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Municipal and Regional Planning Assistance |
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Conference Agenda 
Session Chart
Participant List
Speaker List
Exhibitor List
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9:00 - 10:15
10:30 - 11:45
12:45 - 2:00
2:15 - 3:30
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Basics for the Planning Board
- Michael L. Donovan, Esquire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, Concord
This housekeeping session is designed for new planning board members or those who want a refresher course on the basics. The topics under discussion at this session include rules of procedure, conflict of interest, the right-to know law, and conducting public hearings and meetings.
Session materials:
Basics for the Zoning Board of Adjustment
- Christopher L. Boldt, Esquire - Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, PLLC; Exeter, NH
Here's your opportunity to get some excellent assistance if you are a new board member. Chris will share his expertise on how to keep your board's affairs in order including rules of procedure, the do's and don'ts for conducting meetings and hearings, and the issuing of decisions and rehearing procedures.
Session materials:
Legal Update**(double session: 9:00 - 10:15 & 10:30 - 11:45)**
- Ben Frost, Esquire, AICP, Director of Public Affairs - NH Housing Finance Authority
Another busy time in the courts and legislature! This two and a half hour session will discuss the legislative updates and what’s happening in our Supreme Court on planning and zoning issues and the impact of these rulings on local land use regulations. Don't miss this opportunity to hear Ben provide a heads-up on some of the legislative changes that have occurred which affect the responsibilities of both the planning board and zoning board of adjustment.
Session materials:
Plan Reading and Analysis: Learning Simple Methods to Make the
Mountain a Mole Hill **(double session: 9:00 - 10:15 & 10:30 - 11:45)**
- Sylvia Von Aulock, Town Planner - Town of Exeter
You just volunteered for your local board (planning, conservation, zoning) and suddenly you are being asked to read, review and analyze engineered plans. DON’T PANIC!!! This session will provide you with the tools you need to do just that. The first portion of this session reviews engineering terms through a graphical presentation. Then the class will participate in a step-by-step process of highlighting plans to make them "readable." This practical approach of coloring actual site and subdivision plans, road cross-sections, profiles, drainage and grading plans will help you understand just what all those lines mean. Please bring 3 or 4 of your own highlighters to mark up handouts.
Session materials:
The New Hampshire Climate Action Plan: Reductions in Vehicle-Miles Traveled Through Land Use and Transportation Planning
- Chris Skoglund, Energy and Transportation Analyst, NH Department of Environmental Services
Are you concerned about climate change or the growth in Vehicle-Miles Traveled (VMT)? Do you wonder how they both may be addressed through land use and transportation planning? The newly released New Hampshire Climate Action Plan lays out a plan for strengthening the state's economy and preserving its rural character, while addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. This session will focus on the specific recommendations made by the Climate Change Policy Task Force to address the integration of land use and transportation planning in order to reduce VMTs and the state's greenhouse gas emissions.
Session materials:
Writing an Energy Master Plan
- Eric Steltzer, Energy Policy Analyst, NH Office of Energy and Planning
Is your community interested in curbing its energy use and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions? Here’s your chance to learn about the first step your community should take to draft an Energy Master Plan. In this session we will discuss what should be included in an Energy Master Plan and provide you with tools and tips to develop a customized plan to meet the needs of your community.
Session materials:
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Planning Board Roles and Responsibilities/The Planner Is In ***(10:30 to 2:00)
- Ross A. Moldoff, AICP, Planning Director, Town of Salem, NH
- Carol Ogilvie, Director, Office of Community Development, Town of Peterborough
- Mark J. Fougere, AICP, Fougere Planning & Development, Inc.
- Robert T. Houseman, Director of Planning and Development, Town of Wolfeboro, NH
Planning, subdivisions, and site plans—do you have trouble keeping it all straight? This 2 hour 30 minute session has two parts and is designed with you in mind. Join Ross and Carol for a review of the relationship between zoning, subdivision, and site plan review and lastly, but certainly not least, the master plan. Learn the fundamentals of these basic tools of the planning process and how you can become a more effective board member. Following Ross and Carol’s presentation, join the extended panel for “The Planner Is In,” an opportunity to obtain answers to any questions you may have.
Session materials:
Roles of the Zoning Board of Adjustment
- Paul Sanderson, Esquire, NH Local Government Center
Variances, setbacks, nonconforming uses - learning the nuts and bolts of your duties on the ZBA is no easy assignment! Your struggle may be over if you participate in this session with Paul. The session will cover in detail the three major roles of a ZBA - administrative appeals, special exceptions, and variances. Some highlights include understanding the distinctions between the different types of appeals and guidelines to follow in decision making.
Session materials:
Brownfields Program: Assessing and Redeveloping Troublesome Properties Within Our Communities
- H. Keith DuBois, P.G., Brownfields Program Coordinator, NH DES-Hazardous Waste Remediation Bureau
Do you have underutilized properties such as old mill buildings, vehicle repair garages, or even junk yards in your community that have been shunned by prospective purchasers or developers due to known or suspected contamination
issues? Is technical assistance unavailable for you to assess the environmental risks and cleanup options for these sites? No more worries! This session will summarize the NHDES Brownfields Program and will describe the various opportunities for technical assistance and funding for assessment and cleanup of underutilized properties within a community.
Session materials:
Rebates and Incentives for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
- Jack Ruderman, Director, Sustainable Energy, NH Public Utilities Commission
Ever wondered what financial incentives are available in New Hampshire for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects? Well this is your session. In this session you will hear all about rebates, grants and loans that are available for the multitude of clean energy options that work, right here in New Hampshire.
Session Materials:
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Zoning Board of Adjustment Role Playing Workshop
- Christopher L. Boldt, Esq. - Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, PLLC; Exeter, NH
- Ben Frost, Esq., AICP, Director of Public Affairs - NH Housing Finance Authority
- Kimberly A. Hallquist, Esq., Staff Attorney - Local Government Center
- Chris Northrop, AICP, Principal Planner - NH Office of Energy and Planning
- Paul Sanderson, Esq., Staff Attorney - Local Government Center
Join OEP staff and assorted other characters as we explore the often-confusing world of the ZBA. What was the Boccia decision and how is that different from Simplex? Are there still 5 variance criteria? How do we vote on this thing? Put all that you learned earlier in the day to the test and be prepared to take an active role in determining the outcome for your "board!"
Session materials:
Neighborhood Heritage Districts: What Are They and How Can My Community Establish One?
- Nadine Peterson, Preservation Planner, NH Division of Historic Resources
- Carolyn Baldwin, Baldwin & Callen, PLLC, Concord, NH
- Scott McPhie, Community Resources Planner, Town of Merrimack, NH
- Elizabeth Durfee Hengen, Preservation Consultant, Concord, NH
Are you concerned about change in your community but are unsure that a traditional locally designated historic district is the right option? A new planning tool named "Neighborhood Heritage Districts (NHD)" is now available for municipalities. This session will provide an overview of NHDs; detail the types of areas that qualify for a NHD; include a discussion on how to establish a NHD; and outline a Model NHD Ordinance. Copies of the new Neighborhood Heritage Districts handbook will be distributed!
Session materials:
Site Plan Regulations: Effectively Guiding Site Development
- Sharon Wason, AICP, Executive Director, Central NH Regional Planning Commission
- Matt Monahan, Regional Planner, Central NH Regional Planning Commission
- Cynthia Robinson, Planning Coordinator, Town of Chester
Is your community ready for commercial development and it’s challenges? What constitutes “good” site plan regulations? What are other communities experiencing with site plan reviews? When should site plan review powers be invoked? And how can your town effectively guide the site plan review process? Sharon Wason and Matt Monahan from the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission will discuss these and many more issues in this session. In addition, Cynthia Robinson from the Town of Chester will be on hand to discuss these issues from the perspective of a
Planning Board.
Session materials:
Licensing Motor Vehicle "Junkyards"
- Pamela Hoyt-Denison, Administrator, Waste Management Programs, NH Department of Environmental Services
- Melanie Doiron, Solid Waste Compliance Inspector, NH Department of Environmental Services
Are you concerned about local “junkyard” licensing and compliance issues and State General Permit requirements? How about Best Management Practices (BMPs) for environmental protection? This session is designed to answer all these questions and to help municipal officials understand their responsibilities for licensing motor vehicle "junkyards" under RSA 236:111-129 and how the local license relates to a newly legislated state-issued General Permit for motor vehicle salvage yards.
Session materials:
Ecomunicipalities: A Bottom-up Process to Become a Sustainable Community
- Sarah James, Institute for Ecomunicipality Education and Assistance
Everyone is clamoring about how communities can become more sustainable. Come listen to the author of the Natural Step for Communities; How Cities & Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices share her experience of applying the highly successful Swedish eco-municipality model here in the United States.
Session materials:
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Planning Boards "Behaving Badly"
- Clay Mitchell, Esquire, Planner, Town of Epping, NH
- Ben Frost, Esquire, AICP, NH Housing Finance Authority
Join Clay and Ben and a cast of familiar characters as they present vignettes of planning boards making mistakes, both large and small. Can you spot them all? Does your board do the same thing (or worse)? Can you figure out how to do things better? This session will be both fun and funny, but it will also carry a serious message: How you conduct your business has important implications for the strength of your decisions on appeal to court, and more importantly, how people appearing before your board feel about your level of expertise.
Session Materials:
The ZBA Decision Making Process
- Kimberly Hallquist, Esquire, Staff Attorney, NH Local Government Center
You've notified abutters, held the public hearing, heard hours of testimony, and now it's time to make a decision. What do you do? Do you have to decide right then and there? What if you only have 4 members present? Can you include conditions? Do you vote on each of the criteria separately? Do you have to vote on anything at all? If these and other questions have plagued your board, this is the session for you. Come and hear Kim Hallquist from the Local Government Center sort it all out for you.
Session materials:
Heritage Commissions: Why Your Town Needs One!
- Maggie Stier, Field Service Representative, NH Preservation Alliance
- Pamela Judge, Chair, Wakefield Heritage Commission
- Kathie Northrup, Chair, Hooksett Heritage Commission
Could your town use a productive advocacy group to advise other land use boards on the protection of historic resources? Do you need volunteers who can help with identifying and preserving historic structures? Are you seeking a way to augment municipal appropriations for historic town-owned buildings with privately raised funding? Come to this session and hear about how Heritage Commissions can be an effective and easy-to-implement means of incorporating consideration of historical assets into your town’s local decision-making process.
Session materials:
Planning 911: What to Do When Your Planning Board Needs Help
- Jeffrey H. Taylor, President, Jeffrey H. Taylor & Associates
- Jonathan Edwards, Planning Director, Town of Hanover, NH
Is your board working with limited funds but really could use some outside assistance planning for the future, getting that CIP done, or reviewing your existing regulations and ordinances? Where do you turn and what do you do? This session will walk you through the RFP drafting process, the interviewing and selection of consultants, preparing your scope of work, and even where to look for some grant funds to help defray the costs.
Session materials:
Floodplain Regulations In Depth
- Jennifer Gilbert, CFM, Floodplain Management Coordinator, NH Office of Energy and Planning
Are you interested in learning more about the regulations that are required in a community's floodplain ordinance? This session will include a discussion of the regulations that a community must adopt and enforce to be a participating community of the National Flood Insurance Program. Some of the topics will include permitting floodplain development, building standards, subdivision requirements, and variances. Discussion will also include typical compliance problems and the floodplain requirements in the state building code.
Session materials:
On the Path to Sustainability in New Hampshire
- Peter Britz, City of Portsmouth
- Larry Litten, Citizen of Hanover
Two communities in New Hampshire, Portsmouth and Hanover, have used the Natural Step Process to move their citizens and town governments toward sustainability. Come listen to the representatives from these two communities and their respective stories in ways that will illuminate broader principles involved in mobilizing communities for such change.
Session materials:
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