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Jackson Planning Board Meeting
August 8, 2013
Present: Chairman Dick Bennett, Vice-Chairman Sarah Kimball, Selectmen’s Representative John Allen, David Treadwell and Betsey Harding, Members; Bea Davis and Kathleen Dougherty, Alternates
Visitors: Videographer Hank Benesh
Chairman Dick Bennett called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with a moment of silence in memory of Fish & Game Officer Brian Abrams.
- Call to Order, Roll Call, Voting Member Determination and Minutes of July 11th Regular Meeting
- Voting Member Determination Everyone in attendance will be voting tonight; Member Larry Siebert and Alternates Mike Mallet and Scott Badger are unable to attend.
- Minutes July 11, 2013 Chairman Bennett asked if everyone had a chance to review the minutes and if there were any amendments; hearing none, Betsey Harding, seconded by David Treadwell, made a motion to approve the minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
- Public Comment There were no comments.
- Master Plan – Questions people have come up with for Public Survey The Board has started developing the questions for the survey that will go out to the public; Betsey circulated some surveys from other NH towns so the Board can look at the kinds of questions that were asked and the format that was used. Phil Davies is willing to help crunch the numbers again; he’ll be asked to help with wording to avoid leading or biased questions. The Board liked the color-coding used last time, dividing respondents into residents and non-residents.
Possible questions: Some in town are still interested in the Residential District being extended up Route 16; Bea noted the town just voted to keep that area zoned as it is at the last town meeting. Betsey noted some folks were unclear. Chairman Bennett reviewed Article 4 from last year’s ballot; he does not see how the issue is unclear. Betsey believes that the statement that it was not recommended by the Planning Board may have been confusing to voters. Alternates present at the meeting didn’t recommend it, while regular members might have. Chairman Bennett noted that the voting members at each meeting are the voting members; it is inappropriate to say that someone was a regular member while another was an alternate. Betsey commented that, because the wording
hadn’t been finalized, it seemed appropriate to vote on the new wording, and it might have been recommended, but the town attorney did not permit that change. Chairman Bennett understood reasons for putting this in the public survey; we need wording that isn’t leading. Questions from the old survey gave folks the opportunity to agree, disagree or have no opinion.
Selectman Allen commented that there might be issues for folks who bought the property as one thing then it changed. But that sort of issue happens to many – people may have bought in what is now the River Conservation District and not be able to build as they choose. Ordinances may change what can be done; folks have to expect that what can be done on their property is not written in stone.
On question #6 from the prior survey, the Board agreed to omit h; at #7, omit l; at #11, omit n & o - these all have to do with the library and possible expansion; similarly, question #11, l, about lighting, is moot. As far as adding new questions, the Build-Out study will come up with some of those. Question #11has some leading questions that should be omitted or reworded: s, t, and u. Kathleen commented that, being a tourist-oriented town to begin with, home/cottage businesses would be what might be expected to come into Jackson. Selectman Allen noted Jackson has an ordinance regarding how many employees a person can have in a home-industry; it’s three in addition to the home-owner. He wondered if the Board was interested in targeting that for a change. Sarah
suggested the survey include a question as to whether home-industry or non-conforming use options should be expanded. Chairman Bennett doesn’t think so. David thinks an expansion would cause parking problems and once the public is invited in that causes life-safety concerns. He wondered about increasing the ability for Inns (not B&Bs) to expand.
Betsey wondered about asking on the survey about north of the village as being Commercial with cluster allowed; that might allow something different from what is allowed in either current district; keeping the requirements of the Village District way up Route 16 may not allow what people want to see happen there. Kathleen would hate to see this end of Route 16 loaded up with stores. Selectmen Allen wondered how the tax base would change by going to Commercial; David doesn’t want to see any commercial endeavors up Route 16; there is development south of Jackson and up in Gorham but the rest is pretty wild; any commercial development is going to want to be closer to North Conway. Betsey supports Rural Residential; others might too.
David is concerned about parking in the village, especially near the park and Thorn Hill Road; Chairman Bennett noted the sidewalk is part of the problem. Parking has been a discussion for a long time. The town has talked with the owners of the Ski Club; there aren’t that many places to add parking. Bea noted the town talked to the State about using the side of Thorn Hill Road but that wasn’t allowed either. Bea thinks the town could increase parking at town-owned properties.
There could be questions about the Gray’s Inn property; there have been several master plans developed for those lands, but no consensus on what to do; are they satisfied with what’s here already (Library, Town Offices, Police Department, Highway Department, Trails); is housing there a possibility – getting lands back onto the rolls, and possibly allowing for lower-cost, workforce housing? Betsey noted Engineer Phillips drew up plans for eight to ten workforce housing units; the town could work toward increasing workforce housing; the town could own the land but the houses would be sold. Kathleen noted if that happened the Gray’s Inn property wouldn’t be for everybody, as it is now; she felt folks from away may see this as a cheap way to get a second home or
retire in Jackson; however, restrictive wording could prevent that. The Conservation Commission has some ideas about trails; Chairman Bennett noted they are talking about adding a snowshoe trail up there, with a portion being handicap accessible; the town might move the skating rink there. The Board thinks a question could be included asking what folks think should be done with the remainder of the land at Grays - a list of possibilities to be ranked. Parking can be expanded on the property too. Chairman Bennett noted housing will take a lot of work before an appropriate way to ask is developed; he asked the Board to move on.
The town could sell the Gray’s Inn garage property; Sarah noted the town would have to pay for the storage of what’s in the garage now. Selectman Allen doesn’t know how much is in there now but at the Ambulance meeting yesterday they wanted to store the emergency response mobile unit from the Department of Safety in there. The Department of Safety unit would be the only one for the twelve northernmost towns. Chairman Bennett thought the new garage would satisfy all storage needs; he’ll look into this, as will Selectman Allen.
Betsey commented that some of the other towns’ surveys inquire about motivation behind choosing to live in Jackson. One of the sample surveys asked what natural resources folks wanted to see preserved. There was discussion about ridge line protection zones; in earlier discussions, some folks stated that such hillside protections should be town-wide.
- Build-out Contract Award –North Country Council Chairman Bennett had hoped their Representative would be able to attend tonight’s meeting, as he wants this nailed down ahead of time; he’d like to give them a good idea of what the expectations are. The pricing is good until June 30, 2014. Chairman Bennett thinks the Board could tell them to go ahead and start items #1 through #7 and then have them attend the September meeting to discuss the rest of it. The Selectmen have approved the Planning Board recommendation and will send the first payment of $2,500. Sarah wants to make sure the results of their work will be useful for the Board and the Master Plan - how will getting a picture of what Jackson would look like if every bit of land that could be developed were developed help with
the Master Plan? Chairman Bennett noted the Build-out plan will take Jackson’s existing ordinances and the existing physical conditions of the land. The Board was asked to generate any questions or concerns for the next meeting.
- Old Business There were none.
- New Business There has been discussion about voting at the Whitney Center; some of the wording of Jackson’s regulations specific to the Town Hall have to be reorganized; this is an issue for the Selectmen.
A complaint has come in regarding a utility pole on a property that was subdivided that is now blocking a third party’s view; they have nothing to protect them. There are deed restrictions on Tyrol; it’s not a Planning Board matter.
The Board agrees a work session is needed to come up with questions for the survey; it won’t be to finalize it, only to craft the document.
- Adjournment Betsey Harding, seconded by Selectman Allen, made a motion to dissolve at 8:29 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Acting Recording Secretary
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