The Jaffrey Zoning Board continued a hearing on a retroactive variance for the installation of a culvert on private property on Mountain Road until members can view engineering plans and have approvals from Department of Environmental Services.
The town issued a stop-work order in September to 580 Mountain Road LLC and owner Paula Geraghty to cease improvements on a 24-inch culvert directing water away from a farming field. Work had already begun on the culvert to remove the previous pipe and replace it with two 18-inch pipes.
That culvert, installed long before the town’s zoning regulations were enacted, was used to make the field suitable for farming and a landing field.
A use that was in place prior to zoning can be continued, if that use is continuous, but Kelly Dowd, the attorney representing Jaffrey, argued that the landing field hasn’t been used in decades and its accessories, including the culvert, had been abandoned.
Jason Reimers, an attorney representing 580 Mountain Road LLC, argued that the culvert was never abandoned, and though it had lessened in function due to debris, it had continually carried water away from the area to allow it to be used for agricultural purposes.
580 Mountain Road LLC originally appealed the town’s stop-work order, on the ground that the use pre-dated zoning, and thus was an allowed nonconforming use, and that the replacement of the pipes was a repair, not an expansion. The Zoning Board upheld the town’s original decision, which directed the applicant to seek a variance, a process that was started on Tuesday.
Tim Gordon, a neighbor to the property, said he had no objection to the project, as long as there were assurances that the two 18-inch pipes would not create a larger impact to the wetlands on the property than the previous 24-inch pipe had.
“There’s no reason to increase the size of the pipes, unless you wanted to increase the amount of drainage that’s coming through them, which would be a net change in the wetlands,” Gordon said.
ZBA member Marc Tieger said he was concerned with the lack of an engineered plan with the application.
Dowd also asked that the board wait to make a decision until it had more information, rather than hinge its decision on a condition that the applicant receive Department of Environmental Services approval, saying that the town and state would be considering different criteria, and that both should be met.
Chair Lee Sawyer was initially reluctant to delay proceedings further.
“If [DES] don’t OK it, it doesn’t go anywhere. So why would you be against being able to hinge it on what the DES does, rather than bring everyone back here for another night of hashing? We’re not paid by the hour here,” Sawyer said.
Reimers said Geraghty was in the process of working with engineers to complete a plan, but had filed for the variance in a good-faith effort to comply with the town’s stop-work order, which required that work be reversed or that the applicant receive the proper variance.
Dowd said the town was satisfied that Geraghty was making efforts to comply with its requests, and that as long as that effort continued, the town would not pursue further action.
After a brief recess to allow Reimers to confer with his client, he said there was no objection to continuing the hearing.
The majority of the board agreed that they would like to move forward after DES approvals and completion of the plan. The hearing was continued until April 4.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.