Applicant seeks 20-foot building extension at Wilson Pond; planning staff recommend site-plan modification

A representative from Fieldstone Lane Consultants, speaking for Environmental Alternatives Incorporated (EAI), asked the Swanzey Planning Board on July 23 whether an enlargement of the second building at Wilson Pond should be filed as a site-plan modification or a new site plan. The applicant said the existing second building was approved at 40 by 80 feet and the proposal adds 20 feet in length to make it 40 by 100 feet to accommodate larger equipment and increased contracts. “They now want to increase the size of this building as well,” the representative said, and added that stormwater management was built last fall and stabilized.

Planning staff member Adam told the board the enlargement appears to exceed the scope of a minor modification under the town’s site-plan review wording, but he did not expect a conditional-use permit to be required because the building would remain outside the 50-foot wetland buffer. The applicant estimated the closest point from building to wetland after the addition is about “76 feet,” and said the proposal reduces parking from 22 spaces to 21 while keeping overall impervious cover identical to the previously approved plan. Board members debated the ambiguity in the site-plan modification rules, with one member noting there is “friction” in the regulations between what triggers a new site plan and what can be waived as a modification.

The board and applicant agreed on next steps for processing: the applicant said they would submit a site-plan modification application on August 6 to be included in the next packet (for possible review at the August 13 meeting). No formal vote on the project was taken at the July 23 meeting; the board advised the applicant on application type and submission timing and encouraged the applicant to return with the formal application and supporting materials.