TOWN OF JACKSON, NH PLANNING BOARD
Thursday, November 8th, 2012 – Jackson Town Office
Call to Order, Roll Call, Voting Member Determination and Minutes of September 13th.
The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm by Scott Badger, Chair
Members Present: Scott Badger, Chair, Sarah Kimball, Vice Chair, Frank Benesh, John Allen, Selectman’s representative & Betsey Harding. Ray Abbott & Dave Treadwell let Scott Badger, Chairman know that they would not be able to make the meeting.
Alternates Present: George Howard, Larry Seibert & Daren Leavitt. Mike Mallett & Dick Bennett were not present.
Members of the public present: Hank Benesh, Theresa Kennett, Tony Simone, Jenny Simone, Sam Harding, Jerry Dougherty IV, Dexter Harding
The Minutes of September 13th were discussed. A motion was made by Sarah Kimball and seconded by George Howard to accept the minutes. Frank Benesh asked if the last paragraph and George Howards’ comment are consistent with what was said; George stated that he meant the April 2012 Planning Board meeting, not the March Town Meeting. "March meeting" was changed to "April Planning Board Meeting" in the minutes. All were in favor of the minutes as amended and the motion passed unanimously.
Public comment concerning items not on the agenda. There were none
MWV Housing Coalition: Theresa Kennett, of the MWVHC, presented a workforce housing resource booklet which provides local data regarding available housing for employees, income and the results of a local employer survey. The booklet was produced to help address both local housing affordability (relative to income) and the lack of housing options for an aging population. The MWVHC is partnering with the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council to share information, look at regional impacts, examine strategies and identify resources. The Coalition will also conduct workshops in the area and hopes to network expertise, opportunities, regional leverage etc. Betsey Harding made the point that, despite the challenge of high property values and relatively low wages in Jackson, it's important that we provide affordable housing to encourage
younger people and families to settle here. As an example of the kind of issues a lack of affordable housing can lead to, Betsey pointed out that the fire departments youngest member is 48, and the oldest is over 65. Jerry Dougherty IV commented that a downside of restrictive zoning is that it can repress affordable housing by limiting available land for development, which in turn, also reduces the affordability of what land is available.
Theresa ended her presentation making the point that regions that do well are those that work together and the MWVHC hopes to foster this type of collaboration through the workshops. The initial meeting of the Coalition will be in April.
Conceptual Review: Plans for a possible lot line adjustment or subdivision involving Tax Lot R12, Parcels 55 & 56 owned by Anthony, Eugene & Gerald Simone.
Currently there are two parcels consisting of 20 and 40 acres. Mr. Simone explained that they are interested in giving a portion of the land to the Saco Valley Land Trust while also subdividing the remaining land into 3 lots. So as to give the SVLT land more quickly, though, they are considering a boundary line adjustment first, and the 3 lot subdivision at a later date.
After reviewing the plans, the board saw no obvious issues that would interfere with either the boundary line adjustment, or the subdivision. It was pointed out, though, that the board would need to see a complete application to make any final determination. Further, that if the plan was executed in two steps, there was always the possibility that new zoning could impact the subdivision plan.
Continuation of State Building Code enforcement discussion.
Scott went over the time line for having the required Public Hearings regarding any changes to the Zoning Ordinance. January 21st would be the last date on which the first public hearing could be held and Scott suggested that the board work towards finalizing an amendment at its December meeting to be brought to public hearing at the regular January board meeting.
Scott then presented the following comments on the current draft from Tara Bamford at the North Country Council:
"Par. 1 - Make sure 'shall appoint' is clear to everyone as possibly meaning hire, contract, or share with another municipality." The board felt, "shall appoint", was clear enough.
"Par. 14 - This paragraph is broken, and leaves it the applicant's option to let the town inspect. When it is fixed, you might want to add some language about 155-A:7 III inspection warrants." To address this, the board added the last sentence of 155-A:7 III to paragraph 14 of the draft.
"Par. 15 - Should this mention the contractor as well as the applicant since most of the compliance responsibility is on them under the law?" The board changed the wording of the draft from "applicant" to "applicant and/or contractor".
Larry commented that even though there were differing opinions on the amendment, the board should identify where the members are in agreement and work towards providing clear and consistent statements to the public. George added that an explanation of what the state building code entails, as well as the duties and responsibilities of the building inspector, should be presented to the voters. After some discussion, it was decided that the board should prepare a fact sheet to be made publically available. Sarah offered to work on the sheet and asked the other board members to forward anything they would like to see in it.
George then presented his draft of the 2nd (non single family residence) option which, at its September meeting, the board voted to add to the amendment. Though George’s draft excludes enforcement of single family residences, it makes explicit that any construction still has to comply with the State Building Code. Frank commented that the voter also has to be given the option of voting for no amendment. The question then arose whether, if the voter was offered, in effect, three options, and no option receives more than 50% of the vote, what would be the outcome? Before working further on how to structure the options, the board agreed that the town attorney's guidance should be sought.
Old Business There was none brought up at this time
New Business There was none brought up at this time
Adjournment Frank Benesh made a motion to adjourn; it was seconded by George Howard. All were in favor of the motion; the meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ella Cressy
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