Planning Board Public Hearing ~ March 13, 2024

2024-03-13 · Planning Board · 1:11:42 · watch on YouTube →

The Planning Board held formal public hearings on the three land use ordinance amendments going to the April 6, 2024 town meeting: housing density, solar energy systems, and land use permit fees. The chair, John, introduced each amendment and town planner George (?) presented the detail, after which the hearing on each was opened, questions taken, and the hearing closed. The board stated that the wording of the amendments is fixed and that this was an opportunity to explain them and hear comment, not to change them. Residents asked about accessory apartment size, septic capacity, the rationale for the extra half acre required for a duplex, wind power, proximity to power lines, and how the small-scale solar threshold was set. No votes were taken; the amendments go to the town meeting.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 10:58
   Opening

   John opened the evening's public hearings on the three land use ordinance amendments to be voted on at town meeting.

2. 18:09
   How the three amendments were developed

   John (?) explained that a formal public hearing is more structured than the earlier information meetings, and set out how the board arrived at the three amendments: housing density, solar, and giving the select board authority to set land use and building permit fees. He said the Conservation Commission took the lead on the solar amendment, and that the draft language is set and will appear at town meeting as written. Copies were available at the back of the room and on the town website under draft land use ordinance information.

3. 23:20
   Housing density: current rules and what the state law requires

   George (?) said a single-family home in Durham currently requires about 2.07 acres and 300 feet of road frontage, allows one accessory apartment of no more than 50 percent of the house's floor area, and permits a maximum of two housing units; a duplex requires an additional half acre. He said LD 2003, passed in summer 2022, takes effect for Durham and other town-meeting towns on July 1, and requires that a vacant lot be allowed two dwelling units and a lot with an existing single-family home be allowed three.

4. 28:55
   Housing density: the specific ordinance changes

   George (?) described the changes to Articles 4, 5, 16 and 19: removing the one-single-family-or-duplex-per-lot limit, requiring 90,000 square feet (2.07 acres) per dwelling unit while exempting accessory apartments from that requirement, setting a maximum of three dwelling units per lot, allowing a second accessory apartment, and changing the grandfathering basis for non-conforming lots so a one-acre lot cannot take three full-size units. John (?) added that each accessory apartment can be no more than 50 percent of the existing house, and that subdivision covenants can still bar accessory apartments.

5. 34:03
   Housing density: public questions

   A resident asked whether the 50 percent limit applies to each accessory apartment or to both together, and was told each. Another (?) asked about septic requirements; the answer was that additional units must physically fit on the lot without encroaching on setbacks or buffers and that the septic system must be shown to support the added bedrooms. A resident asked the rationale for the extra half acre required for a duplex; John (?) said it relates to rural character, and George (?) said the reason for the existing half acre is not documented and might have been about septic.

6. 39:45
   Solar: why an ordinance and how systems would be classified

   John (?) said the town has no solar rules at present, so a project would have to be treated as a non-conforming use, and that the aim is to set standards applicants can meet or not. George (?) described three classes: small systems up to 8,000 square feet, permitted by the code officer; medium systems from 8,000 square feet to just under half an acre, requiring site plan review; and large commercial and industrial systems over half an acre.

7. 45:02
   Solar: setbacks, fencing and buffering

   George (?) said medium and large systems would need a 100-foot setback from the property line to the panels and safety fencing, with the planning board able to require buffering based on a visual impact analysis. Large systems would need conditional use review looking at surrounding uses before the site plan review, a two-step process.

8. 50:19
   Solar: submissions, decommissioning and performance standards

   Submissions would include an operation and maintenance plan, safety and Public Utilities Commission certifications, an emergency services plan approved by the fire chief, a visual impact analysis by a landscape architect, a vegetation management plan, a public outreach plan, and a decommissioning plan backed by a financial guarantee. Performance standards include no stripping of topsoil, invasive species surveys before and after, glare mitigation, an eight-foot agricultural-style fence with ground clearance for small mammals, a 15-foot maximum height, a 50-foot vegetative buffer where required, noise-producing equipment kept 400 feet from residences, and underground utilities.

9. 56:13
   Solar: public questions

   Steve Binski (?) asked whether wind power should be addressed at the same time; John (?) said it was not taken up this year and that battery storage would follow. Phyllis (?) asked about siting near the electrical grid, and was told developers seek locations near lines and substations because it is cheaper to connect. Russ (?) asked why the small-scale limit moved from 2,000 to 8,000 square feet; the answer was that 2,000 was at the low end compared with other towns and that public feedback asked for a larger range.

10. 1:01:26
    Close of the solar hearing and land use fees

    The solar hearing was closed, briefly reopened for Tyler to state that rejecting the amendment would not stop solar farms but would leave the board without controls such as buffering, and closed again. John then introduced the fees amendment, explaining that the 2022 town meeting allowed the select board to set fees and this article puts the list of fees into the land use ordinance, with a provision letting the select board change or add fees.

11. 1:06:52
    Land use fees and town meeting dates

    George (?) said the town attorney advised that a fee is more clearly enforceable if it is named in the ordinance, which led to listing the missing fees and adding an umbrella provision, and that the timing was changed from annually to periodically. The fees hearing was opened and closed with no questions on the substance. John (?) reminded those present that town officials are voted on April 5 and the town meeting is April 6 at the school.

Worth knowing

• 23:20
  LD 2003 takes effect for Durham on July 1. It requires that a vacant lot be allowed two dwelling units and that a lot with an existing single-family home be allowed three.
• 28:55
  Under the proposal a lot could have a maximum of three dwelling units. Full-size dwelling units would each require about 2.07 acres, so three full-size units would need roughly six acres, while two accessory apartments would be allowed on a two-acre lot.
• 56:13
  The small-scale solar threshold was raised from 2,000 square feet in the original draft to 8,000 square feet after public feedback. Other towns cited ranged from 5,000 square feet in Oakland to one acre in Topsham, with one figure given as 15,000 square feet.
• 1:06:52
  Voting for town officials is April 5 and the town meeting, where these three amendments and the budget articles are decided, is April 6 at the school.

Elsewhere

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