Planning board accepts 5–7 Church Street reconfiguration for public hearing after easement clarification

The Philmont Planning Board voted to accept an application to reconfigure parcels affecting 5 and 7 Church Street and scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 15.

The applicant’s surveyor, Dan Russell, told the board he adjusted the lot lines and lot-coverage calculations after concerns raised at last month’s meeting. Russell said that when he shifted the line and included an existing concrete slab, “when I took that line back and I had the house, all the stuff, and that concrete slab, this lot coverage went up to 46%.” Board members pressed for clarity on how the lot-coverage figures were calculated and why the boundary was moved.

A board member raised concerns about compliance with setbacks and parking, arguing the reconfiguration could “create an inferior real estate product” because one resulting lot might lack required parking and setback compliance. Other members countered that the reconfiguration remedies an apparently unusable, landlocked tax-map parcel and provides separate addresses helpful for insurance and deliveries. One planner summarized the practical effect: the change converts a parcel with no access into two parcels with access and separate mailing addresses.

Before voting, members agreed the plat must make the shared-driveway easement and the parking easement on the concrete slab prominent and include note references directly on the driveway depiction so title examiners and future buyers are on notice. The motion to accept the application and proceed to a public hearing included that condition and passed; the chair announced notice will be mailed to properties within 300 feet.

The board directed the applicant to add explicit easement labels and a reference to the parking note on the driveway depiction before the hearing. The planning board will consider public comments at the Sept. 15 hearing.