Planning Board Meeting

DURHAM PLANNING BOARD

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Town Council Chambers, Durham Town Hall

7:00 p.m.

AGENDA

I.          Call to Order

II.        Roll Call and Seating of Alternates

III.       Approval of Agenda

IV.       Town Planner’s Report

V.        Reports from Board Members who serve on Other Committees

VI.       Public Comments

VII.     Review of Minutes (old):  

VIII.    Fitts Farm – Shed Addition.  Request for waiver from site plan review for 24 square foot (4 feet x 6 feet) addition to existing mail kiosk for storage of materials.  Marden Way just off Emerson Road.  Requested by Robert Dusinberre, Maintenance Manager, Fitts Farm.  If the waiver is not granted, then staff requests an okay to review the proposal under the Minor Site Review.  Tax Map 104, Lot 21.  Residence A District.  Recommended action:  Response to waiver (or minor site) request.

IX.       Public Hearing - 81 Dover Road – Community Center.  Conditional use application from Arts in Reach to establish a community center for arts programming.  The nonresidential program serves youth 11 to 18 in school, after school, during school vacations, on weekends, and during the summer. The existing single-family house and barn will be converted for this purpose.  Jennifer Minicucci, Executive Director, applicant.  Todd Cain, property owner.  Tax Map 209, Lot 7.  Office Research District. *NOTE:  This application is for conditional use only.  Submission and approval of a site plan application would be required in order to use the site as a community center.  Recommended action:  Final action.

X.        Public Hearing – Proposed amendments for deadlines.  Proposed amendments to the Site Plan and Subdivision Regulations to provide that when a Planning Board approval is appealed to court, the timeframe to meet precedent conditions automatically extends to one year after final court disposition.  Recommended action:  Adoption of amendments.

XI.       Other Business

XII.     Review of Minutes (new):  October 11, 2023

XIII.    Adjournment

*ZOOM ACCESS

The Town of Durham offers access to meetings with Zoom and Durham Cable Access Television (DCAT) as a convenience to the public. Zoom is generally reliable for watching

meetings and offering comments when permitted.  However, due to a variety of factors outside of our control, occasionally access on Zoom does not work properly.  We cannot guarantee that Zoom will always be available seamlessly and suggest that people who want to ensure being able to watch and participate attend the meeting in person.

To access any LIVE Zoom Public Meeting, you must be Registered.  This link will take you to the registration page for all public meetings: https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_dcatgovernance/zoom-video-meeting-schedule

If you have difficulty logging in, contact DCAT: 603-590-1383.

*PUBLIC INPUT

Members of the public may provide input to the Planning Board in one of three ways:

1. Email.  Send an email to Michael Behrendt, Town Planner, at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us.  See 2) Submission of Comments under OTHER INFORMATION, below.    
2. Zoom.  Participate in the meeting via Zoom.  See the instructions above.
3. Speaking at the meeting itself.   See the information below.                                                                                                  

*OTHER INFORMATION

1)      Public hearings and public comments.  The public is welcome to speak at all public hearings and during the Public Comments time.  Comments on all matters, except those for which a public hearing is on the agenda, should be made during the Public Comments time (including comments on agenda items this evening).  The public may speak and submit written/email comments on any subject except active matters where the public hearing has been closed.   When a public hearing will be scheduled soon for a specific item the board may require that comments at the meeting be made at the hearing.

2)      Submission of comments in writing.  Emails and letters should be sent to Michael Behrendt, Town Planner, at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us or at the address above. Correspondence that pertains to current Planning Board matters, except where the public hearing has been closed, will be a) emailed to the Planning Board; b) mailed to the board members if received by the Thursday prior to the meeting or distributed to members at the meeting if received later; and c) posted on the Town’s website.   

Any email, letter, document, or other information that is pertinent to a decision which the Planning Board is expected to make at the upcoming Wednesday meeting, must be received in the Planning Office by the prior Monday at 5:00 p.m. or the board will consider the submitted material only at its discretion (This limitation does not apply to comments made at the actual public hearing).

3)      Other information.  Files on the agenda items above are available for review on the Town website https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/.  Agendas marked as “Preliminary Agenda,” are subject to change.  The final agenda will be posted on the Town’s website on the Friday prior to the meeting. To see background documents related to specific agenda items, see the agenda on the website and click on any green highlighted items.

4)     Contacting us.  Contact the Planning Department with questions or comments about any planning-related matters.  Call (603) 868-8064 or email Michael Behrendt, above, or Tracey Cutler, Administrative Assistant, at tcutler@ci.durham.nh.us.

5)      Recommended actions.   Actions recommended by the Town Planner are shown at the end of most items.  The Planning Board may or may not take these actions and may take other actions not stated.

6)      New items of business.  Unless approved by a 2/3 vote of members present, no new item of business shown on the agenda will be taken up after 10:00 p.m.

7)      Communication aids.  Please provide the Town 48-hours notice if communication aids are needed.

8)      Next meeting.  The next board meeting will be on November 29, 2023.  It will be devoted to the zoning rewrite.