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Board considers required conceptual discussion, optional design review to reduce last‑minute continuances
Summary
Members debated formalizing a staged review—required preliminary conceptual consultation and a recommended design‑review phase—to give abutters notice and reduce continuances at final hearings.
The planning board considered adopting a clearer multi-step review process that would encourage applicants to present preliminary concepts before formal hearings and to opt into a more detailed design-review phase.
Members noted that an early conceptual discussion helps identify potential abutter concerns and that a separate design-review phase—if strongly recommended or required for larger projects—could surface landscape, parking and architectural issues earlier in the process. One member described the benefit: "If we'd gone through design review and done that advance, we probably could have approved it on the first night of the full acceptance plan," meaning fewer continuances and less rework for applicants and staff.
The board debated notification standards (when abutters must be mailed notice vs. general agenda posting), the administrative cost bearing (applicant-paid mailings for abutters), and whether design review could be mandatory for specific project scales. The planning board agreed to draft guidance that would require a preliminary conceptual discussion while strongly recommending design review, and to align the notice procedures with state RSA guidance and the town’s communications channels.
