NOTTINGHAM PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
JULY 6, 2005
PUBLIC SESSION
APPROVED BY THE BOARD AUGUST 17, 2005
PRESENT: ABSENT:
Mr. Dave Smith, Chair Mr. Scott Curry
Ms. Mary Bonser, Selectmen Representative
Mr. Jon Caron
Mr. Peter Gylfphe
Mr. Bill Booth
Ms. Sandra Jones (Arrived 7:20)
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mr. Peter Bock, Selectman
Ms. Cynthia Copeland, Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Mr. Skip Seaverns
Ms. Kelly Tivnan, Planning Board Secretary
The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
DISCUSSION OF MODEL SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS:
Mr. Caron said that the Planning Board was going to continue looking at the model subdivision regulations. Ms. Copeland said that she had met with Amanda Barker about some applications before the Board. Mr. Caron said that the Planning Board had talked about restricting redevelopment for a certain time period after the original development. He asked if that was common. Ms. Copeland said yes. She said that there was a law in Maine which did that. Mr. Gylfphe said that he thought 5 years between subdivisions would be a good length of time. Mr. Caron said that the Planning Board needed to get a clear picture of their entire plan. Ms. Copeland said that a large number of frontage subdivisions were a problem in some places. She said that she thought the law in Maine was 3 years. Ms.
Jones said that she thought 3-5 years was reasonable but less than 3 years was pointless. Mr. Gylfphe said that he was still in favor of requiring 5 years in between subdivisions to the same land. Mr. Caron agreed. He said that he thought that would be a good target. He said that the Board needed to think about what would not be included in that time restriction. He suggested that people might want lot line adjustments or possibly small subdivisions more often than every 5 years. Ms. Jones said that people should be allowed to eliminate subdivisions on property if they wanted. Mr. Caron said that was allowed. Mr. Seaverns said that he thought the Planning Board should keep track of when things were signed. He said that in order to rescind a subdivision you had to be the owner. Mr. Caron said that the design standards for subdivisions in the model regulations were very general. He said that there were very few
quantitative standards. He said that some of the specificity was reflected in the zoning ordinance. He wondered if it would make sense to leave that out of the subdivision regulations and apply the zoning ordinances to it. Mr. Smith asked if it would make sense to have a section in the subdivision regulations about zoning. Ms. Jones said no. Mr. Caron said that Strafford Regional Planning Commission had given them a checklist. He said that was a separate document. He said that they could reference both documents. Mr. Seaverns said that he thought it would work best to just update the checklist but he said that the Board needed to decide how they wanted to do it. Mr. Bock said that he thought the regulations needed to stay with a broader view and avoid specificity. Mr. Caron said that he thought zoning should be about building permit and use issues. Mr. Seaverns agreed. He said that the checklist should not be a
device everyone got. He said that applicants should get copies of the regulations. Mr. Caron said that the Planning Board wanted to do more broad planning and less specific approval work. Ms. Bonser said that the Planning Board needed to have a discussion about submittal dates and determining the completeness of applications so they would have time to look at how the health and safety of the community would be affected. Ms. Copeland said that it would turn out that the people with the smallest projects would be the most affected. Mr. Bock said that everyone would know the process. Ms. Bonser said that the Planning Board could have preliminary consultations with all the applicants. Ms. Copeland said that there were regulations which allowed towns to make preliminary consultations mandatory now. She said that the Board needed to make the process very clear. She said that the purpose of the preliminary meeting with the Planning
Board was supposed to be allowing the Planning Board and the applicant to discuss the impact of their application on the Master Plan for the town. Ms. Bonser said that one of the goals of the Planning Board was to redo the subdivision regulations. She asked if they wanted to redo the zoning regulations as well. Mr. Caron said yes. He said that the Planning Board needed to look at what they wanted in the zoning regulations. Ms. Copeland asked the Board if they were interested in making a preliminary conceptual consultation mandatory for applicants. Ms. Bonser said yes. Mr. Seaverns asked if the Planning Board wanted to make that preliminary consultation mandatory for everyone. Mr. Smith said that the preliminary consultation should be mandatory if the applicant wanted to create additional roads. Mr. Seaverns asked if the preliminary consultation should be mandatory for people who wanted to do minor subdivisions. Ms. Bonser
suggested that Nottingham should possibly hire a professional planner twice a week. Ms. Copeland asked if the Planning Board thought a preliminary conceptual consultation would be necessary for people doing site plan review. Mr. Caron said yes. Mr. Smith said that the Planning Board should add fire protection information to the subdivision regulations. Ms. Copeland said that she really liked how Nottingham did monumentation. Mr. Seaverns asked if they should tie the points to the GPS (Global Positioning System). Ms. Copeland asked about digitized tax parcels. Mr. Caron said that Nottingham did not have those. Ms. Copeland said that was a good thing to use the land change tax for. Ms. Bonser said that money went to the purchase of easements. Mr. Caron said that half of it did. Ms. Copeland said that every town should have digitized tax parcels. Mr. Caron asked what the Board thought about standards for
preliminary and final plats. Ms. Copeland said that the way plans were submitted had changed. She said that plans used to be created by adding in layers and she said that now that work could be done all at once. Mr. Seaverns asked what a completed plan would consist of. He said that plans should be ready for signatures on the first night they came before the Board. Ms. Copeland said that there was more efficiency in having private meetings with applicants. She said that consistency with all the applications was very important. She said that the Planning Board going to the Rockingham County Conservation District would pay off big for them in the future. Mr. Seaverns said that an applicant should come in front of the Board with a plan that had all the data. He said that the plan should be in a state where it was ready for approval but he said that the Planning Board would not approve the plan the first night. Mr. Caron said
that the applicant should be able to be in the state permit approval process. Mr. Seaverns said that the Planning Board needed to have the opportunity to make changes to the plans. He said that their process needed to meet the state regulations. Ms. Bonser said that she had no problem with accepting plans when they first arrived before the Planning Board. Mr. Gylfphe said that he thought it was important they eliminate the practice of the Planning Board designing projects for applicants. Mr. Seaverns said that the Planning Board should have an application that they could submit to other agencies. Mr. Caron noted that there were many different jurisdictions involved in designing projects. Mr. Seaverns said that the town needed to submit various applications. He said that the Planning Board should see all of those before they were submitted. Ms. Bonser said that the town needed a permanent part time planner. She said that
the office could be self supporting. Ms. Copeland said that such a position could not be entirely self supporting. Ms. Bonser said that the town needed to control growth and maintain their identity and character. Ms. Copeland said that the Planning Board could have discussion about what they wanted buildings to look like. She said that the Planning Board did have the power to regulate that. Ms. Bonser said that the people of Nottingham were independent minded. Mr. Caron suggested that the Planning Board should discuss a height ordinance.
Mr. Caron made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:05pm. Mr. Gylfphe seconded the motion. The present members of the Planning Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion. The motion passed 6-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Tivnan
Planning Board Secretary
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