Planning Board Meeting

*This meeting will be conducted in Council Chambers.
The public is welcome to attend in Council Chambers
or via Zoom remotely.
Please see sections on Public Input, Zoom Instructions,
and Other Information at the end of this agenda.

DURHAM PLANNING BOARD
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Town Council Chambers, Durham Town Hall
7:00 p.m.
AGENDA
*Please see the notes at the end*

I.          Call to Order

II.        Roll Call and Seating of Alternates

III.       Approval of Agenda

IV.       Town Planner’s Report

V.        Reports from Board Members who serve on Other Committees

VI.       Public Comments

VII.     Review of Minutes (old):  January 12, 2022 Site Walk Minutes

VIII.    Public Hearing -  4 Old Landing Road – Expansion of Multi-Unit Residence.  4 Old Landing Road.  Site plan and conditional use to add two 4-bedroom apartments in the attic to existing house with eight 2-bedroom units.  Mark Henderson, property owner.  Nick Isaak, architect.  Map 5, Lot 6-1. Courthouse District.  Recommended action:  Final action.

IX.       Public Hearing - Pike Property – 2-Lot Subdivision.  275 and 279 Packers Falls Road.  Lot line adjustment between two existing lots and 2-lot subdivision of larger existing lot.  It is proposed that the resultant 36-acre lot would be conveyed to the Town of Durham and a conservation easement would be held by the Southeast Land Trust (SELT).  The site is located just east of Thompson Forest.  Duane Hyde c/o SELT, applicant.  Pike Family Trust, property owner. Map 14, Lots 10-2 and 10-3. Rural District. Recommended action: Final action.

X.        Public Hearing – Eversource Tree Cutting.  Application from Eversource to remove 150+/- dead, decaying, and hazardous trees and trim others on the four scenic roads – Bay Road, Bennett Road, Durham Point Road, and Packers Falls Road.  Bob Berner, arborist with Eversource, applicant.  Terry Cooper, Asplundh Tree Expert, contractor. Recommended action:  Take final action or continue the review to another meeting.

XI.       Public Hearing - 74 Main Street – Mixed-Use Building.  Formal site plan and conditional use application for demolition of current wood frame building and construction of a 4-story mixed-use building with nonresidential uses, 12 residential units, and 13 parking spaces.  Doug Clark, applicant. Jerry Pucillo, consultant with Centergreen, representing Foundation for Civic Leadership/Democracy House, a potential partner in project. Mike Sievert, Horizons Engineering.  Zach Smith, Bergmeyer Architects.  Map 2, Lot 14-1-1.  Central Business Zone. Recommended action:  Hold public hearing and continue review to another meeting.

XII.     Public Hearing - 19-21 Main Street – Parking Lot.  Formal site plan and conditional use application for parking lot as principal use on four lots and reconfiguration of the entrance.  Toomerfs, LLC c/o Pete Murphy and Tim Murphy, owners.  Mike Sievert, engineer.  Robbi Woodburn, Landscape Architect.  Map 5, Lots 1-9, 1-10, 1-15, and 1-16.  Church Hill District.  Recommended action:  Hold public hearing and continue review to another meeting.

XIII.    Other Business

XIV.    Review of Minutes (new):  January 26, 2022

XV.     Adjournment          

*PUBLIC INPUT

Members of the public may provide input to the Planning Board in one of three ways:

1)   Email.  Send an email or letter to Michael Behrendt, Town Planner, at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us.  See 2) Submission of Information under OTHER INFORMATION, below.

2)   Zoom.  Participate in the meeting via Zoom.  See the instructions below.

3)   Speaking at the meeting itself.  

 *ZOOM – INSTRUCTIONS FOR ZOOM CALL-IN AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The public is welcome to participate in the meeting via Zoom.   Project applicants met participate via Zoom but are encouraged to present in person.

To Participate by Video

VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS:  In order to access any LIVE Zoom Public Meeting, you must be Preregistered. Preregistering for any Zoom Public Meetings can be done by clicking: https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_dcatgovernance/zoom-video-conference-mee....

To Participate by Audio

AUDIO ONLY CALL-IN INSTRUCTIONS: In order to access any live Zoom Public Meeting by telephone, you MUST be preregistered.  Then call: 1-929-436-2866, enter the Meeting ID and Password.  Zoom Meeting ID's and Passwords are only available to preregistered participants.  You can preregister at:  https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_dcatgovernance/zoom-video-conference-mee....

IMPORTANT!

Please be sure your full name is viewable, and you are identifiable when using Zoom.
Your video will be turned off and audio muted until the Public portion of the meeting opens.
If watching on Channel 22 or DCAT LiveStream be sure your computer/TV audio is muted when using Zoom.​

These are LIVE Public meetings and we ask that your audio and video be muted.  If not, the host will mute them for you.  You will not be able to communicate directly with anyone in the Zoom meeting at this time.  Participants will have the opportunity to comment during Public Comments, or when a Public Hearing is opened.  We ask that you mute your audio and video after you've commented; if not, the host will mute them for you.  If you wish to submit comments for public input, please submit them via email by 5:00 PM on the day of the meeting, but preferably earlier.

If you should have difficulty, please send DCAT an email: dcat@ci.durham.nh.us  or by calling 603-590-1383.       

*OTHER INFORMATION

1)      Public hearings and public comments.  The public is welcome to speak at all public hearings and during the Public Comments time.  Comments on all matters, except those for which a public hearing is on the agenda, should be made during the Public Comments time (including comments on agenda items this evening).  The public may speak and submit written or emailed comments on any subject except for active matters where the public hearing has been closed.    

2)      Submission of information.  Emails and letters should be sent to Michael Behrendt, Town Planner, at mbehrendt@ci.durham.nh.us or at the address above. Correspondence that pertains to current Planning Board matters, except where the public hearing has been closed, will be: a) emailed to the Planning Board; b) mailed to the board members if received by the Thursday prior to the meeting or distributed to members at the meeting if received later; and c) posted on the Town’s website.        

Any email, letter, document, or other information that is pertinent to a decision which the Planning Board is expected to make at the upcoming Wednesday meeting, must be received in the Planning Office by the prior Monday at 5:00 p.m. or the board will consider the submitted material only at its discretion (This limitation does not apply to comments made at the actual public hearing).

3)      Other information.  Files on the agenda items above are available for review on the Town website http://www.ci.durham.nh.us/.  Agendas marked as “Preliminary Agenda,” are subject to change.  The final agenda will be posted on the Town’s website on the Friday prior to the meeting at. To see background documents related to specific agenda items, see the agenda on the website and click on any green highlighted items.

4)      Contacting us.  Contact the Planning Department with questions or comments about any planning-related matters.  Call (603) 868-8064 or email Michael Behrendt, above, or Karen Edwards, Administrative Assistant, at kedwards@ci.durham.nh.us

5)      Recommended actions.   Actions recommended by the staff are shown at the end of most items.  The Planning Board may or may not take these actions and may take other actions not stated.

6)      New items of business.  Unless approved by a 2/3 vote of the members present, no new item of business shown on the agenda will be taken up after 10:00 p.m.

7)      Communication aids.  Please provide the Town 48-hours notice if communication aids are needed.

8)      Next meeting.  The next regular Planning Board meeting will be on March 9, 2022.