Mendon planning panel recommends Oswald lot split after technical review; residents press for better notice, raise runoff concerns

Mendon City Planning and Zoning voted May 21 to recommend the Oswald lot split to the appropriate land-use authority after planners and an applicant representative said the preliminary engineering and septic analyses meet the code requirements that applied when the application was filed.

The recommendation followed a presentation by the applicant's engineer and clarifying comments from planning staff that the three parcels facing 300 North each have frontage measured at roughly 2.33 chains (about 153 feet). Staff noted the frontage requirement is 110 feet and explained that the application proceeds under an older version of the code; a technical private-lane option in that code requires a 44-foot right-of-way for a private lane while allowing access to a back lot.

"The private lane option was intended for existing lots that did not have street frontage," a planning staff member said, adding that the original survey was an inch short but was rechecked. The staff member also said the city has since corrected the code loophole that allowed this kind of inter-block split, and that only a very small number of existing parcels in town could have qualified under the old rule.

During the public hearing, resident Judy Baker urged the city to expand how it notifies residents about planning activity and ordinances, suggesting a newsletter or distribution beyond the post office and water-bill notices. "Everything that is going on, planning and zoning ... should be posted somehow other than in the post office," she said.

Resident Jim Hughes expressed concern that septic runoff or backup could drain down the slope behind the proposed lots and cause contamination or basement flooding in heavy storms. A presenter and staff members said Bear River Health controls final septic approvals and that the city's review includes grading and site-specific measures to manage runoff and provide backup septic locations.

"Bear River Health is the one that controls that. We actually have no control over that," a planning staff member said, noting that required grading plans and on-site septic testing are part of the approval process.

After questions and public comment, commissioners moved and seconded a recommendation to forward the Oswald lot split to the land-use authority; the body recorded its assent by voice vote. The recommendation is advisory to the land-use authority, which will review code conformance and technical approvals before any final permit is issued.

Next steps: the recommendation will be transmitted to the land-use authority for their review of the technical material and final code determinations; Bear River Health will complete the final septic approvals as part of permitting.