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Hooksett Zoning Board elects officers, renames subcommittee and debates rule changes
Summary
The board elected officers, voted to rename its zoning-ordinance subcommittee ‘Land Use Subcommittee,’ continued a separate application to Sept. 9 and held an extended discussion about continuance rules, application materials and meeting procedures.
At its meeting the Hooksett Zoning Board elected officers, agreed to rename its zoning subcommittee and debated changes to rules governing continuances, late-night hearings and application materials.
Tim Stewart nominated Ann Stelmack for chair; Matt St. Pierre seconded the nomination and the board approved Stelmack for chair. Richard Barham was selected as vice chair and Matt St. Pierre was nominated and approved as clerk. The board also voted to change the name of its existing zoning-ordinance subcommittee to the “Land Use Subcommittee.”
The board approved minutes from the July 8, 2025 meeting. Members discussed a pending vacancy for a full board seat and an alternate vacancy and encouraged interested alternates to submit applications to the town clerk.
On procedural matters the board spent substantial time discussing how to handle continuance requests after several recent cases were postponed at the applicant’s request. The board did not adopt a final rule at this meeting but discussed options including: requiring continuance requests a set number of days before a hearing; posting a “pending continuance” notice when an earlier request has been filed; limiting the number of continuances (a second continuance could be treated as a withdrawal); adopting a 9:00 p.m. cutoff for new applications unless the board votes to extend; and asking applicants to file photographs or an up-to-date plot plan with their application package.
Members flagged concerns about late-night hearings and the town’s recording system, and discussed outreach and education for voters about complicated warrant-article zoning changes. Board members also noted state law changes on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that will require revisions to local ordinance language; meeting discussion referenced state minimum and maximum ADU size limits that the board said will constrain local drafting.
The board took a formal continuance vote earlier in the meeting to move application E25-11 to the Sept. 9 agenda at the applicant’s request.
Board members directed staff to draft proposed rule language incorporating a continuance notice requirement and the 9 p.m. cutoff for new agenda items, and to circulate a redlined draft of rules to members ahead of the next meeting.
The board set its next meeting for Sept. 9, 2025.
