Planning Board Meeting

DURHAM PLANNING BOARD

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

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.    Public Hearing - 3 Dover Road – New Dunkin Donuts.  Site plan application for new 1,500 +/- square-foot Dunkin Donuts restaurant on ¼ acre lot located next to Holiday Inn Express.  JESP Enterprises, property owner.  Jim Mitchell and Scott Mitchell, Tropic Star Development, LLC, applicant.  Matt Perry, Civil Engineer, The Engineering Corp.  Scott Thornton, Traffic Engineer, Vanasse & Assoc.  Courthouse District.  Map 108, Lot 38.  Recommended action:   Receive an update about traffic and discuss issues.

IX.       Public Hearing - Four-lot Resubdivision – 53 Bagdad Road and 51 Emerson Road.   Resubdivision of three current lots into four lots.  53 Bagdad Road – Map 104, Lots 41 and 42 owned by Frank Lavalliere, Qing Lin, and Quan Li. 51 Emerson Road – Map 104, Lot 40 owned by John and Nickoll Lauze.  Bob Baskerville, engineer, Bedford Design Consultants.  Residence A.  Recommended action:  Discuss status of Old Bagdad Road and continue review.

X.        9 Madbury Road – Apartments.  Conditional use to convert the commercial fourth floor to residential apartments.  Matthew Crape, property owner.  Nick Isaak, architect.  Liz Shepherd, general manager.  Central Business District.  Map 106, Lot 39.  Recommended action:   Discuss and set public hearing for April 23.

XI.       Proposed Zoning Amendment – CB-1 and CB-2.  Amendment initiated by Town Council to designate Mill Plaza property and portion of UNH land toward Quad Way as Central Business-2, to designate the rest of the existing Central Business District as Central Business-1 (CB-1), and to change Mixed-Use with Residential in CB-1 from a conditional use to a permitted use.  Recommended action:  Discuss proposal and set public hearing.

XII.      Other Business

XIII.    Review of Minutes: March 12, 2025

XIV.    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 allowed.  However, due to factors outside 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: https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_dcatgovernance/zoom-video-meeting-schedule.   If you have difficulty logging in, contact DCAT: 603-590-1383.

*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 germane subject except active matters where the public hearing has been closed.   When a public hearing will be held soon for a specific item board may require that comments be made at the hearing.

2)      Submission of comments in writing.  Send emails and letters to Michael Behrendt, Town Planner, at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us or at the address above. Substantive comments about current board matters, except where the public hearing is closed, will be a) emailed to the board;  b) mailed to the board if received by the Thursday before the meeting or given to members at the meeting if received later; and c) posted on the Town’s website.

Any email, letter, or document 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 material only at its discretion (This limitation does not apply to comments made at the 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.   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 above.  The board may or may not take these actions and may take other actions not stated.

6)      10:00 pm.  The board will take up a new item of business after 10:00 pm at its discretion.

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

8)      Next meeting.  The next regular board meeting will be on April 23, 2025.