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Keene staff propose raising site-plan thresholds to steer more projects to minor-review committee
Summary
City planners proposed changing site-plan review thresholds — raising the major review trigger to 5,000 sq ft and increasing addition threshold from 15% to 25% (except downtown) — to populate the minor project review committee and streamline review while retaining public notice for significant impacts.
City planning staff presented a package of proposed changes to site-plan review thresholds intended to send more projects to the "minor project review committee" and reduce routine trips to the full planning board.
Staff said the major-site-plan threshold (the trigger for planning board review) had been raised historically from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet; they proposed keeping the minimum threshold but increasing the range of projects eligible for the minor project review committee. Staff also proposed changing the addition threshold that triggers planning-board review from 15% of gross floor area to 25% (with an exception for downtown), in order to avoid routing modest additions on very large buildings to the planning board. Other thresholds discussed include traffic triggers (an increase of 100 vehicle trips per day or 50 in a peak hour), impervious-surface triggers (10,000 contiguous square feet) and land-disturbance thresholds (one acre or greater).
Planner Megan Fortson described the minor project review committee as an intermediate, noticed public forum that remains accessible to the public while being a more iterative, staff-driven process that developers find more customer-friendly. Several councilors and the chair cautioned against creating procedural steps that invite public comment on projects for which the board lacks authority to change substantive code allowances, but most expressed support for expanding use of the minor review tier if it genuinely streamlines review and preserves meaningful notice.
Staff said the planning board would hold a public hearing on the proposed thresholds at its next meeting and that councilors may provide comment at that planning-board hearing if they wish. The staff noted that changes of use and certain large conversions (for example, the Colony Mill conversion) may still require variance or higher-level review depending on impacts.
Next steps: staff will bring the draft threshold amendments to the planning board public hearing; if approved, updates will proceed into code adoption steps required by state law.
