Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Master Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Salisbury planning board reviews master-plan survey, flags ADUs and Class 6 road concerns
Summary
At its April 20 meeting, the Salisbury Planning Board reviewed a draft master-plan survey presented by the Central NH Regional Planning Commission and discussed accessory dwelling units, development on Class 6 roads, recent conservation land donations and whether school questions belong on the survey. Staff will collect building-permit data for Class 6 roads.
The Salisbury Planning Board on April 20 reviewed a draft of the town’s master-plan survey and identified several local issues to include or refine before wider distribution.
Mike Tardiff of the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission presented the prior survey and asked board members to decide which questions to retain. Tardiff noted the town’s last master plan addressed walkability, hazardous-waste handling and traffic speeds, and he urged the board to focus on issues the town has experienced in the past year.
Board members flagged accessory dwelling units (ADUs), road frontage and development on Class 6 roads as points of interest. Vice Chair Dobroslav Slavenskoj and member Joe Schmidl said the board has seen variances tied to ADUs and that some new residents seek a rural lifestyle by building on Class 6 roads, which can lead to liability waivers. Town Administrator April Rollins told the board the town has seen only three or four ADUs recently and that those units are occupied by homeowner families.
Schmidl and others discussed whether increases in allowable ADU size could reduce variance requests and whether recent purchases of large lots on Class 6 roads have created pressure points for emergency access and liability. Rollins agreed to collect building-permit data for properties on Class 6 roads to determine whether a trend exists.
The board also discussed conservation and school questions. Rollins reported the town recently received a significant conservation land donation intended to preserve osprey habitat and carrying motor-vehicle and use restrictions. On schools, Tardiff asked whether enrollment and school-district issues should appear on the survey; Rollins said a merger of Salisbury and Webster elementary schools had been on the district warrant as advisory and did not pass. Some board members said school questions could help the town make its case to the cooperative school district, while others questioned the necessity because the town is part of a larger cooperative district.
Chair Loretta Razin said roughly 25% of residents responded to the last survey and recommended keeping several specific questions and transportation and land-use topics. The board agreed to forward the draft survey questions to the Conservation Commission and the Selectboard for review.
The board listed the draft survey for further review and set the next meeting for May 4, 2026. Town Administrator Rollins will provide building-permit data on Class 6 roads ahead of that meeting.
