MONT VERNON PLANNING BOARD

Mont Vernon, NH 03057

MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2007

AGENDA

Seated: Vicky Arico, Jim Bird, Dave Hall Jr., Annette Immorlica, chairperson and Tom McKinney

Selectmen’s Representative: Gerry Griffin

7:05 PM Discussion with Nashua Regional Planning Commission Regarding Impact Fee Ordinance Steve Williams and Kerrie Diers from the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC) were present. Williams handed out a response to the board’s questions regarding the impact fee ordinance. Williams stated that he is most directly responsible for developing the impact fee schedules for Mont Vernon while Kerrie Diers is responsible for land use regulations. The board decided to go through the Library Impact Fee schedule line by line as an example of how the schedules were developed. 7:10 PM Tom McKinney was seated. Williams stated that the schedule is broken down into 6 segments and it is driven by the town’s ordinance. Williams stated that NRPC has written impact fee ordinances and schedules for towns such as Hudson, Litchfield and Milford with minor differences from Mont Vernon’s ordinance. Williams began reviewing the impact fee schedule line by line with the board. McKinney pointed out to NRPC that the Mont Vernon Library Impact Fee of December, 9, 2005, Line 10 Total principle and interest, was incorrect.  Therefore, we need to use the numbers from our May 26, 2004 calculation.

Williams pointed out that the town can only use the impact fees to pay for new structures brought upon by new development and the town can not use the impact fees to pay for deficits in existing structures. 7:20 PM Jim Bird seated. Griffin questioned how it was decided that the town had a deficit in regards to the new library. Williams stated that the town decided by saying that they needed a 6,256 square foot library. Griffin felt that the town did not have a deficit until the library trustees decided that they needed a new library. Immorlica asked what would happen to the impact fees collected if the library changes the plans such as adding onto the current building. Kerrie Diers stated that a similar situation happened in Pembroke. The town collected impact fees for a 10,000 square foot library and eventually built something smaller. Pembroke had to refund the impact fees plus interest. Williams stated that some towns have looked at regional averages and/or national standards for libraries. Williams stated that Mont Vernon did not give NRPC any data so they worked backwards from the proposed plan. The board continued to review the library impact fee schedule line by line and there was further discussion regarding whether the current library was meeting the needs of the town. Williams stated that the board did not ask NRPC to do a space need study and suggested that the town conduct a space analysis to determine if the library is currently serving the needs of the town. Arico stated that the board should get information from the library expansion committee and look at what studies they conducted.

Williams stated that the RSA and town ordinance both require that they provide a credit for what people in new houses would be paying in taxes and that should be subtracted from the impact fee they would pay. Williams added that the RSA does not require them to look at square footage but their ordinance does. Williams stated that if they do not want to use square footage, they can change their ordinance to housing units. Bird questioned what happens if they collect more than they need. Williams stated that impact fees sunset after the amount has been collected so that should not happen.

Diers pointed out that the board has the ability to change the schedule after they review it. Immorlica stated that they have not reviewed it since they started collecting the impact fee. Diers stated that they should review it now. Hall Jr. asked if 2000 square feet is the average of new homes or the average of existing homes. Arico replied it is the average of existing homes. Griffin stated that what is being built should be irrelevant because what matters is what exists. McKinney stated that the number of houses doesn’t matter, you need to collect a certain amount of money. Hall Jr. stated that developers are building bigger houses right now and paying more in impact fees. Williams stated that Hudson and Litchfield both use square footage. They have both been challenged and have held up in court. Griffin suggested that they look at the libraries in Amherst and Milford. Williams stated that they should look at towns more like Mont Vernon. Immorlica suggested that they look at the national average or state standards for square footage of libraries.

Immorlica stated that they divide the responsibility of the impact fee schedule between the planning board and Selectmen and asked if they should put all of the responsibility in one place. Diers stated that it is up to the individual town. Hall Jr. asked which numbers in the schedule are easily updated. Williams stated that lines 1, 2, 8 and 26 can be easily updated when the schedule is reviewed. The board thanked Steve Williams and Kerrie Diers for taking part in their discussion of impact fees.

8:30 PM The board continued the discussion of impact fees and questions that need to be answered. Bird feels that they need to know the square footage of new homes not existing. Griffin stated that they are not assessing 100% of new homes and the square footage of old homes is important. Immorlica doesn’t think it is fair to get to the end number quicker by having a small number of builders pay huge amounts. Griffin stated that there is no guarantee that big houses will continue to be built and they should look at existing homes. McKinney stated that an 1800 square foot house should not pay as much as a 3000 square foot house. Bird stated that it didn’t seem right to base the fee on square feet but base the credit on the average assessment. Immorlica asked who would like to calculate the fee by type of housing unit. Hall Jr and Bird felt it should be done by type of housing unit. Arico, Griffin and McKinney felt they should continue to use square footage. The board asked their administrative assistant to gather information regarding square footage standards for libraries, to contact Amherst and Milford for their populations and usable library square footage and contact the library trustees for the latest report from the library expansion committee.

Immorlica stated that she went to the Selectmen and told them legal counsel suggested that the planning board review the schedules. The Selectmen thought the RSA stated the Selectmen had to review them. Immorlica stated that the Selectmen have not done any annual reviews yet but would like to keep the responsibility. Immorlica asked the board if they want the Selectmen to continue to do it or transfer the responsibility to the planning board. McKinney questioned why they spent time looking at it if they weren’t going to get involved. McKinney added that the planning board could pull together some numbers and give recommendations to the Selectmen.

8:50 PM Business District The board read through an email between Arico and Sally Wilkins then read through Arico’s changes to the proposed ordinance. Immorlica stated that she would like to set hearing dates for the Eatery Zoning and Business District. Hall Jr. asked if they needed to go to Atty. Drescher for review. Immorlica stated that they usually send them to legal counsel for review after the first hearing. Discussing the Eatery Zoning, Immorlica stated that it doesn’t include buffers or a noise ordinance. Griffin pointed out that the ordinance states it can’t detract from the rural character of the town. Arico stated that they could add a paragraph about noise and buffers. McKinney stated that he will do it by their next worksession on December 11, 2007. The board decided to set a hearings for the two ordinances at the same time.

9:10 PM Griffin motioned to adjourn the meeting. McKinney seconded. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Angela Wilson, Administrative Assistant