Greenville residents get their first look at proposed zoning changes expected to be on the ballot in March during a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
The proposed changes include the addition of four definitions, deleting a paragraph outlining lot requirements in the downtown district and a one-word change to a paragraph relating to parking and driveways in the downtown district.
Planning Board Vice Chair Scott Tenney said the changes are all “essentially housekeeping items.”
“We’re not adding anything new,” Tenney said.
The amendments propose to add definitions for “conversion,” “driveway,” “frontage” and “open space.” Tenney said over the course of the year, there had been questions about the exact definition of these concepts as they related to applications, and the town’s zoning ordinance does not provide definitions. The board has relied on what is considered the common understanding of these terms, but wishes to codify their use of the terms in the ordinance.
The amendment also proposes deleting a sentence in Zoning Ordinance Section 2.7.4, which outlines the minimum lot requirements for the downtown district. The board proposes deleting the sentence, “Residential uses in the Downtown District are exempt from the minimum area provisions of Appendix A, Minimum Lot Size Ordinance, and Appendix B, Open Space Residential Development Ordinance.”
Tenney said minimum lot requirements are addressed in another section of the ordinance, and addressing it in two areas has caused confusion in the past.
The board has also proposed a change to the “parking and driveways” section of the ordinance. The current wording states that all residential and nonresidential uses are exempt from the off-street parking ordinance, and the proposed change would make it so only “existing” residential and nonresidential uses are exempt.
Residents have the opportunity to hear more about the proposed ordinance amendments during a public hearing Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Greenville Town Hall meeting room. Copies of the full text of changes are available for the public at the Town Hall during regular business hours, or on greenvillenh.org, under the “Zoning Amendment Public Hearing” link.
If there are significant changes to the proposed amendments following Wednesday’s hearing, the Planning Board is required to schedule a second hearing, which will be scheduled following Wednesday’s hearing, if needed.
The proposed zoning amendments will be forwarded to the ballot for voting by the public in March. All zoning amendments require a majority vote to pass.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.