Chichester Planning Board
Minutes of Meeting
May 1, 2014
Members Present: Chairman Kevin Mara, Vice-Chair Tom Jameson, Ex-Officio Jeff Jordan, Stan Brehm, Tom Houle, Allen Mayville, Richard Moore, Alan Williams, and Jamie A Pike, Secretary.
Others Present: Jason Weir
Chairman Mara called the meeting to order at 6:32pm.
The minutes of April 3, 2014 were reviewed. A motion was made by Mr. Brehm and seconded by Mr. Houle to approve the minutes as written. Motion passes.
Public Hearing – Release of Voluntary Lot Merger, Map 7 Lot 87.
The following statement was read by Chairman Mara. “The purpose of this hearing is to reverse an invalid decision made by the Planning Board in 2012. Under current statutes no two parcels may be voluntarily merged should the resulting parcel not conform to the standards of the current Zoning Ordinance. Voluntary Lot Mergers are viewed as an Administrative function of the Board and typically do not require review. While it is unfortunate that this particular merger was completed illegitimately, a thorough review of all other mergers completed by the Board in the past 7 years has been reviewed and determined to be valid. The reversal of this decision shall cause the creation of two lots. Map 5 Lot 87 containing 0.6± acres; and Map 5 Lot 87A containing 1.3± acres. Both parcels are
located on Main Street. The two separated parcels shall not have lost any “grandfathering” that may have been in place prior to the 2012 merger.”
Being no discussion on the matter, a motion was made by Mr. Jordan and seconded by Mr. Brehm to grant the Release of Voluntary Lot Merger where the Town of Chichester Planning Board improperly approved a Voluntary Lot Merger pursuant to NH RSA 674:39-a so recorded with the Merrimack County Registry of Deeds, Book 3342 Page 0754 on October 4, 2012. Motion passes.
Other Business:
Mr. Houle provided a report on the Charrette Meeting held on April 28th. The meeting provided an overview about how the process works and the goals of the program.
Sign Ordinance. Mr. Pike presented a petition to the Board of Selectmen to call a special town meeting on September 9th to coincide with the State Primary election. The members discussed having the special town meeting or waiting til March again. The purpose of the special town meeting is to have a greater audience where this past years turnout was so limited. If the special town meeting were to occur there would be two public hearings in July with a brainstorming and revision meeting in June. It was decided to file the petition with the Board. All members present signed the petition with one abstention. A meeting will be schedule for June 5th where all interested parties will be invited to provide input for any revisions. The Board discussed some revision to include reduced EMC size, increase
the interval of the sign change and reduce overnight lighting.
Master Plan. The Board reviewed a letter from the Board of Selectmen encouraging work on the Master Plan. The Board discussed, as it has in the past, about working on the Master Plan in chapters. Currently the Heritage Commission in in the final edit stage of their chapter and the Board expects to be able to review that soon. A letter will be submitted to the Recreation Commission to ask them to work on the update to their chapter. The Planning Board will take charge of rewriting the introduction and vision statements over the summer and fall. Mr. Pike will “dust off” the 20/20 Vision materials for distribution and discussion at a future meeting.
Mr. Moore also mentioned other items that he feels that need to be addressed, Workforce Housing, Site Review Regulations and Subdivision Regulations and other zoning amendments. The Board has been repeatedly told by counsel that these other documents need serious attention.
The July 3rd meeting has been rescheduled for July 10th, and will include the first public hearing on a revised Sign Ordinance.
Being no further discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Houle and seconded by Mr. Brehm to adjourn the meeting at 8:05pm. Motion passes.
Respectfully submitted,
Jamie A Pike
Not approved until signed.
Kevin J Mara, DVM
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