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Keene City Council holds public hearing on zoning 'cleanup' ordinance for retaining walls, ADUs and parking
Summary
At a public hearing, city planners presented ordinance O-2025-40 to exempt retaining walls from setback rules, align accessory dwelling unit rules with updated state law and expand administrative parking-reduction authority from 10% to 25%; the public comment period remains open through March 10.
Planners for the City of Keene outlined proposed edits to the Land Development Code in a public hearing before the Keene City Council, saying the changes aim to reduce variances and make regulations easier to use.
Megan Fortson, a city planner, described the package — ordinance O-2025-40 — as a “zoning cleanup” that would add retaining walls to structures exempt from setback requirements, update accessory dwelling unit (ADU) rules to reflect recent state-law changes and increase the percentage of on-site parking that can be reduced administratively from 10% to 25%. She said the Planning Board found the proposal consistent with the 2025 master plan and recommended a public hearing.
City senior planner Mary Brunner said the intent is to make the code clearer for residents and businesses and to reduce the number of variances sought, particularly for setback issues related to retaining walls and for parking. Brunner said administrative parking reductions would generally accept a memo or brief analysis from a traffic engineer rather than the full, costly parking study required for Zoning Board of Adjustment special exceptions, and that the code includes criteria the zoning administrator must find at least one of to grant a reduction.
Council members questioned several technical points. Councilor Favalese asked whether the administrative review mirrors the zoning-board process; planners said it is similar in substance but will allow a lighter-weight submission in many cases. Councilor Jones pressed on the retaining-wall definition; a planner responded that the shortened definition requires a wall to actually retain something and that purely aesthetic walls would not qualify as retaining walls.
Councilor Haas flagged a cross-reference in the packet that still cited the 10% threshold; planners acknowledged a scrivener error and identified the correct LDC sections where the change appears and where an older reference needs editing.
The public hearing was closed after no one in the audience requested to speak; officials reminded the public that written comments will be accepted through 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, after which the Planning, Licenses & Development Committee will consider the matter.
Why it matters: The ADU changes align Keene’s code with state law and remove a prior requirement for an interior door between primary and accessory units, which planners said will lower conversion costs. The expanded administrative parking-reduction authority is intended to lower barriers where full studies are unnecessary, and clarifying retaining-wall language aims to reduce uncertainty and variance applications.
What’s next: The council closed the hearing and referred the ordinance to the Planning, Licenses & Development Committee for further consideration after the comment period closes; staff said they will correct the packet cross-reference identified by Councilor Haas.
Source: Presentation and Q&A at the Keene City Council meeting; planners Megan Fortson and Mary Brunner led the discussion.
