Answering complaints filed by neighbors and abutters on March 24th, 2010, the DES conducted an inspection of the property adjacent to Shamrock Realty on Route #10 to determine compliance with RSA 485-A:17 and with his Site Alteration Permit; they observed the following;
a. Stormwater run-off from the Property to a basin located on Route 10 ( off site ) had increased due to land clearing activities that appeared to have taken place without the implementation of the sediment and erosion control measures outlined in the permit
b. Sediment from an unstabilized and unauthorized detention basin with a 12 inch culvert, and no headwalls, migrated onto abutting properties by way of a culvert under and along the highway.
c. Open areas throughout the site had not been stabilized and erosion was evident. A clear violation of RSA 485-A:17.
Despite numerous calls to the Code Enforcement Officer, Leroy Austin and his assistant, Margaret Sharra, in regards to the flooding and sediment leaving the site and polluting neighboring properties nothing was done and the DES was called in.
DES issued a Letter of Deficiency to Robert Van Dyke, dated April 5th, 2010 and requested Van Dyke to remove any unauthorized structures and implement proper erosion controls by April 20th, 2010.
DES has no record of any response from him.
He has now been ordered to:
a. "cease and desist" any work on the property, to implement proper erosion and sediment controls
b. " install erosion control matting on all unstabilized/unvegetaed ( or sparsely vegetated ) slopes;"
c. " remove any unauthorized structures"
d. " place non-erodible granular backfill on all unpaved roads or travel surfaces"
He had 5 days to comply with this order dated October 25th, 2010 and has not done so; in fact, he enlarged the unauthorized retention pond and it still empties into the highway drainage which he was cited for. Today's rain is eroding more area as he has not placed any matting down as ordered and erosion and sediment are not only flowing to the storm drains on the highway; but into streams that crisscross the property.
The Planning Board was to have held a meeting to discuss an extension of time request by Mr.Van Dyke this past Monday night; however due to the letter and order by DES, they have postponed his request until December 6th. 2010.
Questions for the board ... Why haven't you shut him down for non-compliance and stop referring to this as a DES matter? What's the deal with his other site on route 119 which is in worse condition, what are you waiting on?
Gus Ruth, the Selectman's representative on the board and our Conservation Commission chairman doesn't seem to care much either.
... and people wonder why the town gets sued.
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9 comments:
Both of his building sites are eyesores, disturbing and a blite on the town along with a number of closed out timber harvest messes along route 10. I don't know why the people we have elected aren't doing their jobs and making these owners clean up these sites.
I heard this guy went broke fighting those people in Jaffrey over putting condos on Mt. Monadnock and that fight is still ongoing. Why hasn't our town shut him down if he's in violation of a DES order, I don't understand,he's clearly not doing something right and to get a cease and desist order from the state of NH.
The Board of Selectman & the Conservation Commission (ie: Gus Ruth) decided NOT to deal with it and said, "it's D.E.S.'s problem". If he really had the Town's best interest, he should have been the one to call the State and inform them about the violation.
We'll be lucky to get either site corrected. The Back Bone is missing from our Code Enforcement, ConCom and BOS. How many violations can you name around town? And what's being done about them?
What's with the A1 Pizza building for one? We had a productive business on that corner with Third Base and now it's an sore eye.
Van Dyke has a history of ignoring codes. He has built other stuctures in town that have violated code and since they were "already built", has gotten away with it. Why? I ask? What is his connection to PB/ZBA and code enforcement officer? What do they GAIN from his violations?
It's the little "circle of friends" that benefit from this bullcrap. They all have a hand in circumventing our town regulations and in return for helping despicable contractors like this van Dyke who does whatever he wants with their rubber stamp of approval they in turn receive some gifts from a gracious builder. Why else do the things they do when they know it's against the law and the town will probably end up being sued again? What's that song by Cher? Gypsys, Crooks and Theives .. fits this bunch to a tee.
Unfortunately, for the town, the individuals in power are very corrupt, politically naïve, self-orientated, agenda driven people making decisions that affect the rest of us.
Worse, these people in today’s day and age don’t keep up with the laws and the fact they have to follow them.
The selectmen should spend a couple of dollars out of their budget and have the US Constitution, the NH Constitution, NH Right to Know Law, RSA’s pertaining to Town Government, Function and Roles, etc., and hand out one copy to each and every department head, board member and elected and appointed official to remind themselves of their purpose. Then they should require mandatory reading of all of these rules and laws, hold a class and then give a test. It would be a start.
Many of those in a position of authority have forgotten their purpose and the restrictions they like the rest of have.
People from the town need to get involved and stand up to this and elect people that want transparency when they make decisions so the people know why they are being made. Transparency would have lessened the towns exposure to the liability they now have because of all the backdoor handling of town business that is illegal.
Legitimate and purposeful efforts have been made to expose the problems and one by one, those efforts are paying off and will continue to pay off.
When people lie, and then cover things up, they make more mistakes and have to lie some more and then when they get caught, when they are confronted, they get exposed because they can’t legitimately explain the things they do.
That is what is happening.
Those responsible for keeping things in the dark will be exposed and those responsible for causing the problems will be punished.
You have a BOS that have allowed too many individuals to run things the way they want and without following the rules.
From the planning board to the police department there has been fraud, cover-up and a blind eye for discipline and controlling the little children making decisions in a grown up world. The BOS are nothing more than inept parents of out of control, spoiled teenagers, who don’t know how to parent their children into respecting, law abiding citizens.
The tides are turning and that is a good thing for all of us.
Just how is this simply a DES matter. Are you kidding me? Doesn't the town have the authority to enforce it's own rules and regulations and stop contractors like this guy from ignoring those very rules and regulations? Something isn't quite right here, there's something else going on and someone behind the scenes evidently is pulling the strings of these puppets on the board. Just how many more lawsuits are gonna get filed over this crap? How much more is it going to cost the town to protect this guy? I don't know about the rest of you but I want some answers as to what in hell is going on here.
If you look at D.E.S.'s website you will find that Van Dyke doesn't even have an alteration of terrain permit for the 119 project.
What's up with that? Isn't that illegal next to a brook or river? Isn't he required to have one? You would think that is a violation. Does the Planning Board not check for these things?
Someone should notify D.E.S. about this violation, because it doesn't look like Margaret is on top of this one either....or is she? And maybe that is the point. Is she helping out the developer and NOT the town?
Someone needs to slap the back of some hands with a ruler.
Those of you fed up with our Planning Board and their lack of professionalism with dealing with this guy and that are tired of seeing Winchester's countryside looking like a war zone ( route 119 on the Richmond/Winchester line and route 10 besides Shamrock Realty ) please send your complaints and pictures to:
Christopher.Brison@des.nh.gov
or give him a call:
(603) 271-4066
Perhaps if more people than the few abutters to this mess show they too are upset with the inaction of the Planning Board and the Town as a whole to enforce our regulations and put a stop to these violations, DES will pull his remaining permit and shut him down for good. Good people need your support to stop this and prevent these types of things from happening again as they have in the past.
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