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Hooksett planning board reviews March warrant results, notes compliance gaps and next steps
Summary
Board members reviewed March ballot results, discussed several zoning amendments that passed and failed, and directed staff to research statutory compliance and pursue targeted regulatory fixes, including wetlands language and manufactured-housing provisions.
Hooksett Planning Board members spent substantial time on March 17 reviewing the results of recent warrant articles and discussing follow-up work to ensure local regulations align with state law and community objectives.
Planner Grant summarized November/ March warrant outcomes and said some state statutory changes require local updates. He noted that an amendment tied to manufactured housing (RSA 674:32) had aspects that were voted down and that other related amendments passed — creating partial alignment that the board said should be revisited to ensure compliance.
Grant said, “the statutory subsection says towns need to provide for realistic and reasonable opportunities for expansion for any manufactured housing park that existed as of July first of last year,” and the board discussed next steps for reconciling state statute language with the town’s zoning map and nonconforming-use rules.
Members also reviewed other failed and passed articles. A proposed change to make site visits optional for the Zoning Board of Adjustment lost at the ballot (voters retained a “shall” requirement), and two zoning map amendments were rejected by voters. The board discussed the legal and practical implications of voter decisions and whether the town must nevertheless comply with state statutory requirements.
The planning board directed staff to research comparable towns’ approaches to wetlands and buffering and to return to the planning/regulations subcommittee to draft changes. The board agreed to reconvene the subcommittee in May to begin addressing development-regulation items prioritized by staff and the subcommittee.
The board also discussed capital-improvement program (CIP) representation; member Jared Williams volunteered to serve on the CIP committee. Members noted continuing work on the master plan and encouraged targeted outreach to advisory boards (conservation, heritage, EDAC) to support short-term action items.
No formal board votes were taken on policy changes at the meeting; the session concluded with instructions for staff research and scheduling follow-up subcommittee meetings.
