Planning board approves Twinkletown parking expansion with condition to move shed away from wetland

The West Swanzey Planning Board approved a site-plan to expand a gravel parking lot at Twinkletown (planning board file PB 25‑017) on a voice vote and attached a condition requiring the applicant to move an uncovered storage shed and lawn equipment as far from the adjacent wetland as practicable.

John Newman of Fieldstone Lane Consultants, speaking on behalf of applicant Paul Thomas, presented measurements from the site walk and the proposed layout. "We have 11 feet is the closest to the point of this wetland here," Newman said, adding other measured distances of about 13 to 23 feet at different points and describing a 2‑foot deep infiltration trench intended to capture runoff from the hard‑packed gravel surface.

The Conservation Commission, read into the record by a commission member identified as Sherry, urged a larger buffer and expressed concern that prior fill and storage near the wetland increase the risk of contaminated runoff. "Ten to 20 feet is too close to put a parking lot to a wetland," Sherry said, and the commission asked that dumpsters and mowing equipment currently stored roughly 10 feet from the wetland be relocated.

Board members questioned whether the parking area could be shifted farther from the wetland without rendering the lot unusable. Newman said a shift of about 10 feet might be possible but could reduce available spaces by one or two and potentially encroach a different wetland point. The board also discussed the distinction between current zoning, which the plan meets, and a pending zoning change that could later require a conditional use permit.

After deliberation the board approved the application with a condition that the applicant move the open shed and stored mowing equipment as far from the wetland as feasible. The chair confirmed the approval by voice vote; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.

The board closed the public hearing on PB 25‑017 during the meeting and recorded the conditional approval. The applicant will return for further permitting if the town's zoning changes in a way that makes the use subject to a conditional use permit.