Lebanon
The City Council on Wednesday tabled the reappointment of Gregory Schwarz to a three-year term on the board after former Mayor Georgia Tuttle expressed concerns with his actions regarding the proposed Carter Country Club subdivision.
Schwarz, who lives on Buckingham Place, is opposed to the development, which would build 283 single-family homes on a 300-acre parcel off of his street and Slayton Hill Road. He previously recused himself from an ongoing preliminary review of the project, and said in a phone interview on Wednesday night that his opposition has been as a city resident.
“I’ve been recused from (the review), as were two others, and I thought I’ve spoken from the floor as a citizen, which is my right,” Schwarz said when reached at home after the City Council meeting. “I don’t know what I’ve officially said while I’m sitting on the board that offended Ms. Tuttle, but I don’t know what was said (during Wednesday’s meeting).”
Schwarz has been on the board for nine years. His term expired in late February but city policy allows members to continue in their posts until another member is appointed or their application for reappointment is denied by the City Council.
Schwarz, who is the chief of visitor services at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, declined to comment further on the matter, saying he would first like to review tape of the City Council meeting. Calls and emails left at his home and work on Thursday were not returned.
It’s not unprecedented for planning officials to recuse themselves from projects in order to publicly oppose them. Last year in Hanover, the Planning Board vice chairwoman, Kelly Dent, recused herself from a review of Dartmouth College’s proposed 70,000-square-foot indoor practice facility off of South Park Street, and became one of the project’s most vocal opponents.
Schwarz’s reappointment to the Lebanon seat appeared to be on track for approval on Wednesday, receiving positive comments from city Councilor Sarah Welsch early in the meeting.
“I have known Greg for a while, even before I joined the City Council and became the council representative to the Planning Board, and Greg is a consummate artist,” she said. “He comes in all kinds of weather and problems and everything else. And he has been a dedicated member in the year that I’ve been involved.”
Shortly after Welsch finished speaking, Tuttle requested to speak to the council, and brought forward several concerns.
The former mayor first took issue with Schwarz signing a petition presented to the council in February. About 400 city residents, including several city officials, signed the document, which calls for the city to review the impact of development on Lebanon.
Tuttle took particular offense with a planning official — Schwarz — signing onto the petition because it included a line that was critical of the city’s professional planning staff.
“Given the failure of our planning professionals to adequately monitor the fiscal impact of new development in Lebanon, we petition you for redress,” the petition said.
“While we gladly accepted that petition as a council, I was disturbed to see this applicant’s name as the first signature on the petition,” Tuttle told the City Council. “Planning Board members supposedly need to be objective in their listening to applications. It gives me pause to wonder.”
The second instance that troubled Tuttle was Schwarz’s comments during a Feb. 8 Heritage Commission meeting. Schwarz sits on the commission as a representative of the Planning Board.
During the meeting, Schwarz abstained from a vote allowing the city to modify an outside air duct at City Hall. When asked why he was abstaining, Schwarz appears to reference his experience with the Carter Country Club proposal and its developer, Doug Homan.
“The developer made a deal with someone or the city that the neighbors found out about it,” he said in an audio recording of the meeting. “I brought it up as a citizen at the meeting and the Planning Board knew nothing about it. The Planning Office, I think, knew nothing about it and we were able to have the deal rescinded because he was supposed to go by the regulations at the time.”
Schwarz went on to say that he now feels obligated when reviewing projects to ask whether the city has made any “secret deals” with developers, according to the recording of the meeting.
“To my knowledge in all the years I’ve served here and lived here in Lebanon, I know of no behind-the-scenes deals. And I was really taken aback by this,” Tuttle told the council. “I know this council for years has worked hard to have a transparent system and I believe it is transparent.”
Interim City Manager Paula Maville and Homan on Thursday echoed Tuttle’s statement that there were no secret deals between the city and developers. City Planning Director David Brooks and Planning Board Chairman Keith Davio declined to comment on the matter.
“Since I wasn’t at the February 8th Heritage Commission meeting, I would only be guessing as to what he was referring to, and so I’m not going to do that,” Brooks said in an email.
City councilors ultimately decided to table Schwarz’s reappointment, 7-0, with Welsch abstaining. Although it’s unclear what action councilors plan to take when they meet on April 19, they promised to investigate Tuttle’s concerns.
“Quite simply, I’m just going to talk to (him),” Mayor Sue Prentiss said on Thursday. “I sent Greg an email and I just want to give him the opportunity to share with me his perspective.”
Prentiss said she can remember two occasions since she joined the council in 2009 where similar concerns were raised, and said she intends to hear what Schwarz has to say before taking action.
“It doesn’t matter until you hear both sides,” she said.
Assistant Mayor Tim McNamara said he’s also waiting to hear more before making a decision.
“We are going to take a look at it and see if any of the things that Ms. Tuttle said have merit in our eyes,” he said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.