherine I think we went through this last time I'll everyone will jump out into a and and sorry I don't know if this is that Marina it's either Marina or Eric Eric yeah oh of vanover is me okay we got Eric here Eric will be invited to the executive session as well and Scott psan is here Scott you're in the attendance the only commission member missing is Steve Nelson and Susan England is seated for him okay so that was we're still in discussion I I know who's going in so once you approve your motion I'll pause the recording and bring everyone up to
the breakout room well we'll do we'll do the public comment first and then we'll go to the executive session oh okay so okay that that'll be how that works so J do you have to shuffle the alternate position round did didn't you see Susan in place of Scott yeah that's what you said I was doing Scott okay so now Susan you're seated for Steve Nelson okay thank you Jim you're welcome and so we we had a motion and we got a second on the motion and so this month we're going to vote on the motion we didn't do that last month so an g hi leam hi Scott looking for a vote on the motion disappear he just disappeared he
just disappeared you don't want to face the hard questions I guess oh he loves those hard questions I back in Susan I and I vote I as well looking to see if Scott pop back in here if if he does I'll I'll bring him over to the executive session okay so at this point the motion pass 400 next up on the agenda is public comment and Miss Hutchinson if you had any comments that you wanted to make at this point you're welcome too yes just on my usual request that I would like to reserve any comment or question until the Gravel Pit discussion comes up and then secondly is it easier for everybody if I log off and somebody just lets me know when you're out of executive session would that be easier if I'm the only one on no I think it I I I mean we could we could do that also but I think it's better to invite specific people because there's there's no somebody log in at any time right somebody could log in at any time and then we would have to boot them so we'll we'll segregate the the commission all right good thought hough okay Scott I'm gonna I see you're back with us we had a motion to add receipt of of the amendment to the application for the Gravel Pit after we go to Executive session and you didn't get a chance to vote on that if you wanted to vote to accept that change now's a good time to do that I
okay thank you so the motion passes five Z okay so we are are done with public comment and at this point John I think we'll transition to Executive session and you you would got Eric was on on the list of folks to go there with us as well didn't you I do okay I'm about to pause the recording and then you will all get an invitation to jump over to hold on just a minute just a minute I need to make a motion okay that we go to Executive session then so I will make a motion to enter executive session inviting all commission members alate members Jim Hy Alan Certo Eric Anderson and John gizowski second thank you Leanne I'll call for a vote Ann I Leanne I Scott I Susan I and I vote I as well the motion passes 500 now John we can go to Executive session okay and I think everybody made it back I was looking for England okay this is Leanne I'm I got disconnected for at least five minutes what what is going on now and I had asked a question that was in the process of being answered I'm not sure what happened to my reception well I think as soon as we get back to the meeting it will be clear to you what we're doing if if you have questions we can entertain them then I I don't want to go back into executive session because I didn't know that we lost you there but I think it will be clear and and I see that Susan England is back with us now okay so we have everybody and and I apologize if there was a better way to handle that lean but
I'm not sure what it is at this point okay and I think I think it'll be clear what 's going on there so I hope so because that was part of my question when I got disconnected so we are on item six new business receive Amendment to the Gravel Pit app application and on that on that Amendment to the application I would propose that the commission take no action tonight other than to ask Jim to assess the completeness of the application and report to us on that at the next meeting I'm not making a motion to take no action so if anybody's got comments on that now is the time that we can discuss that oh perhaps that gets back to what I was asking when I got disconnected was I think attorney curto was re-explaining the difference between a modification and a clarification and how that affects what we do kay yeah and I think so again that the application came in as a modification and so that's that's one of the reasons why we're treating it as a modification not the the initial thing I don't know if you heard my example of the change that we did which we considered a minor change to put the gazebo on the property out there on route 6 just as you come into Handover and no I did not yeah the you know the applicant came in briefed us we we made the determination then that it was not a substan of change and went about our business I think you know this came in as a modification with the new application and and that's that that controls the direction that we're going to head and I just think
that's the most most prudent course of action at this point so Jim will let us know at the next meeting if it's a complete application if it is we can determine when when we want to schedule a public hearing if that's the way we want to go or if it's not we'll we'll determine what to do with that hen hopefully that clears it up a little bit Leanne a bit anyway yeah I I see your use of the I I guess I understand I'm still not completely clear because it seems to not be what we started out talking about
earlier as far as the word clarification but I understand what you just said about it came in being called the modification so you're using that word now yes okay so Jim you've got for Action to to give us an assessment on the Jim Jim did you hear me you're muted if you were yes I did I'm sorry okay thank you moving on to old business and and Allen I I think you got us through the hard spot of the night you you're certainly welcome to hang on for our planet conservation and development discussion but that's probably not well it's probably it's probably not a good use of your money so if you don't need me I'll U I'll I'll take my leave thanks for your help all right thank you thank you guys good night good night take care okay so next up was the discussion on the plan of conservation and development and I asked everybody to you come prepared to to you know tell us what it is that you would you know 10 years from now what it is you'd like to see an Handover that we don't currently have and if there's anything that you would be concerned about 10 years into the future and so with that in mind who wants to go first I know everybody's got to hop on the easy one so Leanne you you you're on the screen as being you know ready to talk your what was your thoughts are you just saying that I'm on the screen as what being ready to talk yep your name was was the main screen so it was like you were trying to say something I think it
was a hold over from your previous comment but but that's what it showed us yeah I I show a different screen now although at least now I can hear you again but I'm not I'm not seeing what you're seeing as far as something I'd like to see in 10 years or over the next 10 years yep that's a question let's see say this calls for more than one thing I'm sorry I'm just I'm just putting this up so I can take notes together I that's fine I think a lot remains to be seen I mean I haven't thinking about this since you emailed us and asked us and I wasn't sure and I maybe I should have asked you earlier if you meant you know
what did we think based on the results of the survey or you know or what did we think just without that or both I would say every time we do one of these updates of the pocd people say that they want the town to stay the way it is as far as the rural character and things like that you know they're usually suggestions for relatively small retail stores you know nobody ever wants a big box store most people don't mind driving to another town for most of their purchases you know they usually want something small and I think since the senior and Community Center isn't even open yet that's going to be a difference in you know having a that as a resource but it's not open yet I think that you know a lot remains to be seen as far as how that plays out for recreation and for the seniors Recreation thei okay anything that you're concerned about lean anything that you're concerned about U I can hear an echo now well it wasn't as I recall too much of an issue on the survey results I'm just always concerned about crime anywhere which we don't have too much of a problem with an
over but i' like to keep it that way as and you know even if it's something that not that anything would exclude anything else but you know that's always a concern of mine and you know we we see some requests for increased enforcement on Route Six his speeding and endangering others is a crime in itself you know it's a different type of crime other than you know residential or something something like that but I I right now I don't I guess I don't see anything else being a huge issue that we have to solve in the next 10 years you know an overriding issue okay did you want to include anything about what's special about Andover that should be protected and enhanced well the the hot river is always a big one I think the you know
we have a nice a nice trail system and you know just Farmland you know I think enhanced we're going to get that with the senior center hopefully once we have Staffing and and programs in place a lot of that will be addressed as far as enhancements to the town okay very good answer your question yeah I think that's a good start who wants to go second I can go okay thank you an I guess what I'd like to see over the next 10 years is to have more choices in housing I'd like to see things like the senior housing that you see like being built in Hein where there's maybe like you know two-bedroom homes they might be attached to at a time where they might be all separate it doesn't matter but to have a way of getting senior housing like that Town Homes type things you know two or three connected as a town home I think also is good I'm hoping we do have more families I'm seeing some more families you know young families with kids coming in I'd like to see more of that and I'd really like to see more businesses and both the small businesses like maybe small Banks or gift shop like more gift shops that over and over is great but we need more in the small businesses could be like on Route 316 Center Street those areas I'm wonder if we need to change the zoning to make it
easier to do things like that because with our strictly rural zoning in that area now it's pretty hard to encourage people to do that because they're just going to say well we can't do it and they don't understand how you can go about changing it and I wouldn't mind seeing slightly bigger stores also I mean I don't want to see a Walmart but I think of the size of the like a Highland Park size store the stores like you see up there on route 44 in in centry or the things you see down on 66 in Hein that type of thing is what I'd like to see in Andover and like those larger scale things maybe something the size of a pharmacy or a Highland Park that you you'd put that along six or are you suggesting that might be appropriate probably be a yeah probably along because that's our main road I don't know 316 is the possibility I suppose but there's more houses along there which would make them easier to to have the smaller scale type shops and those know real estate doctor's offices give shops Bank you know that kind of thing that's really what I was hoping to see and overg get in the next 10 years what I'm most concerned about I
think that we are stagnant and don't change I think we do need to change some it's been too much in the last 20 years of nothing has changed there's L anything the Dollar General the only thing that come in really in that time and actually things up there at the Andover Plaza closed you know so there's less there than there had been that's what I'm concerned about and U things that are special I guess the people are great and that's probably what I like the best thank you an you're welcome Scott you want to go next and talked about you know what I was gonna say about the affordable or senior housing I would say that that's what I would like to see more of what am I most concerned about that we never changed the regulation about building in the flood plane and what's special about and should be protected and enhance of course it's hop River okay I'm just going down my list here Susan Okay what you want to go the first question Y what do you want to see 10 years from now what i' like to see okay what I'd like to see 10 years from now a lot of it is said I would like to see Variety in housing I'd like to see as an mentioned duplexes I would like to see
Apartments to bring in affordable housing you know young workers right out of college so that they can afford to live here and make it easier perhaps to have apartments in how existing buildings because some of the old farmhouses are so large you could easily you know put an apartment in there very comfortably I would like to see more recruitment you know in in quotes of younger families because this leads my biggest concern is that Andover is aging out too quickly and I remember 10 years ago we were the second oldest town in this in the state I think that we need to bring in more young people and provide opportunities for the seniors to live in in smaller housing make it more make it easier for them but also have available to the younger families places that that they can move to that are affordable and then I would also oh yeah we mentioned have activities what what I find special about Andover is the the rail trail is fantastic I think that's something that can be built on no
perhaps having a little coffee shop or something along it and then I think that kind of going along with what an had said about gift shops what I've been seeing because I have grandchildren is that that dance studio draws a lot of people into town and what what's interesting is the parents all seem to go to the endover pizza and that draws a lot of business into endover Pizza taking something like that maybe concentrating on making and over somewhat of an Arts Community or or working on that because there are a lot of very creative people in so kind of like taking the whole gift shop but also different types of Arts per performance painting whatever and try to maybe set up First Community in town do you have any concerns Susan yeah my concern was the Aging I'm I'm very concerned about the Aging population and the lack of housing
both for seniors forcing them to stay in age in place which is not necessarily a bad thing but but it it does reduce the housing stock for for younger families to come in and I think it's really critical to start rebuilding and reattaching the younger families when I when I came here there were a lot of young families and that was what made it attractive to us but you know 40 years ago am H sorry I'm not able to get my camera on tonight but I'm here things that I would like to see in 10 years I would like to see more service businesses you know right now you have to drive to Hein or centry to get your haircut or go to the bank Etc go to a a doctor's office so maybe some things like that also you know some maybe Mom and Pop type restaurants nothing that is like a chain but more like you know a independent I mean I actually like to see the whole Andover Plaza like revamped I think there's a lot of potential there to do something on that property but
I also agree with the affordable housing for people of all ages maybe attract some younger families into Handover that's prob probably it for the the wants but I I like Susan's idea of the the Arts and things too but concerns I mean I like to keep the small town charm that we have so maybe concentrate the you know the growth on Route Six so you're not taking you know the the space in the historic area and and that's really what I like about Andover just the small town feel that we have and of course you know the people that are in it so that's all I got okay now I think so I think I've called
on everybody that's here tonight I guess when when I look through here you know my my biggest want was the small affordable senior housing developments and yeah and I'm going to jump down to what's what's special about Andover that be should be protected and I kind of like you know and we've all said it the rural environment and for most people you know when they all they see of Andover is driving through on Route Six and and so my concern is you if we develop too much on Route six is is that development going to cost us more than than we gain by doing that because you know we we we know we' got the Christmas tree farm for sale out there and I hate to see that go I like seeing all the Christmas trees I like seeing the Farms along rout six so there's there's two sides I know we'd all like to see a little development but I don't know that that I get too upset about having to drive to Hein or you know Bolton or whatever ever to to get something I I don't know that I'm willing to trade the the pastorial rural views along Route 6 you know to to save two minutes on my on my trip there but but I really liked driving through and over on Route Six and the views that that we had there and so that's something I think we need to to be careful and protect you know in the conversation that that I've had with Eric certainly you know we all think we want development so that we can keep the taxes in line and and Eric has you know convinced me
that putting in a couple of new new stores in that isn't really going to solve the tax budget deal for us it it just is going to help that much to make a big deal difference you know when what's special about Handover I I like just you know my my ability to walk around the lake every day it's it's just a beautiful walk and you know I if I thought about you know moving to a different Senior Living Community or something I'd be giving that up and I'm not sure I'm willing to give that up yet so the I I think I think you know under concerns we need to to address climate change and again this part of part of this is through various discussions that that Eric's you know I've heard Eric talk on on different things but you the storm intensity has really increased over the last couple years and you we need to make sure that the infrastructure is ready to do that I'm getting signific an
erosion at my house because of all the big storms I'm concerned about you know when sitting through all the budget meetings I'm concerned about the ability to to be affordable to even to those that are living here in the future when you know we're we're trying to put money away for the big projects and capital expenses but you know one of the themes that came out in the budget meetings was we recognized we weren't putting enough away to do that and so you know we will continue to make ourselves a little B more unaffordable and I think the way we solv that is by bringing the housing in bringing more people in and with the seniors you don't have the burden of school kids but I I like having I like seeing the school kids run around and play and do all that stuff too well if you might say one more thing yep go ahead u i I do think that some businesses will make a difference in taxes because if you look at other towns it does make a difference I mean just the amount that the Dollar General brought in in taxes one place was amazing and I've lived in towns that purposely didn't want business but then their taxes went out of sight and you have to allow some of the businesses so you get the taxes I mean we don't need to do what South Windsor is doing with monster places but we definitely need to get something more I think Hein has done a great job of bringing things in and it really it's helping down there I poor and I guess you know one of the things that I don't know if it's concerned or
protected and enhanced but you know if we ever had the opportunity to protect like the post farm along Route Six it would be nice to be able to have enough money in our open space fund to to allow us to protect that thing because I think it's just a beautiful site out there and so that's part your conservation and and funding and all that stuff but but I think you know I don't know what what Dollar General brought in you know I didn't hear anything through the budget meetings that I attended on that I don't know if it's making a big difference to us or not but I'm sure
it helps yeah but I would hate to see go ahead Eric it's about it's about one and a half times the cost of a single child in the elementary school okay so so if you had $200 generals you could pay for your Elementary School okay they probably they'd probably be happy the other way you get if you have more housing and and don't keep it to such huge Lots then you get more people that way and you get more taxes that way too and and and that's that's kind of where I think we could go you know it's not for I don't think we would have any impact on the rural pastorial views going through town by building the you know little cluster communities whether it's the town houses or the small lots for individual homes or whatever you know it took me a long time to stumble into andover's apartment house you know it it is not detrimental to any any of those things that we all love about Andover and I think you know the couple of places that we're looking at maybe doing a a senior housing development behind behind the town hall or over at the the transfer station property you could put that in and it would not detract a bit from from those things that we love about Andover I mean look at the size Lots around the lake they're all almost small lot they they're smaller than we nice Community yes I I agree so that was you that was the most important and doable thing that I thought we could do but you know
certainly and I think this this list is consistent with what we saw on the surveys I guess the the other comment that I would make that I was a little surprised is you know we asked where in the priority list is Andover Lake for something that Andover need to protect and there were a bunch of comments that came in that Andover Lake's private Lake doesn't do anything for Handover and I think you know that that is not true it's in it's in our best interest to keep that Lake healthy for as long as we can because you know the taxes that we bring in from the houses that are around it are significant and it's just it's a nice facility that draws people to Andover you know people want to live here because because of that lake so it is it is good for Andover even though it's not andover's Lake it's a private thing there but but anyhow Eric you had something on that yeah just the the one thing I haven't really seen that I think you ought to consider is complete streets and continued efforts to make the s walkable and bikable and part of the reason is if you're really going to go after affordable housing a significant fraction of the people who require affordable housing will need to use public
transportation and unless you've made it walkable and bikable for them to get to public transportation you kind of have this mismatch you want affordable housing and that's an awesome goal to be pursuing as a town but there's no business there's no place for them to work in town practically so they have to go somewhere so you have to keep that connection so that they can get to where they're going as far as concerns I mean in truth my biggest long-term concern is the effect of climate change you know for a couple reasons one I think we're going to have to deal with climate migration in the United States there's already a lot of evidence that the wealthier population is moving back out of Florida and out of some of the Southern areas which they all flocked to in the past and unfortunately the people that are are least mobile are are the the lowest income residents in those areas but we're going to have to accept the fact that there will be a shift in demographic population in the United States and that is going to affect us so in in terms of special about Andover I would say in over the next 10 years I would think the popularity of the East Coast Greenway is going to hopefully mirror that of some of the other really longdistance you know paths like the CN Canal path Virginia Creeper Trail and stuff like that which means it's a real engine for for you know business in Commerce so I think that that's something that we should keep in mind and that's all I got well actually I got a lot more but
well in the homework task was to come with your most important and that's you know why the complete streets wasn't the most important to me you know the senior housing is but certainly you know I think the plan that you've got in place is is you know making significant strides there I I can't remember how many pieces there are after you get done with what we've already gotten the works but I'm sure there's a few things out there but great progress on that and that does enhance enhance the town there yep Jim do you want to throw in anything there for us yeah you're on mute so I guess not I think I I think you've covered everything that I had in my mind yeah the Hop river is a big plus Post Farm some alternative housing options move away from some of this large lot development I think maybe utilize the conservation subdivision as a tool a little more often maybe tweak it okay very good you I have a concern about the the demographics you know we have an older population and you know there's an effort to to cater to to seniors and that's great but I mean I think at the that might be at the cost of maybe we have to look at why there aren't younger families coming Y young families aren't coming in because they can't afford to for the most part you know there's some of that because they AFF to most part there some of that I yeah I think I I muted I muted Jim again I think the echo y that's
that's where the echo is but you know with the exception of the natural public natural affordable housing and again we're not talking low income housing we're talking about housing that's Workforce housing and the thing I didn't care for for the workforce housing is senior housing they're not the workforce but we want to make it so that they can afford to be here it's you they're a good asset to to our community as well so anyhow thanks thanks everybody for their input John I think that's all we got for you on that particular item that's good I what I will try to do I'm gonna take this this discussion and and craft it into a draft vision statement for discussion for our next meeting because I think that to sort of put put this into a a collective statement and and kind of frame our our discussion moving forward for for establishment of goals okay very good yep and and at some point I know the Conservation Commission is is you know wanting to give us their two cents
on conservation plan going forward so we can figure out how that fits in great hat was that next up on the agenda is the approval of the regular meeting minutes from April 16 2024 and I'll make a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes from April 16 2024 I'll second that okay thanks an any discussion on there minutes I was I'll point out that I was dismayed to see once again no second on the motion or vote for adding the item to go to Executive session last time I thought sure I did that I went back and watched video and nope missed it again so I'll appeal to each of you folks to keep me honest on making sure that we you make the motions and second and vote okay hearing none I'll call for a vote an hi Leanne I Susan I Scott I and I vote I as well the men are approve 5 z Jim m j you're muted again sorry Jim I keep muting you because I think we have an echo on your line okay can you hear me am I echoing okay all right I am working with the Connecticut medication Society to to complete a an application for a special permit for their facility on Route Six I'm working with a number of property owners that have pulled permits that have not pulled permits around the lake and trying to get nutrient allocation plans in place did zva met last week and a variance was granted for a a deck along Lakeside Drive I have initiated conversation with I believe it's New England Geo Geotech something of that regarding updating our zoning map are and hopefully that will go fairly smooth I did I did
have a seasonal dwelling issue came come up recently and just for those of you who may or may not know there's there's a handful of homes that are around the lake that have been used seasonally the regulations are a little vague it sounds as though there's a seasonal Zone and when a seasonal home comes on the on the market because they tend to be priced relatively low or lower than than a a year- round dwelling there's a lot of interest there's a lot of confusion there's a lot of realators calling and this time around I tried to get some bring some clarity to it and
unfortunately the town did have a record of what homes were considered seasonal and those records have seem to have gone away so I have to look at them on an individual basis and but it seems to I think I have a handle on it presently training I did do a look in into training as everybody probably knows clear provides a lot of training that's required what I wasn't aware of is they do they do load up their their classes can be watched at any time and if the town what I was told is if the town accepts self-certification they can be used towards the training requirement so I'll try and I'll try and post those
this week that's all I have any questions can can we what so what do we know about the difference between a three season and a Four Season home and what and is it if you buy a three season home is it possible it if you buy a thre SE home is it possible okay yeah it's very difficult right now the difference is what it's been used for there's under our zoning regulations we allow uses of right and special permit uses and under the lake Zone a special permit use includes conversion but conversion requires adherence to section 112 of our
regulations which are the the bulk requirements the dimensional requirements which is where most properties fall short specifically anything that's been used seasonally so they would have somebody would have to go to to zoning board of appeals and seek Rel from those particular sections of the of the regulations and quite honestly there's I think it might be tough to to make a hardship make good argument for a hardship what I'd like to do is is try and do an inventory of seasonal homes I have no idea how many there are whether there's five or 20 and what I really have to rely on is people people in the neighborhood that have lived lived here for for some time so it's definitely a zba determination so it's definitely a zba determination well it no it's it's a
special permit a conversion is by special permit but very typically they an applicant would need to go to zba first just to secure relief from the dimensional requirements and we're talking you know front yard setback side yard setback lot size wouldn't special permit go before zba way the reg reads would special per go before zba no no so so it would be a two-step process you would need I mean typically you would need to go to zba in order to comply I mean to comply with the the requirements of of the zoning variance but it's still I mean it's still up to the to the Planning and Zoning commission it's still a special permit kind kind of like if you recall the the the application for some activity Construction in the in the flood zone it went to zba and then came to to PCC for the special permit on Handy Road 57 Handy Road which was a little controversial yeah very convoluted yeah Scott the so the size requirement for a seasonal lot is 30,000 for seasal lot is 30,000 the year round lot is 60,000 square feet the year round lot is 60,000 ft a lot of lots around the lake don't beet either of those and so you know then then you have to go adjudicate why you're not meeting 60,000 square feet
asking for an increase in the usage there may be the right answer and and I'm just you know taking a guess here is we change the once we get a handle on I I think there's a a small number of seasonal houses but none of these seasonal houses have the 30,000 square feet so you know they're all the all the Lots around here are kind of in violation of what what the regulation requires you could almost make it the same a lot of them don't have a quarter of that Jud say again a lot of them don't have a a lot of Four Season homes don't have a quarter of that right and that's why you know it bugs me a little bit that okay so now you have to go to the zba because you're lot six not 60,000 Square ft and what's your hardship you know this is the way that the lake was laid out you know there's got to be something better than than that lot size if it's commensurate with most of the other lot sizes that shouldn't be a a roadblock to going out and getting getting your house made year round that's my to others there's four season homes there with you know six or 7,000 square F feet Lots yep and there's hardly no houses with
60,000 right none and so very few so I think you know adjusting that graph in in section 11 might be an answer if that was something you know that I don't know what the downside is you somebody could come in with a 1,000 foot lot and say okay I want a year round home probably don't want that there ought to be some kind of looking at it but but the road block that we currently have you know shouldn't be there if you got a A workable septic system and you've got heat and and all that stuff you ought to be able to have a year round house even though you don't have 60,000 square feet exactly yeah so it's that's my thoughts yep if it's good for one it should be good for the other guy
it should be and the question is how do we write our regulations to to get us there and and whenever we change something there's always n intended consequence and I haven't had enough time to figure out what that is yet but I'm thinking reat lean Scott were you done I I am lean okay thanks Jim have you had any more communication with Ryan Fitch about that property for sale it was mentioned tonight in the course of the discussion about the future of Andover and then I think you've mentioned it in the last meeting or two have you had any communication with him since our last meeting Jim you're muted no was that question for Jim yes yes that question for Jim un unless you have John or maybe it was you John I thought I have yeah we so we we haven't we haven't had Eric and I met with him a couple of weeks ago and he Wason thoughts and sorry Jim I'm gonna M you again sorry that there's just that
Echo he we gave him some some thoughts some references to the regulations about potential paths he could take for for development options if they were looking to develop themselves as opposed to just put it on the market and sell I they put it on the market for a fairly high price and I think they're just going to see what they get but I think they're also you know discussing internally if they want to consider sort of leading leading a Redevelopment of their own property but we haven't heard back from that thank you yeah Jim Jim had gotten one inquiry from you know a potential buyer and it it didn't pan out for anything but so he did get somebody called him and I guess guess that's one of one of the thoughts that do we really have a interested buyer for the gravel pit and
nobody's been over asking Jim any questions and that's normally the first sign that there's some real interest okay John so it's h it's time for your report if you've got anything for us here sure just two quick things first in addition to our conversation with Fitch I'd also had a couple of conversations on the phone with Keith Grimaldi about his property that sort of fronts Route Six near near 887 and after you know sort of leaving that that property kind of fellow and and his sort of development plans had kind of Fallen Fallen you know vacant for a while he's decided he's going to put it on the market and there may already be a sign there I'm not sure if it is but we've also encouraged him to come in or have a zoom meeting with with Jed and
Eric and myself to just talk about options not necessarily convincing him to stay and try again but just to better understand what you know we and the current you know alignment of the regulations feel is possible there so that could potentially help his decision- making or to help his marketing of the property so we're we're we're reaching out to him and hopefully can get him into a meeting sooner than later I think he's you know he's a he's a builder elsewhere in the state and so it's pretty busy but we're going to try to get him in the meeting so that's number one number two is just as a heads up this is I think our first meeting since the legislative session ended the re was an interesting bill passed there there was many many many proposals relative to local zoning and housing basically all of them died except for one Bill Bill 5474 which pass both houses and is awaiting the governor's signature which does among other things allows for nursing homes to be converted at vacant nursing homes underused nursing homes to be converted as of right to multif family I don't I don't know that that really affects Andover particularly
but that is you know I think it's a change that signals planing that that the the Connecticut general assembly is trying to find ways to to turn the dial a little bit on increased housing production and sort of taking it from a Redevelopment standpoint so that build change so if there's any nursing homes kicking around town that that are underused they could they could be quickly converted to a multi family so that's just an update okay thanks John I do want to Circle back to Jim one more time the it it's probably worth you mentioning Jim the activity by you and the wetlands agent out there at Pine Ridge drive and where we stand on on that I guess complaint if you Jim okay there were some comping issues involving erosion and sedimentation control and some citation was was leaving the site some some stock piles of soil were were located offsite and Joe and I both met with with the the Builder it's a single family home it's George kareah and he is in the process of of making Corrections we were out there today and he's he's made some substantial progress I intend to get back get back there tomorrow or be in touch with them and update them with what I what I see need still be done and that's it okay yeah thanks Jim okay thanks next up is Inland Wetlands water course and and I've got nothing to report other than that you the what Jim just talked about out there on Pine Ridge was it appeared to be a pretty significant ific an violation and you know we we we as a town need to continue to keep our fingers in the p you know up until probably the
certificate of occupancy or whatever gets done because you know I had lost track of I figured the houses were all built out there and people were living in them by now obviously not true so we need to keep every now and then going out and taking a look at at these different projects that we got going on next up is commission discussion any other things that we heaven okay move on to close cousin is miscellaneous I got nothing there comment and I don't see anybody here for that date of the next regular scheduled meeting is June 18th looking to see if Eric's still here he may have taken off I was going to ask him if we'd be in the new Community Center by then
it'll be close if the community center's ready to have a meeting we'll we'll have it there hybrid otherwise I think they've I think they're planning on about the second week of July for a grand opening at the community center okay very good so we'll meet meet online again on June 18th and I didn't check my calendar but I'm assuming June 18th is the right date there we're gonna have a punch list in a couple weeks for the building and then hopefully it'll be done by that time period super it sounds good any other comments before we make a motion to adjourn I'll second second okay I got Scott down for seconding that all in favor raise your hand say I I I I any opposed any extensions motion to adjourn passes 500 thank you everybody for your participation tonight it was kind of long- winded on the Gravel Pit but I I think the path we've chosen might not be the quickest but it's a good one so thank you for your help coming up with that and we'll see everybody in June good night everybody