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Select Board raises questions on well access roads, lot-line adjustments and shoreland setbacks
Summary
Board members and staff reviewed several planning items — proposed well access/driveways, a lot-line adjustment on Mill Road, and shoreland/shoreline setbacks — and asked planning staff to confirm compliance with shoreland, wetland and well-setback rules and whether a formal survey or ZBA variance was needed.
Kingston’s Select Board reviewed multiple planning submissions at its June 2 meeting, focusing on proposed access to monitoring wells, a lot-line adjustment on Mill Road and driveway/well setback compliance for a Church Street property.
Board members discussed a proposal for C & J Leasing to build a 12-foot-wide gravel access road to monitoring wells off Route 125 and for a new water line to service the site. "They want to construct this well access road," a board member said while reviewing the submitted plan. The board asked staff to confirm the entrance location and noted the access is near West Shore Park.
The board also examined a lot-line adjustment for a property on Mill Road where owners seek to reconfigure parcel boundaries so a currently landlocked parcel would have frontage. Members raised concerns that the resulting frontage on one revised lot would be only about 45 feet, which may create a substandard lot, and repeatedly advised that a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment could be required. "You can't create a substandard lot, and you need 200 to 4 front," a board member said during the exchange (discussion reflected in the transcript; see minutes for exact statutory frontage requirement). The board recommended that applicants consider ZBA approval for any frontage relief.
For a Church Street drive and well plan, board members flagged shoreland and wetland buffers and asked whether the proposed 12-foot paved driveway and 4-foot gravel shoulder complied with DES shoreland rules and well setback standards. The Heritage/Conservation reviewer had approved the plan’s design aspects, but the Select Board requested that planning staff confirm compliance with shoreland buffers and well setbacks before final approval. "Please check well setbacks," the board requested during the review.
Board actions and directions: The board did not adopt a formal approval of any plan during the meeting. Instead, members recorded three specific comment requests: (1) confirm that proposed wells meet required setbacks; (2) confirm whether plans comply with shoreland/wetland setbacks; (3) advise whether the submission should be a survey plan and whether a ZBA variance is required for a substandard frontage condition. A staff member or planning representative will follow up at the upcoming planning board meeting.
Why it matters: The issues affect access to groundwater monitoring, compliance with state shoreland protection and wetlands rules, and property rights tied to frontage requirements. Several items appeared to require further technical review or separate board approvals, such as a ZBA variance or a formal survey, before the town could record or approve the changes.
Background: The proposals discussed included C & J Leasing’s planned access to monitoring wells off Route 125, a Mill Road lot-line adjustment intended to provide access to a landlocked parcel, and a Church Street property plan that includes a driveway and well placement near DES shoreland buffers.
