Zoning Board of Adjustment
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
MEETING MINUTES
June 25th, 2019
Public Meeting
Members & Staff Present: William Bryk (Member), Bob Holmes (Member), Ray Ledgerwood (Member), Shelley Nelkens (Member), Diane Kendall (Alternate), Carol Ogilvie (Planning Consultant, and Ashley Brudnick-Destromp (Assistant)
Absent: John Giffin (Chair)
Public Attendees: Rick Wood (Antrim Historical Society)
CTO: The Assistant called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM in absence of a Chair and Vice Chair
I. Welcoming of New Board Members:
The Assistant introduced the new Board members to the current Board members.
II. Organization:
The Assistant said the first order of business was to appoint a Chair and Vice Chair.
Motion: Ms. Nelkens made a nomination for Mr. Giffin as Chair, Mr. Bryk second it.
Vote: by a voice vote, all were in favor
Motion: Mr. Ledgerwood nominated Mr. Bryk as Vice Chair, Mr. Bryk second it.
Vote: By a voice vote, all were in favor.
The Assistant distributed the December 2018 NH ZBA Handbooks she ordered for each member from OSI, and will email a downloaded version as well.
III. Review of ZBA Statutes:
Ms. Ogilvie had prepared a memo addressing the changes made in 2018 by the State. She also had the Town of Antrim ZBA Bylaws to review with the Board.
Ms. Ogilvie explained how boards vote on variance applications is the most important change that was made. Ms. Ogilvie and Ms. Nelkens had a discussion on the voting process during a public hearing. Mr. Ledgerwood suggested waiting for when the Chair is present to make changes to the bylaw section regarding the voting.
Ms. Ogilvie went on to discuss that variances made prior to August 19,2013, the Board now has the power to terminate any variance or special exception if it has not be exercised in 2 years. She concluded the language in the bylaws already suggests this as well.
Ms. Ogilvie then explained that the law now stipulates that the concurring vote of three members is necessary to take any action, even on a Board of 5. She expressed that the bylaws section on this already mentions this.
She concluded no major changes were made, but those were the changes she wanted the Board to be aware of.
Ms. Ogilvie said she went through the bylaws, and there were only 3 places where she saw a change was needed. The mention of a “Town Planner” in section 5 should be replaced with staff. In section 7.4 regarding the Quorum, she wanted to clarify the new voting standards. The 3rd item is to go into executive session for regular business, as the Board doesn’t need an executive session to discuss regular business. Mr. Bryk and Ms. Kendall agreed that they could not think of anything that would come up in a ZBA hearing that would require an executive session. Ms. Ogilvie and Mr. Bryk both suggested waiting for Chair Giffin to be present to discuss this as well.
Ms. Ogilvie said the other item is 7.11, that all meetings be concluded by 10:30pm. She said she did not know if the ZBA wanted to change the time like the Planning Board did to 9PM. She concluded she will make changes and send it back for another review, and further discuss the matter of voting, and the time the meeting should end by once Chair Giffin is here.
Ms. Nelkens mentioned changing the newspaper for public notices to a more inexpensive paper. The Board said they would prefer to use the same newspaper that the Planning Board voted on to avoid confusion of residents, and for the sake of consistency. Ms. Nelkens mentioned going before the Planning Board to discuss changing the paper possibly. The other Board members preferred to leave it as it was.
Motion: Mr. Holmes made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Mr. Ledgerwood second it.
Vote: By a voice vote, all agreed.
Meeting Adjourned: The meeting adjourned at 7:27 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Ashley Brudnick-Destromp
Assistant to Land Use Boards