The Plaistow Planning Board, established in 1956, is comprised of five members – four elected citizens and one Selectmen’s representative. The Planning Board is an important municipal board that is charged with review and approval of residential and commercial development including~site and subdivision plan reviews, lot line adjustments and land use regulations development and revision.
The Planning Board is also responsible for maintaining the town's Capital Improvement Program, Master Plan, Site and Subdivision Regulations, Zoning Ordinance and all plans and records associated with development in Plaistow, NH.
Planning Board staff is available to assist applicants and land use consultants throughout the planning review process and encourages preliminary and on-going consultation to help the process proceed smoothly and efficiently.
For 2007, the Planning Board proposed and adopted numerous Master Plan, Zoning and Regulation amendments, including updates to the Master Plan. The Planning Board adopted a new Residential Conservation Zone, and rezoning so that the CI and CII zone lines correspond to parcel lines. The Planning Board also adopted a new Village Center District overlay zone, the purpose being to provide a pedestrian-friendly area where residents may live, shop, work, and conduct town business. Where possible, traffic calming techniques are to be applied throughout the district and sidewalks should be provided on both sides of the street.
Most notably, the Planning Board spent considerable time rewriting the Elderly Housing Ordinance as an overlay district, the purpose and objectives being to provide housing for the elderly (55 years or older) residents of the Town of Plaistow in a clustered development. To the extent possible, the objective was to make these housing opportunities available to Plaistow residents, to make a certain percentage affordable, and to make rental units available. The applicant/developer was required to provide deed restrictions, use limitations, covenants, or some other legally enforceable instrument, all of which would permanently restrict occupancy of these housing facilities to persons who meet all applicable restrictions regarding age, rentability and affordability.
Soon after its passage, four separate projects came forward based on the new EHD ordinance, ranging in unit numbers from 40 to 144. The citizens became concerned about these projects and in order to address the concerns, a Special Town Meeting was held over the summer in order to vote on the Planning Board’s request that the EHD ordinance be repealed. The request passed, and there is no longer any ordinance allowing for elderly homes in Plaistow on the books.
However, by the end of 2007, the four applicants that had submitted projects earlier in the year under the approved ordinance had been notified of a specific number they could apply for based on an interpretation of the total number units allowed (the cap) by the Zoning Board of Adjustment and will likely move forward in 2008.
Also throughout 2007, the Planning Board reviewed and approved numerous subdivision, site plans and minor site plan applications. Highlights include:
Site Plan for the Stateline Plaza redevelopment project on Routes 125 and 121, which also included the recommendations in a study that the staff of the Planning and Building Departments had cooperatively worked on with the City of Haverhill Planning and Engineering staff and referred to as the Haverhill/Plaistow Route 125 Study Committee.
This included the selection of an alternative for the proposed signalization of Cushing Avenue and/or the State Line Plaza to help alleviate hazardous traffic conditions in this portion of Route 125 and are being constructed as a part of the major redevelopment of the Stateline Plaza currently underway;
Site Plan for a replacement of a storage building at 202 Main Street;
Site Plan for a Starbucks on Route 125;
Site Plan for the proposed reuse of industrial buildings on Main Street including the establishment of a contractor’s yard including outdoor storage, office space, and warehouse/office commercial space, and tenant space for tradesmen and others utilizing a mix of office and warehouse space;
Site Plan for a change of use to the existing building on Route 125 from real estate office to hair salon;
Preliminary hearings on a commercial site plan review application for property located
at the intersection of Plaistow Road and Westville Road, Tax Map 26, Lots 49, 50 & 51, involving the redevelopment for a new 14,673 square foot Rite Aid pharmacy retail store and commercial strip mall;
Preliminary hearings on various 3 or 4-lot subdivision plans for property located on Westville Road;
Site Plan to convert an existing professional office building to a Daycare Facility located on Danville Road.
Site Plan for the addition of a drive-up bank Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) kiosk at Northland Mall on Route 108;
Site Plan for a change of use from an attorney’s office to a chiropractor’s office on Main Street;
Preliminary public hearings on a site plan for additional office space at a professional building located on Route 121 (Atkinson Depot Road);
Site Plan for the addition of a gym (Planet Fitness) at an existing condominium building on Route 125;
Site Plan for the conversion of a building on Main Street previously used as counseling offices into real estate offices;
The Planning Board was also joined by two new citizens who requested to become alternates. They are Neal Morin and Merilyn Senter. The Planning Board meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month. If you are interested in becoming an alternate, please feel free to contact Leigh Komornick, Town Planner, in the Planning Office at 382-7371, Ext. 14 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Or, visit her upstairs on the third floor of the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Leigh Komornick
Planning Coordinator
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