REMINDER
The Milk & Cookies New
Year’s Eve “Parlor Concert” to beheld at the Barnstead Town Hall
will feature Chris Bonoli and Roy D’Innocenzo from 7:00-9:00. Come
and sing American Pie with us at intermission and regardless of the
weather the concert will go on! No Reservations are needed -
Everyone’s invited! Proceeds will be donated to the Memorial to
Public Works Employees - Public Works Employees and their families
may attend for free.
Thank you to everyone who
came out on December 16 to sing carols and decorate a tree on a damp
and chilly afternoon. Thanks to the Heritage Commission, the
Charette Team, the Historical Society, and the Methodist Church for
helping to organize this first-time event at the Gazebo/Green Space
in Chichester Center. May it be the first of many events in this
location.
Chichester Grange will
meet on Wednesday, January 2, upstairs in the Grange Hall. There
will be a Soup Supper at 6 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7.
Out Of Your Attic
Thrift Shop News
Submitted By Carol Hendee
We hope everyone had a
wonderful holiday. Now, help us put away Christmas items-- 1/2 price
everything in the store Thursday, January 27-- lots of tubs with
“free” stuff, too. Tell us what you need put out first for
2019. We are closed December 31st, New Years Eve and will reopen
Tuesday, January 1, 2019. Any calendars that are left are free! 345
Suncook Valley Hgwy, Chichester 247-7191.
Chichester Town Library
News
The library will be
closed on Monday, December 31st, and Tuesday, January 1st, for New
Year’s. Let us greet the New Year with hope, kindness and
generosity.
We can look over the past
year with a sense of accomplishment, even though there is much more
to do. Our new Library Director, Caroline Pynes, has fit in
very comfortably with the staff and patrons of the library.
Work continues on the renovation of a Children’s Area.
Programs have continued to highlight library activities,
particularly for our younger generation. Preschool Story and
Craft Hour, as well as Toddler Time, both occur during daytime hours
at the library. Then, the Summer Reading Program and specialty
programs, such as the ones presented by the Audubon Society, occur
throughout the year. Even adults are included in the program
activities, with presentations cosponsored by the Humanities
Council.
The Knitting Group will
meet Wednesday afternoon, at 3:30 p.m.
There will be no
Preschool Story and Craft Hour this week.
Chichester Planning Board
Proposed Redefining Of Zoning Districts
Submitted By Stan Brehm,
Chairman
Chichester Planning Board
The Chichester Planning
Board along with several committees in town and with the assistance
of the Central NH Regional Planning Commission has spent the last
nine months working on redefining the zoning districts in town.
At the 2017 Town Meeting
a warrant article was passed to provide the funds to do this. In
case you were not at that meeting or may have forgotten, here is why
it has become necessary to do this.
Since 1964, when zoning
districts were first established in Chichester the districts have
been defined by the soils found on the 1964 USDA Merrimack Country
Soil Map. These soil definitions were defined and grouped into
basically four zones. Residential, Rural Agricultural, Steeplands
and Wetlands. In addition to these zones that were defined by soils,
the town also has a Commercial Industrial Zone (overlay strip zone)
along Routes 4 and 28. This worked well for Chichester in the
beginning, but as demand for building lots increased, this method
for determining where and what land is to be protected & what can
support a home has become very difficult. In addition the USDA Soil
Map was updated approximately ten (10) years ago using different
soil descriptions. These new descriptions no longer matched any of
the ones used on the 1964 map plus where there were approximately 30
soil types found in Chichester before, there were now over 80. At
this point the Chichester Planning Board has been relying on the
interpretation of a Soil Scientist to determine what zone the
proposed lot would fall under. Chichester is presently the only town
in New Hampshire still using soils to determine zoning districts. At
the urging of the town attorney it was determined we needed to
update and redefine the zoning districts so that they would be
defensible when pressured by development.
Using the guidance of the
most recent Master Plan the Planning Board along with members of the
community has put together a proposed new zoning ordinance that will
be voted on by the citizens of Chichester at the 2019 Town Meeting.
The vote for zoning changes will be by ballot on Tuesday March 12,
2019 at the town hall. The basis for the new zoning has been to
retain the rural nature of the town and hopefully control
development. The goal of the Planning Board was that the new
proposed zoning be “Density Neutral.”
The Planning Board will
be holding an informational meeting on January 3, 2019 and two
public hearings on January 17 and 31 to answer any questions you
might have. Please try to attend one if not all of these meeting so
you might be better acquainted with the proposal.
The Planning Board has
worked very hard on this and would very much appreciate your input
and support. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
call the town hall and ask for the planning department.
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