Planning Board Meeting ~ February 1, 2023

2023-02-01 · Planning Board · 41:48 · watch on YouTube →

The Durham Planning Board met on February 1, 2023 without a quorum, so it could take no votes and do no official business. Chair John Talbot and Ms. Caplinger (?) were the only members present. The time was used for an informational exchange and to work out the schedule of public hearings on the three land use ordinance articles going to the April 1 town meeting: affordable housing, resource protection, and a change to the private roads ordinance. Town planner George (?) reported that the town's tax maps have been digitized and will be posted online, and laid out the state's rulemaking timeline for the new affordable housing law, LD 2003. The completeness review of the Deer Creek subdivision was put off to the March 1 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. 0:00
   Roll call and lack of quorum

   John Talbot opened the meeting and reported that only he and Ms. Caplinger (?) were present, so there was no quorum. He said the board could take no votes and would limit itself to the informational exchange and the schedule for the land use ordinance hearings.

2. 0:00
   Tax maps digitized and going online

   George (?) reported that O'Donnell Associates, which had drawn Durham's tax maps by hand for years, notified the town it would stop, and that Spatial Alternatives of Yarmouth was engaged with ARPA funds to digitize the paper maps and build a GIS base. The parcel data will be tied to the assessing database and posted on the town website under online services. He asked that any errors found be reported to the town planner.

3. 0:00
   Planning budget

   George (?) said the budget committee would meet on Thursday to review the planning budget for the coming year, and that he expected it to be similar to the current year.

4. 0:00
   Deer Creek subdivision completeness review postponed

   The completeness review of the Deer Creek subdivision could not be held without a quorum and was moved to the March 1 meeting. John Talbot (?) added that the applicants were still assembling information to complete their packet.

5. 5:22
   Schedule for hearings on the land use ordinance amendments

   John Talbot (?) said the select board chairman had asked the planning board to hold an additional hearing so residents could comment on the draft articles before the final versions are set. George (?) said the official public hearing must be held no less than seven and no more than thirty days before the town meeting, which puts it in March.

6. 5:22
   State rulemaking timeline for the affordable housing law

   George (?) said he had been in contact with Hillary Gove (?) of the Department of Economic and Community Development about rules for the new affordable housing law, which takes effect July 1, 2023. The department planned to publish draft rules on February 8, hold a public hearing on March 1, take comment until March 13, and finish rulemaking in mid to late April, after Durham's town meeting.

7. 10:32
   Hearing dates, venue and the three articles

   The members settled on February 15 for the first hearing and discussed moving the second from March 15 to March 16 because of a Conservation Commission meeting. George (?) said the three land use articles are affordable housing, resource protection, and a minor change to the ordinance on private roads, and that the town clerk, Jessica (?), had already reserved the Eureka Center for February 15 and March 15, with March 16 availability still to be checked.

8. 15:34
   Mailing to landowners and select board approval date

   George (?) said the mailing to landowners affected by the resource protection changes goes out on February 22, and that the select board would vote on February 28 on whether to put the final articles on the town meeting agenda. Both hearings were set to start at 6:30 at the Eureka Center.

9. 21:14
   What the select board will and will not change

   George (?) said the select board's role, as stated in the chairman's emails, is to accept or reject the articles rather than amend the language. He gave the previous year's private roads proposal, where the debate was over gravel against paving, as an example of a change made in response to hearing comment.

10. 26:40
    Effect of the state rules on Durham's ordinance

    The members discussed what would happen if the state's draft rules did not match Durham's (?) proposed amendments. George (?) said the statutory requirements themselves cannot be changed by the department, that the town attorney has told the code officer state law must be followed regardless of the local ordinance, and that the ordinance could be revised the following year if needed.

11. 37:20
    Draft letter to landowners on resource protection

    George (?) said the packet included the draft letter for landowners affected by the resource protection changes, edited by the Conservation Commission and updated by him only to explain the process since. It will go out with two maps, one showing land to be added and one showing land to be taken out.

What was decided

• 0:00
  The completeness review of the Deer Creek subdivision was put off to the March 1 meeting for lack of a quorum.tabled
• 10:32
  The two members present agreed to hold the first public hearing on the land use ordinance amendments on February 15 at 6:30 at the Eureka Center. No vote was taken, as there was no quorum.outcome unclear
• 15:34
  The two members present agreed to pencil in the final public hearing for March 16 at 6:30 at the Eureka Center, moved off March 15 because of a Conservation Commission meeting and subject to the room being available.outcome unclear

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

• 5:22
  The official public hearing must fall no less than seven and no more than thirty days before the April 1 town meeting, which the board said leaves little room to move the dates.
• 10:32
  About 480 individual landowner notices will be mailed before the official public hearing, and this time the mailing must be a full letter with a map rather than the postcards used in the fall.
• 26:40
  Under the new state law, a lot with an existing single-family home or duplex must be allowed up to three units of housing, and vacant land where a single-family home is allowed must permit at least two dwelling units. Durham's draft would allow two accessory units with a single-family home, or one accessory apartment with a duplex.
• 0:00
  The town's paper tax maps have been digitized with ARPA funds after the firm that drew them by hand stopped doing so, and the parcel and assessment data is to go on the town website within days.

Elsewhere

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