Town of Sutton Selectmen Meeting Minutes

 

TOWN OF SUTTON

Pillsbury Memorial Hall

93 Main Street

Sutton Mills, NH 03221

Approved Minutes of the Regular Meeting

Wednesday September 26, 2018

 

Board Members Present: Derek Lick, Chair; Ed Canane; Betsy Forsham; Samantha Gordon; and Doug Sweet

Board Members Absent: Joe Eisenberg, Alternate

Staff Present: Diane Lander, Land Use Coordinator

Others Present: Tom Schamberg, Wilmot Resident and NH State Representative

Public Hearings: No public hearings came before the Board

 

Regular Meeting Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Lick called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  Attendance was taken.

New Business:  No New Business came before the Board.

Old Business:  No Old Business came before the Board.

Administrative

Minutes of the August 1, 2018 meeting.

No corrections were submitted.

Motion: Board Member Forsham moved to approve the minutes of the August 1, 2018 regular meeting as written.  Chairman Lick seconded the motion.  The motion carried by a vote of four (4) in favor with one (1) abstention.  Board Member Sweet did not attend the August 1, 2018 regular meeting.

Rules of Procedure: recent legislative updates.

The Land Use Coordinator provided copies of a summary of recent legislative changes and an email from OSI further explaining the legislative changes.

The Board Members discussed the two (2) methods for voting on an appeal (vote on each appeal criterion separately or vote on the application as a whole) and decided to continue voting on each appeal criterion separately.  A benefit of this method is that, when an application does not pass, the applicant will have full information about what would need to be resolved if the appeal was to be resubmitted.

The Board Members decided a vote to deny an application will not be required, meaning that, if any appeal criterion does not receive at least 3 votes in the affirmative, the application does not pass.

The sense of the Board Members is that termination of unexercised variances and special exceptions is not of concern for Sutton.  If someone does come forward, the Board will address it at that time.

ZBA application form.

The Board Members discussed the proposed revised ZBA application and made further corrections/edits.  The Board Members also decided (a) to require the applicant, abutters, professionals, etc. receive notice at least ten (10) days in advance of the scheduled public hearing, (b) the InterTown Record notice only need be published five (5) days in advance, and (c) they continue to want all items listed in the Checklist as well as all mapping specifications listed in Checklist Item #6 (Map/Sketch) to be provided as part of the application.

Motion: Board Member Gordon moved to approve the proposed revised ZBA application as now further amended.  Chairman Lick seconded the motion.  The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.

The Land Use Coordinator will make the additional corrections/edits to the proposed revised ZBA application and update the file on the Town’s web site.

ZBA Vice-Chair.

Discussion of having a Vice-Chair for when the Chairperson cannot attend a meeting was deferred to the next regular meeting.

Rules and Procedures: review.

The Land Use Coordinator briefly discussed the importance, purposes, and structure of the Rules of Procedure.  She mentioned that the Town is interested in having, where possible, a common noticing policy for Town Boards and developing a Town web site content and update policy.  She then gave each Board Member a packet containing information about Rules of Procedure, a copy of the current Sutton ZBA Rules of Procedure, and a copy of Town Counsel’s review of the current Sutton ZBA Rules of Procedure.

Board Member Forsham has started reviewing the Sutton ZBA Rules of Procedure and the Rules of Procedures of other neighboring Towns.  She will send the Board Members a revised Rules of Procedure to consider at the October regular meeting.  A revised Rules of Procedure could then be finalized at the November regular meeting, which is scheduled for November 28th due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  A Public Hearing and vote on a revised Rules of Procedure should be able to be scheduled for the December regular meeting.

Correspondence/Final Comments

Planning Board request to add reference to Zoning Ordinance re: Steep Slopes.

The Planning Board thanks the ZBA and accepts the ZBA’s suggestion to add a reference to Article XI at the end of Article II.L.1 but not to add a back reference to Article III.L as the reference is already in Article XI.

The Board Members approved the Land Use Coordinator making this change to the Zoning Ordinance and then updating the file on the Town’s web site.

The Land Use Coordinator informed the Board Members that all ZBA documents and forms have been moved off the ZBA web page and moved to the new “Regulations & Ordinances, Permits, Forms” web page.  (Note: The “Regulations & Ordinances, Permits, Forms” web page was later renamed to “Regulations and Permits.”)

 

Next Meeting: October 17, 2018

Public Hearing: Case # Z-18-03.  Applicants/owners Lee and Karen Booker request a variance under Article X, Section D.1 of the Sutton Zoning Ordinance to allow installation of a solar array.  The property is located at 32 Main St., Sutton Mills, NH 03221 (Tax Map 06-380-154) in the Residential Zoning District.

Chairman Lick would like to see a full Board at the October regular meeting.  As Board Member Forsham will not be attending the meeting, he asked the Land Use Coordinator to verify with both the regular and alternate Board Members who plans on attending.  Chairman Lick also asked the Land Use Coordinator to verify Board Members’ terms.

The Land Use Coordinator pointed out that paper copies of the application are available on the stage and that she will email an electronic copy to each Board Member next week.

Adjournment

Motion: There being no further business, Board Member Forsham moved to adjourn the meeting.  Board Member Canane seconded the motion.  The motion carried unanimously in the affirmative.  The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Diane M. Lander

Town of Sutton Land Use Coordinator