I would like to make a few clarifications in response to the article “Working to fill the ‘missing middle’” by Scott Merrill published on Thursday, Dec. 1.

In that article Ivy Vann states: “Suppose I bought a house in a subdivision and my kids are gone and my husband left me for his secretary. Now I’m living in a five-bedroom, four-bath house. I can’t do anything with it but sell it as a single-family house. I can’t divide.”

Under our current zoning ordinances, that statement is incorrect. You can divide a large house into your living space and one accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which you can rent out, allow a family member to live in or provide to a caregiver, allowing you to stay in your home in your elder years. Even in the Family District, you can convert your home into a duplex or condos. Under 245-6.B.1., the minimum lot size “…for construction of a two family dwelling or conversion of a single family dwelling to a two family dwelling: fifty thousand (50,000) square feet” (1.15 acres).

Also, Vann uses Walden Eco Village as an example of how the Planning Board approval took three years to demonstrate “a tactic (that) opponents of housing use.” This is an unfair assessment of the process. The Peterborough Planning Board was not against the development, nor did they capriciously drag their feet. They and the town planner gave the developer substantial feedback about what to include in the final plans and pointed out specific elements that couldn’t remain as they were.

This development was unusual since the buildings had been created as accessory structures to the Well School and were never approved as permanent residences separate from the school. Further, additional structures had been created without necessary permitting, which needed to be brought up to code in order to be approved. The town planner listed the needed corrections early in the three-year process. However, the Walden Eco Village developer did not submit plans correcting the violations for most of the three years, instead asking for numerous continuances.

At the first meeting, where all problems were corrected in a new plan, the Planning Board approved the project. Therefore, it was the developer who delayed the process, not the Planning Board.

I would like to point out that the Planning Board’s role is to ensure that proposed developments follow zoning rules. If the Planning Board feels that those rules need to be changed, they are responsible for placing recommended changes on the annual ballot. Voters can then approve or reject the changes. So, the Planning Board is responsible for upholding the law as set by the townspeople.

The Planning Board is holding workshops where we discuss and explain changes to zoning rules. We welcome public input at the workshops, which usually on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Check the town website, peterboroughnh.gov, for confirmation of those meeting dates.

Stephanie Hurley is the chair of the Peterborough Planning Board.