B-Mae's property subdividing over objections of neighbors

Over the objections of the owners of the hotel and condominiums on the abutting property, the Planning Board this week unanimously approved the request by Alan Beetle of Bertha Mae Enterprises, LLC to subdivide the lot at the northeastern corner of the junction of Route 11 and Route 11-B..

The 2.56-acre lot, which housed Bertha Mae's Emporium until the antique store closed last fall, lies between Route 11 and the 10.11-acre property owned by Lafayette New Hampshire, Inc. and shared between the Fireside Inn & Suites and and B-Mae's Condominiums. Originally the two lots were one and when they were subdivided in 1983, the back lot was granted a deeded 20-foot right-of-way providing access to Route 11 at the easterly end of the lot fronting the highway. Lafayette New Hampshire also holds easements for signage and a well on the front lot.

Peter Daigle, who manages the hotel and 15 condominiums for Lafayette New Hampshire, said that if Bertha Mae Enterprises developed its property or moved any of the easements "it would severely impact our business." In particular, he indicated that development would impair the view from the hotel and condominiums and diminish the value of the properties.

Surveyor Dean Clark told the board that the plan was to split the lot approximately in half, creating a 1.31-acre lot to the west, where the emporium stands, and a 1.25-acre lot to the east (toward Glendale), which includes the paved right-of-way, some parking space, a stand of trees and an expanse of lawn. The smaller lot lies in front of the rear of the hotel and some of the condominiums. Earlier this year Clark indicated that Beetle planned to build a medical office on the lot.

Attorney Rod Dyer, representing Bertha Mae Enterprises, described the proposal as "a very simple subdivision." He noted that 44.7-percent of the larger westerly lot was impervious surface, exceeding the 40-percent permitted in the zone and explained that a paved parking area adjacent to the emporium would be replaced with gravel and other paved parking spaces would removed to bring the lot into compliance.

As for the second lot, Dyer insisted that there were no plans to "change, diminish or move the deeded right-of-way." He acknowledged that the abutters had expressed "legitimate concerns about their views" in the even the smaller lot is developed, but stressed that in the records of the properties "nothing speaks to any view whatsoever."

However, attorney Andrew Serell on behalf of the owners of the hotel and condominiums raised issues about both lots. He said that for the board to allow pavement to be replaced by gravel would provide others with an incentive to skirt the lot coverage provisions of the zoning ordinance by similar ploys. Moreover, he said that a graveled parking area would be a source of dust the would spread to abutting properties.

The second lot, fronting the abutting property, Serell said, posed the most severe problems. He said that because the lot would be divided by the deeded right-of-way between Route 11 and the back lot housing the hotel and condominiums, it lacked the one contiguous buildable acre required to qualify as a buildable lot. Serell insisted that the right-of-way could not be moved, first because it was approved as a driveway on the site plan for the property approved by the Planning Board in 1987 and second because it lies very near the 50-foot setback to Adder Hole Brook, which flows along the eastern edge of the lot. Even if the right-of-way could be moved, he claimed that the lot would still not include a contiguous buildable acre.

Serell said that the board could either deny the subdivision altogether or approve it with the stipulation that the easterly lot is a "non-buildable lot."

Catherine Broderick, Dyer's associate, countered that the presence of the easement granting the right-of-way has no effect on the buildable area of the lot. The ordinance specifies that only slopes exceeding 15-percent , designated wetlands and prime agriculture land are excluded from the measurement of a contiguous buildable acre. Easements, she said, are not excluded from the calculation.

Planning Director John Ayer endorsed Broderick's reading of the ordinance, noting that the Planning Board has routinely excluded easements, including rights-of-way, when calculating the buildable area of lots. Likewise, he said that the town has encouraged the use of gravel on parking areas to reduce the extent of impervious surfaces.

The board unanimously concurred and approved the subdivision with the lone qualification that the impervious surface on the larger of the two lots be reduced to comply with the ordinance within 60 days or before submitting a site plan, whichever comes first.