Dover 2023 Begins! (Began?)

This past Saturday we got lucky here in Dover. I woke up at 5 to see snow falling. After my normal morning routine (gym, sustenance etc), I got ready for the kickoff session of our Dover 2023 exercise. This kickoff meeting took place at the Dover Middle School. We met from 9 am until noon, and had a very creative and constructive discussion about the future of Dover.

We have hired a consultant to walk the community through this process, and he and the principle staff member overseeing this project, the talented and intelligent Tim, were already at the Middle School setting up when I arrived. We had coffee, water, fruit and snacks all set. All we needed were people to attend and share their ideas.

I'll be honest, I wanted to be forced to call the fire department and get an occupancy load count. We had plans for 200 plus people. We had a smaller turnout, but those that came, came to work. We had a great community minded discussion. The participants broke into small groups with two facilitator's per group who helped the participants through the process. It was great to see how people feed off each other and learned from and collaborated with each other over the course of the two plus hours of small group work.

In the end the three groups reported back to the larger group what they value about Dover and what they see as challenges that lie ahead. What was fascinating is that we had very similar answers for each group. There is a strong appreciation of the community Dover has become. There is a strong appreciation for the family friendly town we are, and an acknowledgement of the value we have placed on education and economic diversity. Regarding challenges, we see that infrastructure, and maintaining the high levels of education and the balance between developed and undeveloped land. Additionally, a challenge is the continued efforts we have to make on transportation efficiency.

Up next are neighborhood meetings. These will build off the community conversation, and delve deeper into the questions about the future of Dover. These neighborhood meetings will be geared towards the next steps. In other words, we will go that next step in and look closer at the results from Saturday and ask the follow up question: What does this mean? People will be encouraged to think about the consequences of the challenges and value that has been articulated. We will also be working in some electronic polling to see how people feel about different aspects of Dover, such as service levels and facilities.

I encourage you to check out www.Dover2023.com, come to a neighborhood meeting (dates/times/locations below), and bring anyone you can think of to attend as well.  All of the meetings take place in the cafeteria of the school.

Tues.   March 13        7-9 pm       Garrison Elementary 

Wed.   March 14        7-9 pm        Woodman Park Elementary       

Thurs. March 22        7-9 pm       Horne Street Elementary 

Also, please take a moment and fill out the survey we have for residents to take. It is located here.Thanks for being part of a Dover that is building a positive and fruitful future.

By the way, now that I re-read all this, maybe the title should have been Dover 2023 has begun.

Rezoning, 2010

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about rezoning. Well, here we are again. Residents of Dover should have received the citywide mailed letter over the last two weeks. Compared to last years effort, this rezoning initiative is relatively minor. There is no Form Based Code, there are no areas being rezoned, and there are no shifts in environmental regulations.

What we have this year are twelve (12) regulation amendments that focus on clarifying and cleaning up regulations. I think it is safe to say there are as close to housekeeping as we have ever gotten.

The Process
Last year, as we were winding down, the Zoning Board chair asked the Planning Board why the ZBA had not been invited to the table. It was explained that as the interpreter of the ordinance, the ZBA can not be involved with crafting the regulations. At the same time, I realized that their input was important. Subsequently, in November of and December of 2009, any boards the Landuse regulations interact with were asked to review the regulations and suggest areas for the Planning Board to review. The results were reviewed by the Board in early January.

In all there were just over twenty (20) areas pointed out. The Planning Board selected 18 or so to review. Over the past five (5) months, the staff and Board have reviewed and developed amendments that will have a public hearing on June 22nd.

The Amendments

A full text of the amendments is located here. They are described briefly below.

The first amendment removes the word morals from the zoning purpose statement.

The second amendment refines the definition of abutter to include a first class mailing to those who own condominium units. This amendment also refines the definition of customary home occupation, and adds a new definition for farm animals for house hold use, livestock, poultry and swine, as well as a new definition for conservation lots.

The third amendment renames the B-5 district from Commercial/Retail to Gateway and adds purpose statements for each district.

The fourth amendment adds the Conservation Lot use to the R-40, R-20, and R-12 districts. This will allow a lot owner to subdivide their parcel without creating a lot with frontage solely for the purpose of donating the new lot to a conservation entity.

The fifth amendment adds the extraction use to the I-4 district. It also renames the gravel pit use to extraction in the R-40 district.

The sixth amendment moves drive in theaters from the R-40 to B-4 districts.

The seventh amendment adds clarification to the rules governing the conversion of a single unit house to a two family unit.

The eighth amendment adds the use of farm animals for family use to many residential districts, as well as describes the limitations to allowing urban agriculture.

The ninth amendment allows retail stores in high density residential districts via a special exception.

The tenth amendment renames the Commercial subdistrict in the Central Business District and removes the allowance for freestanding signs.

The eleventh amendment adds regulations for illuminated signs to have dimmers at night, and brings the City's election sign regulations in compliance with State law.

The final amendment clarifies the height allowances for fences (3 feet in front of your house, up to 8 feet on the side and rear).

If you have any questions or comments, please attend the Planning Board meeting on June 22, 2010 at 7:00 pm in City Hall. You are also encouraged to come by the office or contact staff via phone, 516-6008, or email c.parker@dover.nh.gov.