To the editor:
Peterborough is not a city, but a town with a village center. It has several established neighborhoods. It is in these that zoning sections 245-15.4 and 245-15.3 are especially applicable. Some of these areas have town water and sewer, some water only, some neither. All are impacted by this existing zoning.
I wonder how many people who voted for this policy recently understood what they were voting for. As it stands now, if you are on town water and sewer, or if they come, there can be infill buildings with small lots, 50 feet of road frontage, 5 foot setbacks side and rear, multiple unit housing, shops and other commercial establishments. In other words, if your neighbor has 100 feet of frontage, he can divide it into two lots with small setbacks, build a house and next to it a store. These changes need not come before town boards, and they could extend to any district if the town, or a developer, puts in water and sewer.
Zoning district TNOZI is comprised of the town center and already has these uses. What is now in zoning district TNOZII simply expands this to anywhere with water and sewer.
It does not seem reasonable to keep this ordinance as it is, but to adopt Zoning Amendment 15 as proposed in the petition. Current zoning does nothing to further the building of lower cost housing. New construction is expensive. Are there existing properties that could be made into workforce housing? Strip malls are becoming obsolete. What about them? Or the long empty building on the corner of Elm Street and Route 101? Or second floors of downtown buildings. Or adding an additional story to some downtown buildings? Is there available land on Summer Street?
Please think about this and vote Yes on the proposed Zoning Amendment 15. A lot of thought and research has gone into this proposal.
Janet Shea
Peterborough