DURHAM – The Ordinance Writing Committee will hold a public hearing Thursday night to get comment on a number of proposed amendments to existing ordinances.
The changes include citizen-initiated amendments to the back-lot ordinance.
A proposal to expand the excavation ordinance, to require small gravel pits under five acres to be licensed by the town, will also be presented.
Handouts will be distributed to residents at the hearing, and an explanation of each proposal will be presented, followed by public comment and questions.
Many changes being considered are for safety and planning reasons and to bring the town ordinances into line with the Comprehensive Plan. Also included are technical changes to the flood plain ordinance and adding a corrections section that would allow certain changes to be made without town meeting approval.
The citizen-initiated change seeks to amend current back-lot standards to include family-owned back lots. If sold or given to family members for a home, they would be exempt from some current private road standards.
Swamp Road resident Tammy Thatcher, a prime organizer for the proposed changes, said she obtained quotes two years ago of $42,000 to $50,000 to build a road to a family-owned back lot under current standards. The proposed changes, she said, are only intended to allow family members to build on back lots.
She has been joined by about a dozen other families who find themselves in similar circumstances – having land they would like to give to their children for the purpose of building a home, but considering the back-lot road requirements as being cost-prohibitive.
We’ve been “working really hard with the Ordinance Writing Committee to coordinate” efforts, she said.
The hearing will held 7 p.m. Thursday at the elementary school, and all interested residents are invited to attend. A final decision on any changes or additions will be made by voters at town meeting in April.
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