TOWN OF SUTTON

Pillsbury Memorial Hall

93 Main Street

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

PLANNING BOARD MEETING

 

DRAFT Minutes for Tuesday December 12, 2023, at 7:00 p.m.

 

CALL TO ORDER: Chair Pogust called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. He noted there was a quorum and took the roll.

 

ROLL: Glenn Pogust (Chair), Chuck Bolduc, Jason Teaster, Christine Fletcher, David Hill, Kristin Angeli, Dane Headley

ABSENT: Roger Wells, Peter Blakeman

 

ALSO PRESENT: Peter Stanley, Planning and Zoning Administrator, Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary, Maryann Simoni, Joanna Murphy, Deborah Lang, Steve Enroth, Jane Williamson, Leslie Enroth, Cathy Popkin, Lee Booker, Joshua Ortiz, Paul Richardson, Jim Christopher, Ric Werme, Jim Mathias, Kathy Mathias, Mike Heffernan, Karin Heffernan, Kathleen Stowell, Blake Beck, Betsy Forsham, John Dyea, Marilou Steblai, Bruno Steblai, Kendell Swords, Denis Swords, Gary Dellert, Sue Esposito, Maryellen McCabe, Maria Bishop, Alison Jones, John Csutor, Gene and Deb Schwarz, Richard Lovell, Judy Parkinson

 

Alternate member, Kristin Angeli, was asked to sit in for Roger Wells, who was absent.

 

Chair Pogust said they have noticed public hearings on two items for that evening. The Planning Board will discuss some things and they will take public comment. He said they would not close the meeting until everyone had a chance to speak. The first order of business was to ask the Board members to consider something, based on public comment they have received. He would like the Board to defer designating the Sutton Mills Overlay District until they can have more public hearings on it. They will eventually have more discussions on the other villages in Town as well. He said they would like to go forward with the Sutton District Overlay Ordinance which would provide a mechanism to deal with a specific village district if/when it is passed. It would not lead to the designation of any overlay district. The only way that a Village Overlay District can be designated is by a vote at Town Meeting. More public hearings are needed to explain the parameters of the proposed overlay districts and allow for the public to ask questions and voice their concerns.

 

Chuck said it made sense to concentrate on the rules around a village overlay district but not apply it to any specific village at this time. Next year they can work to include all the villages and not just Sutton Mills.

 

It was moved by Chuck Bolduc and seconded by Jason Teaster to defer consideration of the publicly-noticed designation of the Sutton Mills Overlay district until the 2025 town meeting.

 

David thought the public comments to be heard could determine whether or not they continue to specifically address the Overlay district for Sutton Mills at this time. Chair Pogust said he didn’t want the ordinance to be overshadowed. He hoped that proposals for each of the village overlay districts will be ready and on the table for a vote at Town Meeting in March of 2025.

 

David asked if they are still planning to plan a village overlay district for the 2024 town meeting. Chair Pogust said no; they are only planning for a procedure and parameters to utilize a village overlay district ordinance within duly designated overlay districts. If the ordinance passes, the process is covered, but nothing can be done with the process set forth in the Ordinance until an actual overlay district is approved by the Town.

 

Chair Pogust called for a vote on the motion:

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Chair Pogust said there will be no designation of any village overlay districts in the town of Sutton until further hearings on the proposed are held. The Board wants to make sure people know what they are voting for.

 

Chair Pogust said he wanted to clarify some things that have been voiced about the Planning Board’s process. He said that a statement was made that the updated Master Plan, adopted in May of 2022, which involved 2.5 years of work done in public wasn’t publicized. He noted that all agendas were posted with a designation of master plan discussions being held, and all meetings were open for those who wanted to attend. They Planning Board conducted a community survey to which they received 205 responses. A postcard was sent to every property owner in Sutton and invited them to fill it out the questionnaire on paper at the office or online. They had a public information meeting, and two hearings on the master plan. They met with the Historical Society, Budget Committee, Fire and Rescue, Conservation Commission, etc. –10 community groups. This idea for the villages wasn’t something they came up with on their own. They amended the Master Plan following two public hearings before it was adopted. They had two full page ads in the Intertown Record and it was on the Town’s website for review. They have done the same with this proposal for an amendment to the zoning ordinance. The Board learned through the Master Plan process that people were concerned with keeping the character of the villages and so they started discussions about it in January 2023. They had an informational meeting on September 26 which was advertised and noticed and there were about 50 people present. The Planning Board received input from people all over town. The Planning Board later heard that there were some people from Sutton Mills who didn’t know about the first meeting and so they held another informational meeting. This was on October 24th and another 20-40 people were present to listen.

 

Chair Pogust said there was a comment made that the Planning Board should have mailed notices of those informational meetings. That was not required. The Planning Board posted notices for all of these meetings at the town hall, and at both Sutton post offices. Notice of the meetings was sent with email blasts from the town office, and the notices were posted on the Town website. Because the designation of a Sutton Mills Village Overlay District would impact less than 100 properties, the Planning Board followed the statute and noticed those people via mail, which costs money and takes time to produce and get sent out. The Planning Board cannot do this and are not required to do this for all meetings. They have done everything they can think of to notice people of these meetings.

 

Chair Pogust said another comment was made that the Planning Board was going to use a conditional use permit to get past any public input on an application. This is not true. This is a permit that can be granted by the Planning Board after full consideration and it has to follow guidelines including holding a public hearing and allowing public comment. The difference with a Conditional Use Permit process is that it creates some limited flexibility for property owners for an alternative way to do things with their properties.

 

Chair Pogust said someone had suggested using variances and special exceptions instead. He said that a variance can’t be used for change of use or creating a subdivision that isn’t within the confines of the ordinance. There has to be a demonstrated hardship in not allowing the proposed use (a garage a few feet in the setback, or encroaching a bit into a wetland buffer). Variances do not give the ZBA a way to evaluate the use and how it will look or affect the community. The Planning Board is proposing a procedure that provides guidelines to remain consistent with how things have been done before. A special exception can’t be used in the villages for any non-residential use (no shops or offices). Today, if a doctor wants to open an office in Sutton, they have to live in the building where their office is. A small business (contractor for example) can’t do this in Sutton, anywhere, unless they also live in the building. The Planning Board didn’t just make this up, they looked at what needed to be done, talked to experts, and this is the procedure they came up with.

 

Chair Pogust said they need to find ways to create more workforce and senior housing. They thought this would create more problems in the villages. Density bonuses would have to be provided to a developer to be able to create more housing units for it to be economically viable for them. This didn’t seem to make sense in the villages.

 

Other things have been said about the zoning (of which a hard copy of the ordinance was available right after Thanksgiving). It is also posted on the website. The proposal is that lot size not be arbitrary but based on what could be done with certain setbacks with the use of state approved septic and well. There has been a lot of talk about the need to create more varied housing for people. The biggest impediment noted is that towns are unwilling to deal with their zoning. One or two-acre zoning doesn’t make this kind of housing possible. The Planning Board believes that in the villages, this was a place that made sense. Keeping two-acre zoning in the villages basically means that nothing more can be done in the villages.

 

Christine Fletcher said she is a newer member of the Planning Board. She has been attending some housing academy workshops in the State and has learned a lot about the housing issue. NH has a big problem; the demographics are aging and in 20 years there will be no one here to do the work. The older people are not leaving the state and there is nowhere for the younger generation to move to. They are not going to solve NH’s housing problem with just six houses added to the town, but they need to start somewhere and if they can fit six families into the community to help with their jobs in the future, it would be good. Christine said she moved to Sutton because she could get a fair piece of land for not a lot of money. Some people like the feeling of community where people live close together; some like having a lot of space. The Board hopes that people who live in the villages would be happy with a few more housing units. This isn’t the only thing they want to do to help NH with the housing problem.

 

Jason said the intention of their work over the last year has been to preserve the existing character of the villages. The public discussions they have had are memorialized in the minutes on the website. They show that their deliberation was working towards what the Master Plan provided as guidance so they could do some thoughtful and prudent management of how the villages would grow. He opined that the Planning Board may have missed the mark in the content of their presentation and there were some misunderstandings. He thought it was great that they were having this dialogue as a community. This is something they care about as a community. That is why the Planning Board members volunteer their time and effort and they want to see the community grow in a managed way. If the community does not manage the growth, the growth will manage them. The Planning Board is looking at incremental changes that will guide them into the future.

 

Kristin said her interpretation is to create opportunities for people who live in Sutton so they can diversify and do other things with their property, not for out-of-towners to come in and put up developments. This is to create opportunities for the people of Sutton. People would be able to add an in-law apartment, for example. This isn’t for developers from out of town. She lives in Sutton and loves the rural aspect and the open space in the villages. The Planning Board is interested in protecting the rural character, not take it away.

 

Chair Pogust said he has heard that this overlay district will allow people to encroach on wetland/buffers and conservation land. There is nothing in the ordinance or anything the Planning Board can do that would allow something to be built that cannot otherwise be built today (on conservation land, in a wetland buffer for example). This is only meant to provide landowners with an option to build on their properties that is more consistent with how the village actually developed.

 

Chair Pogust said public information meetings will be held to update site plan review and subdivision regulations to deal with the village overlay districts. This will provide the parameters so people will know what can be done and the Planning Board can follow the procedure. The draft regulations will be posted in the next couple of days (working drafts), but they will have sessions and hearings before the Planning Board adopts them. This will include building orientation, parking, architectural guidelines, etc. Pedestrian access is a requirement or else a fee must be paid by applicant to create access elsewhere. External lighting will be regulated to prohibit light pollution. Information on the use of street trees is included. Submission requirements will be extensive having to do with storm water runoff, where things are located, what the plans are, etc. It is going to be easier because people will know what they are dealing with. There are no rules currently. Every application would be publicly noticed and abutters notified as well.

 

It was moved by David Hill and seconded by Dane Headley to open the discussion for public comment. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Joanna Murphy from Sutton Mills wanted to address the two-acre minimum. She said there is a lot of open space when coming into the villages. They are not going to solve any housing crisis in the village. Most of them in the village don’t want to see more density. The density will change the rural character of the villages. Changing the two acre minimum, which helps protect rural character, will change their villages dramatically. She has talked to people in South Sutton and North Sutton as well. If they think it is going to solve housing, bring business they are wrong; this will only impact their lakes and taxes. It has been proven over and over again that their taxes will go up if there is development. Open space is much more cost effective. Joanna said that they live in Sutton because it is rural and they love the open space and the natural resources there. The board wants to change the rural character if this goes through and she doesn’t want that. It is upsetting to her. In the 1800s there wasn’t a two-acre minimum. In the 1970s they put the two-acre minimum in place to help slow down the growth. Growth will be accelerated by bringing the minimum down to one acre.

 

Chair Pogust said the PB is not pushing anything onto anyone and is merely asking the people of the town who have a vote, whether they want to do this or not. They are not trying to impose something upon the town by their own volition. The article will say “should the town amend the zoning ordinance to allow for a village overlay district.” They are not doing anything but proposing that the town decide what it wants to do.

 

Karin Heffernan said she lives in Sutton Mills and has for the past 30 years. As a previous ZBA member she has approved variances and special exceptions in the villages in the past. She is worried about the level of assumptions. The Board should not assume that the people in the villages want more people living among them. She is worried about creating separation and dividing the town into different districts. She understands wanting to have varied housing options. She loves their Regional Planning Commission for the tools and data they provide and believes that that they need to take a further look at the housing assessment. The town of Sutton, between 2025 and 2040 will need 65 total new owner occupied units and 33 renter units. In the past four years, they have given building permits for 14 new housing units. She isn’t convinced why an overlay district is necessary at all and doesn’t like that the amendment is picking on the villages. Why not have the same zoning for the whole town? Karin said she is concerned about the language of the article and doesn’t think further usage of the area and lots just big enough for a septic and a well will increase her property value. If they will have a conditional use permit, why do they need another layer of approval? They are a small town and opined that the Town should re-haul the ordinance and not divide them into different sections with different rules. Karin took offense to the purpose of this change being “to create high quality neighborhood environment.” She feels that it already is high quality. The claim that the village will be “enhanced” by mixed use building types assumes that they want to grow. It doesn’t talk about what kind of growth and buildings they want. She felt these were more assumptions that are unfounded. Karin said the idea that they need to improve the town’s tax base is unfounded. It is 2023 and she believes that this is a commonly-held assumption that more businesses equals lower taxes. She said they live in an internet-driven world and it isn’t the same type of world that business will improve tax base. Taxes exist within a context. It is the same as college students complaining about the food. The luxury of having a plowed road and free education for 13 years, and go to a nursing home if they can’t afford them and it, is a privilege that they have taxes to pay. Warner has the highest tax rate in the school district for 2023 at $31.72/thousand, 25% higher than Sutton’s. Warner has the lowest median income of the seven towns. Sutton is the third highest at $25.37 per thousand, and they have the highest median income of all seven towns in the school district. If taxes were apportioned, they should be paying higher taxes, but they are not. Taxes are not municipal but are also county and school and she listed previous county increases. It is not the town’s job to subsidize housing. Warner has a village district which is set up for water and sewer. Sutton having a village overlay district gives the potential for future enhancements to that district which will create higher taxes in those areas. She would like definitions for terminology stated, and she didn’t think that economic investments were only important to the villages.

 

Mary Anne Simoni lives in South Sutton in the village. She appreciates the work the Planning Board has done and efforts to notify the community. She recalled person to person communication in the past, which was effective. She realizes it is her own fault for not reading the minutes. There are very small parcels in South Sutton. She doesn’t want businesses in the village and doesn’t want more traffic and problems with parking. She has no desire to have anything change. She moved to Sutton because she loves the way it is and has lived there for over 40 years. She suggested looking at alternatives for commercial and housing where it won’t interfere or change the community that already exists. She doesn’t see an advantage to anyone in the villages having neighbors opening businesses next to them. When it isn’t in your back yard, it sounds like a great idea, but when it is in your back yard it isn’t.

 

Chair Pogust said the size of a nonresidential use is suggested to be less than 1,250 sq’ which is smaller than the room they are currently sitting in; they aren’t talking about large businesses. They looked at the types of businesses that people might have. They are talking about small businesses and would not impact traffic. For parking, for non-residential use has to be off-street and cannot be too large to be unsightly. It also needs to be screened. It is possible that people may not want to invest in Sutton, but if it never allowed, we will never know. The people will get to vote and decide. Chair Pogust said they shouldn’t assume that people don’t want to have small, reasonable businesses.

 

Chair Pogust said they all talk about what they’d like the Town to be because they love it here. Unfortunately, they aren’t going to be able to stay in town all the time and won’t be able to maintain what they have in perpetuity. The idea of this is to maintain the vitality of the villages; People will age and may not be able to care for their homes any more. Not everyone is going to be interested in buying an old house and fixing it up. Mary Anne said she has seen a natural transition of families coming in and moving out. That does not mean she wants a business in her community. She doesn’t want that to happen.

 

Cathy Popkin, North Sutton, asked if the Town had their email addresses. Chair Pogust said the Town’s website has a sign-up so people can share their email addresses. They put ads in the Intertown Record, they put information on the website, and at both post offices. Their goal is to let people know about these things; they don’t like sitting by themselves at meetings. He asked for suggestions on how else to let people know things.

 

Cathy said she has heard a lot of reasons why this idea is coming forth. She recalled there was a Planning Board meeting over Zoom that said the Town needed revenue and the only way to do this was to find business operations. There was a suggestion to develop offices and real estate around exit 10. She wanted to know why they are doing this. Chair Pogust said it was from the result of the survey they sent around to give input on the master plan. 205 people were more people than who participate and attend Town Meeting. It was the best information they could get. The overwhelming response was to do something about the villages. They have an obligation to move forward with proposals with things the townspeople have asked for. They listened and heard things. If the townspeople want to do things, they will make their own decisions and vote. The Planning Board isn’t going to tell people how to vote but will give them the opportunity to create options.

 

Kathleen Stowell lives in Sutton Mills. One thing that bothers her about the idea is that they are allowing the whole town to vote on something that only effects certain members of the town. If it was instead a mechanism to have small businesses to be anywhere, great. Instead they are allowing the whole town to decide for the few who live in the village.

 

It was asked if an ordinance is put forth, would it go on the ballot? Chair Pogust answered in the affirmative. It is not part of the business session, but rather just the ballot. Chair Pogust said if they did something for the entire town, they wouldn’t be able to limit it to the parameters of a small village. It makes no sense to limit the size of business in the entire town to 1,250’. Villages are traditionally settled around places where there is commerce. If people live in a place, they should be able to do what they want with their property. The villages of the town are an asset of the town. The people in the town see the villages this way. The Planning Board is not proposing the creation of the villages, but they are recognizing the existence of the villages and suggesting that as the zoning laws developed, the Town forgot or neglected to deal with the fact that they have existing villages. The existing zoning laws would not allow anything to be done in the villages. Kathleen thought those things could be achieved without creating more density in the villages.

 

Ric Werme lives on Corporation Hill Road in Sutton Mills. One medium that may be good to use to relay information to the residents is the Facebook page he administers. There are currently about 450 members who subscribe to the page, which is a cheap way to get info out to people in the town. He felt the town did a pretty lousy job getting information out. Chair Pogust said that they have a new IT administrator who is tech savvy. The notices are more complete online than before. She could be asked to get a social media outlet started and they will do what they can. It is hard to figure out ways to get information to people beyond what the Town is doing already.

 

Betsy Forsham said if they go to the website, as long as a committee or group sends in an agenda, it will be posted. She checks it weekly and it is a good way to know what is going on.

 

Jason Teaster said that the Planning Board members are their neighbors. The Board is using the Master Plan as their guide post. He didn’t want this to be an “us vs. them” argument. They tabled the overlay district for Sutton Mills because they are listening to the people. The Board is there for the citizens.

 

Joanna Murphy said saying that “many people wanted” something, isn’t true. There are over 1,800 people in Sutton. The effect of having more people in the village would only increase dangerous pedestrian situations. She asked the Planning Board to do another survey but do the survey of those who live in the villages. The Board wasn’t thinking about what’s best for the villages. They all want the village to stay rural; they don’t want more houses and they don’t want businesses. It is easier for everyone who lives outside the village to decide what’s best for those who live in the villages.

 

Karin Heffernan said she would love to know how the Board came up with the outline of the villages in the proposed map. Chair Pogust said it is 500’ from any town roads and 500’ from the village side of route 114. They cannot zone in a way that picks properties; they have to have an objective way to measure the parameters. Karin thought it was an arbitrary for an outline. She said all the work they have done is predicated upon the ten different groups and the survey. The 13-question multiple choice survey has just three questions that could be filled in with their own words. She hoped that the scripted questions came from the meetings they had with the citizen groups. Karin added that the survey came out when Covid hit between January and June, 2020. The timing was not good and the scripted questions made it sound like the Town was fishing for certain answers. She said a little notice on the bottom of the tax bill could forward people to the website to sign up for emails. Karin said they have a Rural Residential district and a Rural Agricultural district. She doesn’t understand why this is all being focused on the villages. She doesn’t’ know why the Planning Board would govern the issue of conditional use permits; it seems like that would be purview of the ZBA.

 

Chair Pogust said they could spend years to come up with zoning that was completely comprehensive for the entire town and that makes everyone happy. This is a process and they have to decide and evaluate which steps to take and they can’t do everything all at once. Conditional use permits by statute are the purview of the Planning Board; that’s how it works. The ZBA only deals with people who want to deal things outside of the ordinance due to a hardship. If you read the zoning ordinance, a variance can only be granted if a permitted use is impossible to create within the property (setbacks). A special exception limits what can be done in the ordinance. They are trying to create opportunities to do things within the villages. They did the survey and had multiple meetings discussing them. There were over 50 people at the posted meetings who came to discuss the proposed master plan and the results of the community meetings and surveys. If anyone felt there were things being misrepresented in Sutton, that was the time to bring that to the Board’s attention. Coming now and saying the master plan is flawed is not helpful. His inclination is that the village district ordinance should be put on the ballot and the people will be able to decide; it won’t affect any village yet. Instead of saying “just don’t do it” it would be helpful if people could share if there is something that can be changed to make it more acceptable.

 

Karin said it is too late. She wanted documentation and support. The Board has predetermined that this is going on the docket in March. She understands that. If they want people to understand it, they need to explain why this needs to be focused in the villages. The Town is dividing their community.

 

Chair Pogust said a warrant article asks “should the town do XYZ”? It gives the Town the ability to do something. Based on the comments, they decided to table the designation of the Sutton Mills Village Overlay District. To say they shouldn’t ask the Town to do something because some people don’t want it doesn’t allow the opportunity for others who do want it to vote for it.

 

Judy Parkinson said long ago, they looked at homes in other towns but really loved Sutton. The village life has been great but right now the home across from her is run down and the owner, who is the granddaughter of the original owner, wants to come back and live in the house. She worried that that person would be seen as an outsider. She doesn’t want the Town to have so many restrictions so that no one wants to come live here. They want to be a welcoming community and not say “not in my back yard” all the time because change is OK.

 

Kathleen Stowell said those of whom feel strongly about this should get people in to vote. So few people vote and many adults come in and are not even registered to vote. Remember, they can vote and let their voices be heard.

 

Jane Williamson asked if all the districts will be delineated and maps will be shown to them later on. Chair Pogust said in March, 2024 it will only be the ordinance but no overlay districts will be delineated or created. The changes can’t be implemented until a village is voted in. In preparation for the March 2025 Town Meeting, the Planning Board will propose, listen, and talk to people about where the village overlay districts should be, and have more public information sessions to respond to the ideas and have public hearings to discuss the proposals. These would appear as separate warrant articles in 2025. Jane said it seems vague to her to vote on something that she doesn’t know where it is. Chair Pogust said they will all get to talk about and vote on the outline of the village districts based on the hearings and discussions and what people think makes the most sense.

 

Dane Headley said when the Town writes up warrant ballots, they are all reviewed by town counsel. There is a legal process to make sure they are written correctly, precisely and black and white. A lot of this seems to echo back to the late 90’s when they were talking about cell towers. No one in NH wanted a cell tower. The federal government made the right decision to say everyone had to have one. It came to Sutton and they had one proposed in their neighborhood. It was 180’ tall and the Town argued that it was too tall. Through an appraisal opinion he made which was put before a judge, they were determined to be correct. They decided that the Town needed a zoning ordinance to be able to put parameters on things that had to happen in town anyway. Cell towers are now accepted and are everywhere. Affordable housing is a hot topic and if they keep saying “NIMBY,” the government is going to make the rules. Chair Pogust said there is a statute that requires every Town in New Hampshire to provide options in their zoning ordinance for affordable housing, but Sutton is small and hasn’t been pressured yet to make provisions for affordable housing.

 

Pete Savickas suggested that any adjectives, such as “friendly” should be excluded from the warrant. He is the Sutton representative for the Warner Housing Committee. There was an 18- unit proposal that failed in Warner. People have to be able to make a legitimate profit to build these kinds of things.

 

It was moved by Jason Teaster and seconded by Dane Headley to close the public portion of the meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Chair Pogust asked if anyone on the Board heard anything that would cause them to want to change the substance of the proposed article in question. If they are going to make substantive changes they’ll have to have another public hearing. They could vote that night to move forward putting the article on the ballot.

 

Christine said she worries about a lot of energy for something that probably isn’t going to pass. Chair Pogust said the loudest voices don’t necessarily speak for all. It may not pass and there is that risk. Christine said the basic premise has been totally challenged. Dane said if they set something forward for the Town, it is the townspeople who have the final vote. They are governed by what the town decides is a regulation. They can’t take it off the ballot because that isn’t democracy.

 

David apologized for his applause to the woman who talked about being open to change. He found it difficult to see these interactions from people he knows who don’t want this in their back yards. He felt they should put it to vote and let the town speak. The whole town should be given an opportunity to vote. If it gets voted down, so be it and they won’t waste another year on this if no one wants it. Jason agreed. The vote will let them know the voice of the people and help them move forward. Christine didn’t want to spend more time arguing through this should it pass. Is that the best use of their time? Chair Pogust said this will not be complex; they will draw maps and make adjustments based on what they hear. Maybe Sutton Mills will get voted down. Maybe another village will be in favor of it. Jason said they want to avoid dividing the town and need to get people to understand their intention.

 

Peter Stanley said most of the homes in Sutton Mills are way closer to the road and to each other than they could be by today’s ordinance. By today’s ordinance, you can’t build one or two+ houses that follow that theme. That got lost, unfortunately. No one is suggesting increasing density but wouldn’t it be nice if they could be like the rest of the village and not need 250’ of frontage and set back far away from the road, etc. It is an opportunity for the village to look how it looks now and not something different. So many people don’t want any change ever, and it will change. The Planning Board is trying to create an opportunity to have the area continue to look how it looks now. Kristin said this population is aging and when they go to sell their properties, they will be more valuable. Everyone is losing sight that the ordinance is being put there for the future. Right now there is nothing in place for Sutton people to do anything with their properties. They don’t have to do something but it provides the opportunity to do so if they want, in the future.

 

No one felt that they should refrain from putting the ordinance amendment on the ballot. Dane said on a municipal board, they can’t make everyone happy and enemies will be made. Chair Pogust said all they can do is come up with their best proposal and let the town vote. There are a lot of people who have come into the Town who don’t have the same mindset as those who were at the meeting that night.

 

Peter said they should be talking about village character in the village, not rural. Rural character is the nature of the landscape around the village. In the future, maybe, a Planning Board may think about having lots of 5-10 acres or larger in size because the land can’t be developed due to the topography.

 

Dane said his original hesitation about the overlay district was permitting businesses. He thought this was the biggest stumbling block. He feels the purpose of this was to create more housing and left business back to the zoning board with variances and special exceptions. Dane said no one will open a business that won’t lose money. He has been a real estate appraiser his whole life and doesn’t envision anyone having a business here that will succeed.

 

Dane thought in the future, they shouldn’t emphasize business; it bogs down the process. He didn’t think a business here would succeed. He said that nevertheless, he supports the proposed ordinance as written and is not suggesting any changes.

 

It was moved by Dane Headley and seconded by Jason Teaster to put the draft article 6 Sutton Overlay District Ordinance on the 2024 Town ballot subject to some minor changes that are not substantive and subject to review by Town counsel.

Roll call vote: Dave: Yes, Christine: Yes, Kristin: Yes, Jason: Yes, Dane: Yes, Glenn: Yes

 

The motion was approved unanimously.

 

 

ANY OTHER BUSINESS: There was none.

ADJOURNMENT:

Chair Pogust closed the meeting at 9:31pm.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kristy Heath, Recording Secretary

Town of Sutton