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Warner Planning Board sends amended Class VI road letter to Select Board, debates limits on shared driveways
Summary
The Warner Planning Board voted to send an amended letter to the Select Board on Class VI roads and spent the meeting debating whether subdivision rules should cap the number of units sharing a driveway or define when a driveway becomes a private road.
The Warner Planning Board voted unanimously to send an amended draft letter to the Select Board concerning Class VI roads, and its members spent much of the meeting debating whether town regulations should limit how many dwelling units may share a driveway or when a shared driveway must be treated as a private road.
Chair Karen Coyne opened the meeting and the Board discussed technical and legal constraints in preparing the letter. Planning Board member Barak Greene said a suggestion from James Gaffney about changing taxation could not be adopted in the letter because "the State of NH does taxation based on the value of the property not services available" and any change would require a constitutional-level fix. Greene also cited safety and service concerns that motivated the review of driveway and private-road language and urged the Board to put guardrails in place before problems arise.
Greene proposed a specific limit for shared driveways, saying the Board should allow "no more than four units over two lots and approval by the fire department." Members debated that threshold: James Gaffney said the appropriate limit depends on zoning and driveway width and cautioned against regulating private property unnecessarily, while Bob Holmes referenced RSA 672:13 in noting that state law defines "street" and suggested that some private-road disputes may ultimately be resolved in court.
The draft letter was revised to reference RSA 674:41 as requested, and Ian Rogers moved, seconded by John Leavitt, to send the letter as amended to the Select Board. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board agreed the driveway discussion warrants further work: Chair Coyne said she was uncertain and favored revisiting the topic at the next workshop; Micah Thompson said the Planning Board can provide clarity to the Select Board, while Gaffney expressed skepticism that the Select Board would act on changes. The Board did not adopt any regulatory text at the meeting.
The minutes of the Feb. 16, 2026 meeting were approved separately after a motion by Ian Rogers, seconded by Pier D'Aprile.
What happens next: The Planning Board will bring the amended letter to the Select Board, and members indicated they will discuss driveway/private-road language further at a future workshop. No ordinance or regulation was adopted at this meeting.
