Town of Plaistow, NH
Office of the Planning Board
145 Main Street, Plaistow, NH 03865
PLANNING BOARD
March 01, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Roll Call: Tim Moore, Chairman; Ernest Sheltry; Robert Zukas; and Michelle Curran, Selectmen Ex-Officio. Steven Ranlett, Vice-Chairman was absent.
Also present: Leigh G. Komornick, Planning Coordinator and P. Michael Dorman, Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer
Minutes of the February 1, 2006 meeting
 M. Curran moved, second by E. Sheltry, to approve the minutes of the February 1, 2006, meeting. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 4-0-1 U/A.
Minutes of the February 15, 2006 meeting
 M. Curran moved, second by E. Sheltry, to approve the minutes of the February 15, 2006, meeting. There was no discussion on the motion. The vote was 2-0-2 (Curran and Sheltry abstaining).
Planning Board Workshop on Zoning and Regulations
L. Komornick explained that she had recently been looking at the regulations and how the plans were being brought to the Board for both review and approval. She noted that she had been consulting with the Handbook for Local Officials (Handbook), which is put out by the NH Office for Energy and Planning, and there were discrepancies between how they recommend applications be treated and the current Plaistow Regulations.
T. Moore read Chapter Four of the Handbook, which described the recommended way for handling applications before the Board, whether it is a preliminary discussion or application for site plan review for final plans. The Handbook also outlined when it was mandated that the abutters be notified.
The Board discussed the difference between what was read from the Handbook comparing it to what is contained in the Plaistow Regulations. There was also discussion about staff being able to answer many questions, using the regulations and the checklist, before an applicant filed with the Board and whether or not staff review required abutter notification. It was determined that it was not required. A number of different scenarios were discussed as to what phase of the application process they would fit into and whether or not that phase would trigger abutter notification. The Board members noted that it was still important to keep communication between themselves and staff so that everyone stays in the loop. As a result of the discussion it was determined that the regulations as written are in line with
the recommendations of the Handbook, there were just differences in the verbiage used to describe the application stages and it would be fairly easy to make them comparable.
L. Komornick noted that she would produce a draft copy of changes for the Board’s review.
L. Komornick offered that the Board still needed to review potential changes for the Village Center District and changes that would create two industrial districts. She said that she would like to “huddle around” to work on those changes.
The Board reviewed two zoning maps. One was the current zoning map. The second one reflects what changes would occur in the Commercial I (CI) and Commercial II (CII) districts by changing the line that defines the zone to follow the property lines, therefore eliminating properties that are split in two zoning districts. The Board discussed some potential impacts that could be seen in the proposed changes. It was decided that there should be a public hearing on the changes. How best to notify the abutters was discussed and it was the consensus that as much advertising as possible should be done by newspaper, cable message channel and possibly a cable show. It was also discussed that a certified mailing would be too expensive but it might be possible to do a regular mailing.
The Board directed L. Komornick to look into different avenues for notification and report back her findings.
It was noted that only the CI and CII districts were being dealt with at this time.
Other Business - Resolution of request for lighting waiver by Pierre Sader for spot lights at 147 Plaistow Road
L. Komornick noted copies of letters to follow up from the last meeting where Mr. Sader’s request for additional street lighting was discussed.
It was noted there had not been any feedback from Mr. Sader yet as the letter had just been mailed.
Other Business – Big Boys Toys
M. Curran asked if the Code Enforcement Officer had been by the Big Boys Toys site at 5 Garden Road. She reported that it seemed there were more vehicles on the lot than were allowed by the approved site plan.
M. Dorman replied that he had seen it and agreed that they needed to back off from the amount of vehicles on the lot.
T. Moore noted that this was E. Sheltry’s last meeting as a member of the Board. He thanked Ernie on behalf of all the Board for his time and service to the Town.
Respectfully submitted,
Dee Voss
Recording Secretary
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