Loudon Planning Board continues Premier Roofing site-plan hearing after traffic, screening and plan-completeness concerns

The Loudon Planning Board on Tuesday continued the site-plan hearing for application 25-06, Premier Roofing (Map 1, Lot 23), until Nov. 20 after members and neighbors raised concerns about driveway sight lines, the number and size of parking spaces for trucks and trailers, and the adequacy of proposed screening and landscaping.

The hearing matters because the Zoning Board of Adjustment previously granted Premier Roofing a special exception to store materials and equipment on the property but required the applicant to obtain planning-board site-plan approval; board members said the site plan submitted for review lacked some details the board needs to evaluate neighborhood impacts and compliance with the town's zoning rules.

Applicant John Rokey of Rokey Consulting said the plan has been adjusted to reflect the ZBA determination on setbacks and the driveway permits issued by the Town of Loudon. "We're at a point right now that everything that has been asked for us by either board has been is on this plan and is, as conforming as we've ever had at any meeting," Rokey said. He told the board the ZBA allowed a 10-foot reduction to the front setback so vehicles may park within a 40-foot buffer and that his team had measured truck-and-trailer lengths and revised parking to allow a 45-foot space for truck-and-trailer combinations.

Neighbors and abutters urged the board to press for stronger mitigation. Phil Brown, whose property is immediately west of the site, said he walks the stretch of Stan Mills Road daily and worries about vehicles sweeping toward the centerline when trucks exit. "I worry that someday there's gonna be a serious accident," Brown said, asking the board to require either moving the storage area farther from the road or to require signage and other measures to reduce risk.

Chip Barrett, a nearby resident, told the board he views the operation as having moved beyond a home-occupation scale: "I was encouraged that one of you, at least one of you, was acknowledged that this is a commercial business, that this is not a home occupation. They've advanced past the home occupation into the commercial business." Several board members and commenters debated whether the ZBA's approval—titled a special exception for a major home occupation to allow materials and equipment on the property—left the scope broad or was effectively limited to roofing-related work the applicant described at the ZBA hearing.

Board members flagged missing or unclear items on the submitted plan set: the full grading/drainage sheet, detention-pond details (the applicant said a drainage report and pond detail had been submitted over the summer), clear labeling of existing and proposed setbacks around the entire parcel, and a fully legible landscaping plan showing species, spacing and initial size. Members discussed screening that will block winter as well as summer views; some favored a row of evergreen arborvitae spaced roughly seven feet on center (a suggestion discussed at the site walk) while also ensuring sight lines at driveway intersections are not impeded.

The board recommended the applicant consult the road agent and police department on signage language; several speakers and board members suggested a sign reading "heavy traffic area" or a locally approved variant rather than a commercial-style "trucks entering" placard. Planning staff said the applicant could supply and install signs if required, and the board said it would ask town staff for a recommended sign and placement after consulting the road agent.

Members also discussed the proposed 26-by-40-foot garage shown on the plan as a placeholder; some residents objected to a structure far from the primary residence, while other members said a residential-style garage could reduce visual impacts by enclosing materials that now sit in the gravel area. The applicant said the shed on site is movable and can be repositioned or improved as part of the final plan.

After extended discussion and multiple public comments, the board voted to continue the hearing to Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. so that the applicant can submit a corrected and complete plan set that includes full grading/drainage sheets, explicit setback lines around the lot, a detailed landscape/screening plan (including species, spacing and initial sizes), and clearer labeling of parking dimensions and detention-pond details. The board said it also wanted to review the ZBA minutes and decision language in the record to confirm the scope of the earlier approval under the town's zoning ordinance (Section 502.5 was cited during discussion).

The continued hearing will be noticed on the board's agenda; the board said there will be no additional mail notice for abutters. The planning board's motion to continue was made by Jeff Green and seconded by Stanley Prescott; the motion carried on a voice vote.

Votes at a glance: the board carried a motion to continue the Premier Roofing site-plan hearing to Nov. 20, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.; no opposition was recorded during the voice vote.

What comes next: the applicant, represented by Rokey Consulting, will provide revised, legible plan sheets and a landscaping specification; planning staff will circulate the ZBA decision language and consult the road agent and police department on recommended signage and any sight-line requirements. The board said it will re-open the public hearing at the Nov. 20 meeting to take additional public comment and make a final site-plan decision.