Sanbornton Planning Board
Joint Board Meeting
September 19, 2006
Present: Bob Ward, Town Planner; Bruce Kneuer, Town Administrator; Wayne Elliott, Chairman Conservation Commission; Jeff Jenkins, Chairman Budget Committee; Don Bormes, Planning Board member; Helmut Busack, Chairman Planning Board; Carmine Cioffi, Planning Board Alternate; Evelyn Auger, Conservation Commission member; Patsy Wells, Chairman Board of Selectmen; Dick Gardner, Planning Board member; Mary Ahlgren, Conservation Commission member; Scott Taylor, Fire Department; Ab Vinton, Library Trustee; Andrea Burns, Citizen and Library Trustee and Lori Budington, Citizen.
Bob Ward requested that everyone introduce themselves and state what town board affiliation you may have. (See above) Bob Ward introduced himself, outlining his credentials, background, experience and current positions he holds in his town of Andover NH.
Bob stated the purpose of this meeting was to begin the process of updating the town’s Master Plan (MP). The current MP was adopted by the town in 1995, 11 years ago. ~He stated that there is no requirement in the state law that a MP be adopted or updated, however in order to regulate use in zoning ordinances you must have a MP. ~In 1995, the population in this town was smaller and a lot has changed since then. ~Tonight’s meeting is to help the and guide the planning board to develop a new MP.
Bob is interested in an assessment of what the issues in town are and recommends that a Master Plan Advisory Committee be established with a core group, consisting of at least one person from each of the regulatory boards, recreation, CIPC, budget committee, and maybe other departments that need representation and a formal representative from the Board of Selectmen, be assigned to the MPAC. ~Other members should be identified from civic organizations in town, private non-profit organizations and other organizations or services in town and possibly community members as long as they come open minded and with no preconceived notions. ~Bob stated that many people in this town have never seen the MP nor do they know one even exists. This should be a working document.
Bob reviewed the RSA pertaining to the MP process and the two key components being 1. Vision Section, stating the town’s vision and 2. Land Use Section, translating the vision statement into physical terms. Bob overviewed the current zoning map, the time horizon for planning in generally 20 years, the population in 1995 and the projections for 2005 in the current MP was 2,570. (2005 being the target year)
Bob reports that the last population listed with the Office of State Planning was the population census from 2004. ~Sanbornton was listed as having a population of 2,854, which is higher that the projected figure and a year earlier than the target year outlined in the 1995 MP.
Bob also questions what the build out population would be if we followed the zoning ordinances in place.
Bob overviewed the Community Profile report from 2001. He identified the concerns outlined by the community then were upgrading the road system, hiking/biking/walking/jogging trail etc. ~In the Growth and Development section, he feels that the town probably took steps in this area by opening of the Farmer’s Market. Also mentioned in the report was maintaining rural character with zoning and maintaining rural character with careful planning and zoning.
Bob opened the meeting up to people in attendance and posed the question of wanting to identify the land use issues in town. ~He asked what is missing or to state any issues of this type.
Evelyn Auger stated that there is a need in town for senior housing. ~She states that the town has made two failed attempts at this type of project and the possibility of a senior housing ordinance. ~
Mary Ahlgren stated that there is a water source use issue in town. ~She feels we should protect our water sources before a bottling plant or a company that out sources takes over. Protection of Quantity is key.
Helmut Busack stated that there is a need for water shed resource protection and aquifer protection. ~Protection of Quality is key.
Patsy Wells stated that there is a need for water life habitat protection, waterfowl breeding areas and flood control. ~Bob commented that there is a Q to C study concentrating on studying major concerns of large contiguous blocks of non-fragmented land and the protection of. (Green space-ridgeline Q-C corridor)
Andrea Burns mentioned that she would like to see the S.A.L.T. (Sanbornton Agriculture Land Trust) group reconvene. ~She states there is a need for protection of agricultural land and helping farmer’s protect and maintain their farmlands.
Bob suggested that in the 2001 Community Profile there was a lot of emphasis on agriculture and would encourage groups like S.A.L.T. reestablish.
Bob overviewed the future land use map showing patterns of what different areas of town are used for. ~He states there are four categories used 1. Primary residential, 2. Second home residential, 3. Shore land residential and 4. Historical residential. Bob referred to the area on the map outlining Premature for Development and states this section is contrary to the Community Profile’s focus on agricultural.
Bob reviewed that today people are looking differently at the use of wood for energy. ~This would be consistent with the Profile’s category of Working Landscape vs. Premature for Development. (I.e. Town of Lyme Superior Court decision for 50-acre minimum lot size) For long-term forestry planning, Bob states that 50 acre minimum would be recommended vs. the current zoning in town of 6-acre minimum.
Jeff Jenkins stated that there is a need in town for protection of farmland and the tax breaks for the farmers. However, Jeff also mentioned that who would carry the financial burden or expense, and he thinks the town should possibly re-visit Commercial Land Use. Jeff added that in review of the need of commercial or industrial land use that we keep in mind that it is compatible to the land that we do not want disturbed. ~Helmut stated that the commercial land of I-93 is now housing and we cant take it back.
Evelyn stated that there is a possibility of nice old homes turning into restaurants, in various areas of the town and not a high impact.
Bob suggested adding to the list, the need for plan/design control on commercial use and the possible scattering and usage of existing buildings is possible and low impact and would serve the locals.
Don Bormes suggests changing the zoning to reflect the MP because currently they do not agree.
Dick Gardner stated that he does not see small businesses in town generating more revenue than the current real estate taxes. ~Evelyn responded that although a restaurant may not bring in more revenue, that business will not be requiring more services, I.e. school kids.
Bob stated that the town should address Transportation and the needs of the town. There were three ideas generated from this that are, 1. A new facility for DPW, 2. Re-building/re-hab of the road system and 3. Coordination with the state owned roads in our community, such as Class 2 roads-seasonal highways that we do the winter maintenance on and the state does it in the summer. ~However, these roads remain in tough shape. ~
Bob discussed the scenario of “strip residential patterns”, suggesting this may be an alternate to cluster development. ~If we are concerned about rural character, we should have better corridor management. ~Developments off the beaten path would be out side the purview of our windshields, although it may be the same impact on current services, it may be an answer to maintaining the rural character.
Jeff Jenkins questioned the information in the current MP document with respect to the East-West corridor. Dick Gardner states that the word “explore” is included and was the thought back in 1995 just to explore that as an option.
Patsy Wells stated that the traffic on Eastman Hill & Huckins Pond Road has doubled in the last two years. ~These roads need upgrades, widening and to be paved or rebuilt.
Scott Taylor stated that this town should be keeping up their awareness of other towns surrounding us and their development and increase in traffic.
Bob suggested that the “big developer” is not our enemy; they can actually produce a comprehensive plan. ~The town is in need of a long-range plan for road management and proper funding of it, so it can be managed more carefully. ~
Bruce advised that there is a new road that has been accepted by the town and it is a cluster of houses with approximately 20 schoolchildren and the impact of that development has not been determined yet.
Don Bormes stated there is a need to address private roads. He stated the current agricultural zoning will allow approximately 50 houses + for every mile of road.
Bob Stated that the next stage in this process was to bring this information back to the planning board and recommend ASAP the soliciting of membership for a MPAC.
Meeting closed at 9:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Katy Wells
Secretary
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