October 18, 2006

Agenda: The Town of Stratham, Planning Board conducted a Public Hearing on Wednesday, October 18, 2006, at 7:00 p.m., at the Stratham Town Hall, 10 Bunker Hill Avenue, Stratham, NH to consider the following:

Approval of Minutes: October 4, 2006

Zoning Workshop:

a. Real-Estate & Contractor Signs

b. Home Occupations

c. Rollins Hill Development Property

d. Re-Zoning Taskforce for Community College

Other:

Members Present: Chair Janet Johnson, Jeffrey Hyland, Gordon Barker, Martin Wool, Mary Jane Werner, Bruno Federico, and Charles (Chuck) Grassie, Town Planner.

Ms. Johnson stated that the October 4, 2006 meeting minutes needed approval. Ms. Werner made a motion to approve the October 4, 2006 minutes as written. Mr. Barker seconded the motion, which passed.

Zoning Workshop:

Real-Estate & Contractor Signs:

Mr. Grassie indicated that the proposed Zoning amendment on Real-Estate and Contractor Signs would be going to public hearing at the next meeting, but the Board wanted to meet with Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer Terry Barnes to get his input on the proposed amendment. Mr. Grassie noted that this amendment would be posted Saturday, so they could still make some minor changes to it before then. He stated that the changes the Board had requested had been incorporated into the document. Mr. Barnes was comfortable with the proposed amendment, but wanted to make sure it was clear what type of vehicle sign would be prohibited. There was a great deal of discussion on: what would constitute a prohibited vehicle sign; and how to enforce the ordinance. The Board felt that this amendment should address banners or signs mounted on vehicles, not the ones painted on the vehicles. Mr. Grassie will make the suggested changes. There were additional discussions on snipe signs; real estate signs; directional signs; contractor signs; and removal of prohibited signs. Mr. Grassie went over the changes he will make to this proposed amendment.

Home Occupations:

Mr. Grassie noted that this proposed amendment deals with day-care facilities. He stated that Stratham’s Zoning Ordinance does not deal with day-care facilities, at this time. He obtained definitions on day-care facilities from the State site, and created the proposed Day-Care Facilities amendment. He read the proposed amendment aloud. There were discussions on: the lot size; the composition of the lots; various day care facilities in Town; policing the day-care facilities; and driveway access. The Board asked to have the requirement for a two-way driveway access removed from the proposed amendment, because they felt it was not necessary.

Rollins Hill Development Property:

Mark Stevens was present representing Rollins Hill Development. He stated that he would like to talk about extending the existing Retirement Planned Community (RPC) Zone to land his company owns in back of the retirement community and the Industrial Park. Mr. Stevens said the property is approximately 138 acres. Mr. Wool asked how they would gain access to the property. Mr. Stevens said there would be two access points. One would be from Rollins Farm Road and the other through the Industrial Park. Ms. Johnson asked if the traffic study done for the Lindt & Sprungli project included any proposed development on this property. She was told no. Mr. Stevens mentioned some of the types of development they could have on the property, with the zoning change (retirement, workforce, etc.). There were additional discussions on: traffic; whether or not proposing this zoning change at the same time as the proposed zoning change for the Community College was a good idea; whether or not some workforce housing would be allowed in the RPC Zone; whether or not any development would be tied into public sewer from Exeter; the possibility of including other landlocked wood lots in that area; and the area that would be rezoned. There was a discussion regarding rezoning the Community College from RA to RPC. The Board said they would like Mr. Stevens to come back before the Board with a more formal zoning change proposal for his land. Mr. Barker would like to see the wetlands on any plan.

Re-Zoning Taskforce for Community College:

Ms. Johnson noted that after several unproductive meetings, the Subcommittee had asked Mr. Grassie to write something up on re-zoning the land for the Community College. Mr. Grassie handed out drafts for a Flexible/Mixed Use Development Zone for the Subcommittee to review. Ms. Johnson stated that the Subcommittee would be meeting next week to discuss the proposed amendment. The proposed amendment will then be scheduled for discussion at the November 1, 2006 Planning Board meeting.

Ms. Werner made a motion to adjourn at 8:28 p.m. Mr. Federico seconded the motion, which carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda A. Beaudoin

Secretary Stratham Planning Board