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Resident urges growth-management study and school-impact fees for proposed 125-acre subdivision
Summary
A resident urged the Select Board to study growth-management tools and school impact fees to limit the fiscal and educational impacts of a proposed 125‑acre housing development at 373 Kith Highway, and asked the town to pursue conservation purchase options.
Colin Blake Butler, a local resident, told the Lee Select Board that a proposed 125-acre residential development at 373 Kith Highway could worsen the town’s fiscal strain and push elementary schools past capacity. "Lee taxpayers are already feeling the financial strain," Butler said, citing the town’s failed operating budget and an upcoming special election.
Butler urged the board to "initiate a growth management study under RSA 67422" and to "reconsider school impact fees under RSA 67421," saying phased development could avoid a sudden student influx that would force school expansions onto taxpayers. He also asked the town to enforce environmental overlay zones on the parcel along Little River and to deduct wet soils and conservation buffers from housing-density calculations.
"We should be using those dedicated funds alongside grants and land trust to explore a conservation purchase before this land is permanently lost to development," Butler said, urging the trustees of the trust funds and the conservation commission be consulted on the conservation fund balance. He warned that if the town does not act, residents were prepared to gather the 50 signatures required to trigger a special town meeting and pursue citizen-petition warrant articles.
Board members thanked Butler for his comments and did not take immediate action on the requests during the meeting. The record contains statutory citations as spoken by the commenter (RSA 67422 and RSA 67421). The board moved on to other agenda items after public comment.
