Planning board approves similar-use finding for 85 Monadnock Highway, asks applicant for a site plan

The Swansea Planning Board on April 9 approved a new-tenant application for 85 Monadnock Highway, finding the proposed home heating oil delivery and septic-pumping business to be a “similar use” to prior operations at the site and asking the applicant to submit a simple site plan and participate in a public hearing when the site plan is filed.

Victoria Ames, planning board chair, opened the application and read the property details: the location is in the business district at Tax Map 103, Lot 64 and the intended use would operate from an existing garage and adjacent house. The board noted the site would be used for office space and for parking spare service trucks, with proposed hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and an estimate of about five customers per day.

Applicant Jonathan Shimp said the vehicles he plans to keep at the property are “spare trucks” and that they are parked empty when on site: “The trucks I park there are empty. They don't carry fuel or septic in them.” That detail assuaged board members who had raised environmental concerns about vehicles parked near a brook that drains to Wilson Pond.

Planning board members debated whether the proposed operation was materially different from earlier uses at the address, which the board recalled had been used as a garage, auto-detailing and related vehicle services. Several members said the core similarity was vehicles being parked at the property, while others said the potential for leaks from trucks carrying oil or septage merited a more cautious approach. The board asked Adam Paquette, town planner, whether a site plan was required; Paquette said the board could treat the application as a similar use and still request a site plan. Members emphasized that a simple site plan — showing building locations, paving, truck parking and distances to the nearby brook — would suffice.

After discussion, a board member moved that the application be determined a similar use; the motion was seconded and passed. The board accepted the new tenant application on that basis and requested Shimp submit a straightforward site plan. When Shimp files the plan, abutting property owners will be notified and a public hearing will be scheduled on that submission.

The board listed items it expects on the site plan: location of the building and existing paving, distances to the road and to the brook, placement of parked trucks, any on-site well or septic system, and any proposed changes. The applicant indicated fuel and septage would not be stored on-site and that trucks would be used as spares, which the board said was an important clarification.

Next step: Shimp will prepare and submit a site plan; the planning board and staff (Adam Paquette) will work with him to schedule the required public hearing and abutter notification.