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Farmington board backs application to review wetlands and shoreline zoning
Summary
The planning board authorized a letter of support to seek Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership grant funding to review the town’s wetlands overlay and shoreline zoning and to produce draft proposed amendments for the board’s consideration (6-0).
Planning Director Kyle Pimental presented a grant opportunity from the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership to update Farmington’s wetlands overlay and shoreline zoning, noting the town’s current wetlands methodology dates to 1991 and is out of step with prevailing practice among wetland scientists. The grant would fund a review and produce draft proposed amendments for the Planning Board’s review; any final changes would remain the board’s decision and, if adopted, would go to voters.
Board members raised concerns about accepting funding that could imply prescriptive outcomes from a consultant. Planning Director Pimental committed to writing the application so the deliverable is explicitly draft amendments under the board’s discretion rather than adopted regulations imposed by the funder. The board voted 6-0 to authorize Chairman Pelkey to sign a letter of support for the grant application.
