Meeting called to order at 7:00pm by Brooks McCandlish, Chair.
Members Present
Brooks McCandlish, Chair; Mark Fournier, Vice Chair; Stephen Pierce; Denise Renk; Bill Duffy; Nathanial Bruss, Alternate; Bob Hodges, Alternate; Heather Weed, Alternate
Review and Consideration of Minutes
Minutes of June 1 were approved with no edits
Public Hearing Map 21/Lot 25:
Brooks opened the Public Hearing at 7:04
Rob Mooso presented the Board with his plans to tear down an old shed on his property and then rebuild a new shed in a different location on his property. The shed will be used for storage and will have a more solid foundation making it safer. The shed will also be a little bigger and Rob may add power to the shed at some point.
Public Hearing was closed at 7:12PM
The Board went through the 5 criteria and felt as if all 5 criteria were satisfied. Motion to grant variance, Vote 5-0
Unfinished business:
- There still has been no progress in walking the Town Boundaries. Bradford is considered a Junior Town and needs to be notified by the surrounding towns as to when the boundary lines will be walked.
Communication and Miscellaneous:
- 2016 Office of Energy and Planning Conference Concord NH (OEP):
Denise, Bill, Mark, and Heather all attended this conference and expressed to the rest of the Board that they felt it was an informative conference and they were happy they attended. Attached is a summery written by Heather regarding the conference.
- Any change to the Zoning Ordiance needs to be voted on at Town Meeting
- It was suggested at the OEP conference that the Zoning Board should meet with the Town attorney 1x a year; this was a suggestion, not a requirement.
As there was no additional business to come before the board, meeting adjourned at 8:10PM.
Attachment:
2016 Office of Energy and Planning Conference Concord NH
Primary Focus: Agriculture in NH
Keynote Speakers: Lorraine Merrill , Commissioner, NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food and Terry Johnson, Director, Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL)
- Farms create a sense of community
- Recent survey – 90% support local agriculture initiatives
- Agritourism new RSA’s
- Agriculture related tourism contributes $1.2 Billion to NH economy
- Rapid increase in number of farms in NH over last couple of years compared to the major decline over last several decades
- 2002 16 NH farms $265,000
- 2007 88 NH farms $2.3 million
- 2012 190 NH farms $3.8 million
- Reported farms
- Healthy local foods promote personal wellness
- More direct to farmer (or local) income
- Need for communities to develop healthy activity solutions ie: Rails-to-Trails, sidewalks
- Communities should look towards solutions for encouraging farms to remain farms such as easements and discourage development of farm lands perhaps with tax initiatives
- Be aware of potential discord in multi-zoned areas and the opportunity for healthy activities
Breakout session #1: Agritourism and the Role of Municipal Regulation – Speakers: Gail McWilliam Jellie, Director, Div. of Agricultural Developement, NH Dept. of Ag, Jane Presby, Diamond Hill Farm, Erick Sawtelle, Pinewoods Yankee Farm and Lee Agricultural Commission, Barton Mayer Esq., Municipal Attorney, Upton & Hatfield LLP
- Agritoursim RSA’s 21:34a, 672:1, 674:32-b
- NH farms must be diversified and use all opportunities to market themselves.
- 11% of visitors come to NH for agritourism activities
- Maple weekend & pumpkin festivals are major contributors
- NH actively promoting NH Agriculture – “NH Official Agricultural Map” available at state rest areas
- Local officials including Fire and Police must be willing and actively participate in the successful implementation of a farms agritourism.
- Regional agritourism events offer great economic impact. Locally we can look at Warner’s Maple Weekend Event or the numbers of growing farmers markets around the state.
- Agricultural Commissions are a good solution for some communities especially those in more urban areas
- New Definition of Agritourism has broad reaching impacts to local land use boards – the take away from the new laws (unlike any other law) is that unless there are specific prohibiting acts within an ordinance than the act is allowed by law.
Breakout Session #2 Roles and Responsibilites of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, Speaker: Christopher L. Boldt Esq., Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella PLLC
- This session was a comprehensive look at a variety of case laws around NH
- The 5 Variance Criteria
- the variance will not be contrary to the public interest;
- special conditions exist such that literal enforcement of the ordinance results in unnecessary hardship
- the variance is consistent with the spirit of the ordinance;
- substantial justice is done by granting the variance
- granting the variance will not diminish the value of surrounding properties
- Deliberate each – Vote ONCE
- “Is not allowing something going to cause more harm by not allowing it?”