Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Plaistow Planning Board reorganizes leadership, approves minutes and names CIP, master‑plan participants
Summary
At its March 19 meeting the Plaistow Planning Board swore in newly elected members, elected officers, approved minutes with corrections and assigned members to the capital improvement and master plan efforts; board also discussed zoning subcommittees, RPC updates and administrative items such as town email addresses for board members.
The Plaistow Planning Board completed its reorganization and routine business at the March 19 meeting, swearing in newly elected members, electing officers and assigning members to committees.
Richard Anthony was nominated and elected chair; Karen Robinson was nominated and elected vice chair. The board voted in favor of both officers during the reorganization portion of the meeting; the chair vote included a member abstention as recorded during the roll call. The board also moved to accept the March 5 minutes with noted corrections (including vote attributions and name spellings); that motion passed with one abstention.
Members named representatives for standing and ad hoc committees. The board provisionally appointed Rich LeClaire and Nolan Pelletier to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) committee, with Damon J. Kane serving as an alternate; members also agreed to continue work on the master plan and to treat the master plan as a standing agenda item with the intent to "chunk" the update over multiple meetings. The board discussed creating ad hoc zoning and master plan subcommittees for focused drafting work, and emphasized the need to monitor pending state legislation affecting housing and land use through the regional planning commission (RPC) updates.
Administrative items discussed included consolidation and simplification of site plan and subdivision checklists and regulations, streamlining applications, clarifying what makes an application complete, and a recurring request that planning board members have dedicated town email addresses to avoid commingling personal messages and to assist with Right‑to‑Know compliance. Members also discussed succession planning for planning department staffing and coordination with the town manager on any hiring processes.
No new land‑use votes were taken beyond approval of minutes and officer nominations. Several board members urged a practical approach to upcoming regulatory work, recommending smaller, staged updates to the zoning ordinance and a prioritized five‑year schedule for master plan sections.
