ANTRIM PLANNING BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
April 21, 2016
Public Meeting
Members & Staff Present:
Chris Condon (Chair) Michael Frosch (Member) Colleen Giffin (Planning Assistant)
Bob Holmes (Member) Steve MacDonald (Member) Janet McEwen (Member) Carol Ogilvie (Planning Consultant), John Robertson (Ex-officio) Elsa Voelcker (Alternate)
Members Absent: Jeanne Cahoon (Co-Chair)
Public attendance: Ron Haggett
7:00PM Public Meeting:
Chair Condon opened the meeting at 7:00, he made note that with the absence of Ms. Cahoon asked alternate Elsa Voelcker to fill in.
Capital Improvement Plan
Ron Haggett came to ask when the Capital Improvement Plan committee was going to start. Ms. McEwen asked with several members leaving, how would new officers be chosen?
Chair Condon suggested something might be put into the by-laws about when the CIP committee should start meeting and how it should elect officers.
Ms. McEwen asked if this topic could go on the May 5 agenda to give the Board time to look into who can be on the Capital Improvement Plan committee.
Business Meeting
A request had been made by a member of the Planning Board to review the Notices of Intent to Excavate from all the working gravel pits in Antrim.
Discussion of Excavated material of:
- Zeke & Mack’s Realty
- Landsite
- SR Jones
Ms. McEwen asked if it was necessary for companies to actually come in or was it sufficient for them to send in just their Reports of
Excavated Material for the Board to review every two years. Ms. Ogilvie answered that since it was the Planning Board that made the regulations,
they had the flexibility to waive that requirement for the companies to have a representative to physically come in.
Discussion of Richard Winslow Property
Board reviewed the map that John Winslow (Richard’s son) sent with some suggestions for the division of his father’s properties.
Chair Condon suggested that John Winslow talk with Ms. Ogilvie before coming before the board to work out exactly what it is that the Winslow’s want to do with the property.
Application for appropriate land use
Antrim Auto, Inspection Station
- 27 Main Street, Map 104 Lot 024 Village District
Discussion.
Mr. Robertson said it would be good to have a business there like the business that had previously been there.
Chair Condon called for a motion to approve the Antrim Auto Inspection Station application.
Mr. Frosch moved to grant the motion to approve the application for Antrim Auto Inspections Station.
Mr. Holmes seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Economic Revitalization Zoning:
Chair Condon pointed out a few of the properties along Main Street had only a small section of property that actually fell into the Village
District area. Ms. Giffin brought out a map to show the Board exactly where these few properties were.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Frosch asked if a portion of a lot was designated ERZ because it was in the Village Business District, would the whole lot be eligible?
Ms. McEwen answered, no because we would have to change the zoning ordinances for that area.
Ms. McEwen made a motion to remove two properties from the ERZ application.
- Map 244 Lot 003
- Map 244 Lot 005
Ms. Voelcker seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Mr. Condon yes, Mr. Frosch no, Mr. Holmes no, Mr. MacDonald no, Ms. McEwen yes, Mr. Robertson yes, Ms. Voelcker yes
The motion passed four to three.
How are the Zoning Ordinances Defined?
Chair Condon and Ms. Giffin, having done some research into the question, found that when the zoning ordinances were written in 1974 there were specific measurements
from the starting points of a zoned area to how far back it went to a property line. Using natural boundaries as well as man-made ones such as Public Service Co. of NH transmission lines. See attached.
Now the Zoning Ordinances are done by a visual representation of the Antrim town maps.
Ms. Ogilvie expressed concern that with the recent town vote about the addition to the Highway Business District the town maps would not be an accurate
representation of the current Zoning Ordinances. She expressed further concerns about how old and how accurate the maps the town has been using are since she did not know when they had last been updated.
Ms. Giffin assured Ms. Ogilvie that the town sends out all changes to Cartographics monthly and update the maps online accordingly.
Dario Carrara, Antrim’s Building Inspector, had recently marked up the public map to reflect the changes to the Highway Business District.
Ms. McEwen asked if the zoning manual abbreviations now matched up with the maps abbreviations. Yes, they do after the board voted on changing them in the 2016 manual.
Mr. Frosch asked if the board wanted to have the new boundaries for the changes on the Highway Business District in writing or still just as a visual on the maps.
Chair Condon proposed that the board wait until they start working on the individual districts, such as the Highway Business, to see if they wanted to have a
written text to go along with the visual map. Something in writing that would have to be voted on.
Mr. MacDonald wanted to know if the text from the 1989 is a replacement or a restatement from 1974 zo district manual.
Chair Condon answered that the zoning ordinances from 1989 are the most current that the town goes by.
Mr. Frosch feels that if the board were to re-write the text they should attempt to simplify it from the 1974 version.
Mr. Robertson was concerned that any businesses that are in an area that are in the re-written zonig ordinances will not be legally zoned for their business. The
board reassured Mr. Robertson that any business in any re-written zone that was already operating , would be grandfathered in.
BY-LAWS
Mr. Holmes has suggested some changes to Section 2 Membership:
2.4 Whether seated by election or appointment, all members will be required to complete at least 6 hours of training within one (1) year of assuming office for the first time.
Training shall be as designed and furnished by the Office of Energy and Planning. The Planning Board Secretary shall maintain a record of training performed by the members.
Chair Condon called for motion to be made to accept the suggested changes in the training by-law.
Mr. Holmes made a motion to accept the changes. Mr. Robertson seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Ms. Ogilvie will be working on the re-writes as the board discusses them.
By-law issues discussed:
- Training
- Membership/Alternates
- Officers/Elections
- Planning Department Staff
5.1 The Planning Department staff shall consist of a Town Planner and planning support personnel whose duties shall be as listed in the job descriptions for those
positions on file in the Planning Department office, and as amended by the Planning Board. One (1) of the Planning Department staff shall be named Secretary
of the Board. The Secretary shall set the agenda for the Board’s meetings and is responsible for the recording and maintenance of the Board minutes; issue notices of all
meetings; record the names of the members present; notify applicants and
abutters of hearings; and prepare such correspondence and fulfill such duties as the Chair may specify. The Secretary shall also countersign the Chair's endorsement
of the Board's approval on plats and other documents as may be required. In the absence of the Secretary, the Vice-Chair shall act in said endorsement.
Chair Condon called for a motion to remove the words Town Planner and to add language that a Secretary for the Planning Board would be electe
d from the Planning Department at the same time the election of officers were to be held for the Board.
Mr. Frosch made the motion to accept the change in the wording. Mr. Robertson seconded.
Discussion. Mr. Holmes wanted to know if this was to be a yearly vote. Yes, it might change as personnel changes. It might even change during the year.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Chair Condon requested that the times be taken out of the by-laws.
Some discussion was about times for applicants to come in and when minutes should be read during the meeting
7.7 All meetings of the Planning Board shall be concluded by 10:30 P.M., with any unfinished business being carried forward to the next regularly scheduled meeting
unless a majority of the Board votes to extend the closing time of the subject meeting.
Ms. McEwen made a motion to have the meeting be concluded by 10 P.M. Mr. Holmes seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
- Parliamentary Rules of Procedure
The Board agreed that they needed more training about the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure. When asked Ms. Ogilvie stated that mos
t boards that she works with choose not to use these rules. She feels that the by-laws have enough detail about the meetings already that the
board could remove these rules all together. She suggested that some of these rules could be used during public meetings for the people no
t familiar with the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure. It was decided that the rules would just be left as they were, with an introductory statement being written by Ms. Ogilvie.
Ms. Ogilvie will be adding in several statements throughout the by-laws that will help clarify and/or simplify what is already written.
- Agenda Management
- Forms
- Notice
Ms. Ogilvie stated that the Public Meeting Section 13 needs to be completely re-written. And some of the parts for Section 14 Public Hearing need to be re-written.
Ms. Ogilvie explained that the NH Office of Energy and Planning puts out a new Planning Board Handbook every year and the new by-laws are in red.
Mr. Holmes asked if the changes would be on the OEP website. Ms. Ogilvie said she thought they would be.
Approve March 17, 2016 Minutes
Mr. Holmes made a motion to accept the minutes. Mr. Frosch seconds the motion.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
McEwen moved to adjourn 8:55 pm, Mr. MacDonald seconded.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Respectfully Submitted By,
Colleen Giffin
Land Use Board Assistant
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