Planning board members agreed last night that there were still too many unanswered questions to vote on the proposal. Hearings will continue at the board's first September meeting.
Like last month's discussion, much of the talk in the courthouse behind the town offices last night revolved around one thing: traffic. State law requires a developer to pay for any off-site improvements to a town's roads that are necessary in order for the development to be feasible. The sticking point is what changes are needed.
Wal-Mart has come up with a plan to widen several intersections and place a light in front of its entrance, but the planning board asked Wal-Mart last month to consider building a roundabout where Routes 31 and 9 intersect.
Peter Imse, an attorney who represents Wal-Mart, said last night that Wal-Mart's plans for work - on the intersection of Route 202 and West Main Street, the intersection with the store's driveway on West Main Street, the intersection of West Main Street and Route 9 and the intersection of Route 9 and Route 31, plus a pledge to the state to pay for future repairs to the Route 202 bridge near the intersection with West Main - would cost $1.09 million. A conceptual plan for the roundabout indicates that that project would cost $1.81 million.
Imse said to ask Wal-Mart to construct the roundabout is overstepping the meaning of the law because Wal-Mart would not have a very heavy effect on the town's roads. At the busiest hour of the day, Imse and traffic architect John Theriault said, store traffic would constitute 8.3 percent of the traffic at Routes 31 and 9. Given that, Wal-Mart should only be required to pay for 8.3 percent of the roundabout's cost, Imse said.
"At this point in time, under the state law . . . there is strong argument that there is no basis for Wal-Mart to have to contribute to larger projects," he said.
In addition, the roundabout project involves relocating part of West Main Street, which means taking private land. That would be difficult for a private corporation, but a town could use eminent domain, he said.
"We think the town, far more than a private developer, is uniquely situated to deal with a situation like this," he said.
In addition to questions about the roundabout, residents said they were concerned with the effects traffic could have on the Franklin Pierce homestead. They also asked about the impact of future development projects.
"You folks seem worried about the next big box that comes along,"said chairman Herm Wiegelman, to a chorus of "yes"es.
They shouldn't be too concerned about them in terms of this proposal, he said, reminding them that every project proposed in town is considered separately by the planning board.
