The Peterborough Select Board again confirmed the validity of a protest petition which raised the bar for a zoning amendment to pass at the polls.
During its meeting Tuesday, the board denied a motion for a rehearing of a previous vote which found the petitions valid, after reviewing a staff report addressing issues raised by those questioning the validity of the petition.
Select Board Chairman Tyler Ward said after staff review, the town “has not found any reason to invalidate the petition.”
Zoning Amendment 15, which was brought by a petition drafted by the same group now protesting the results of the vote, would have repealed the town’s Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone II, and amended Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone I to increase lot sizes and setbacks.
Protest petitions were filed against Zoning Amendment 15, signed by landowners in Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone I and the immediately surrounding area, which by law raised the amount of votes needed for the amendment to pass from a 50 percent majority to a two-thirds majority.
Amendment 15 would have passed under a simple majority, but failed to get the two-thirds vote required, and thus failed.
The group behind Amendment 15 requested the board re-evaluate the protest petition, making several arguments regarding its validity, which Peterborough staff addressed in a memorandum released on Tuesday and reviewed by the board during its meeting.
Select Board members acknowledged the issue is complex, with Selectwoman Karen Hatcher saying she felt “unqualified to make a decision one way or the other” on many of the issues presented.
Selectman Bill Taylor agreed.
“There are points of law that need to be determined,” Taylor said. “We’re not judges. We’re not lawyers.”
The Select Board unanimously agreed to deny the petition for rehearing, upholding its original June decision that the protest petition was valid.
However, the board encouraged people on both sides of the issue to come together for continued conversation about a new housing chapter of the town’s Master Plan.
Hatcher, reading from a prepared statement, said the May vote “polarized” voters, and asked that people on both sides press a “pause button” and agree not to take further drastic action to change the town’s zoning, and dedicate themselves to focusing on a housing plan that both could live with.
Resident Libby Reinhardt, one of the backers of Zoning Amendment 15, asked if Hatcher’s statement is a request for the group not to appeal the Select Board’s decision to the Superior Court.
Hatcher said it is not.
“We understand there’s something in process,” she said.
She said the board was speaking of new amendments. And, she said, the board was making this request of both its residents and town boards. Though the Select Board does not have any control over the Planning Board, which crafts zoning changes, Hatcher said there had been conversations with the Planning Board chairs as well as the office of community development staff, who she said “endorsed” the idea.
“We’re asking everyone to take a breath,” Hatcher said.
Hatcher said she hoped members of both sides would join the conversation about a housing plan in a new committee, which could be as large as 15 to 20 people, and would be led by an outside facilitator.
“We need a process that gets us together at the same table,” Hatcher said.
The board is seeking residents interested in joining the Housing Policy Task Force, particularly those with relevant experience, background or skills, who are willing to commit to what is expected to be an 18-month process.
There is an application form available on the Peterborough town website, which can be filled out and turned in at the Town House or emailed to administration@peterboroughnh.gov.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.