Meeting of the Zoning Ordinance-Building Code Committee

Monday, November 17, 2008

7:40 PM

Recording:  Jean Lightfoot  

After the opening items were conducted, the Zoning Ordinance-Building Code Committee moved to another part of the meeting room to discuss the ongoing proposed revisions of the Building Code.  

Taking part in this session were:  Committee members Rick Davies, David Hartman, Ed Mical and Barbara Annis.  Paul Violette joined the discussion at the end.  

The committee continued their review of the Town of Warner Building Code Ordinance in comparison with the State Building Code.  The October 2008 work session draft is the basis for discussion.  It was agreed that it would be placed on the ballot as an all or nothing for the revisions.  The wording of the article would be:  “To see if the Town will vote to amend the Town of Warner Building Code Ordinance as follows (underlined to be added and lined through to be deleted).”  

The following changes were proposed to be made to the Building Code Ordinance:  

To Article II A.  

“A.  The Town of Warner adopts and enforces the State Building Code RSA 155-A as it may be amended in accordance with RSA 674:51 which:  authorizes and gives authority to the Building Inspector to issue building permits and certificates of occupancy; authorizes the Board of Selectmen to establish fees for building permits, certificates of occupancy and building inspection; and authorizes the Zoning Board of Adjustment to act as the building code Board of Appeals.”  

To Article II A. 1.:

            “1.     A Certificate of Zoning Compliance must be issued prior to the application for a permit for the erection, exterior alteration, moving or repair of any building or structure.”   

To Article II A. 2.:           

            “2.     After issuance of the building permit, construction must be commenced within six months and the exterior completed within two years, except that the Board of Selectmen may extend the time upon application.”  

To Article II A. 3:  

            “3.     Certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Building Inspector prior to occupancy.”

To Article II A. 4:  

            “4.     The following items are listed in the New Hampshire State Building code as work exempt from requiring a permit, but are not exempt in Warner:  

                     “a.   Buildings and structures over 36 square feet are not exempt . . .”  

To Article II B.:  

“B.  No permit shall be granted unless the builder meets the following requirements:”  

To Article II B. 1:  

            “1.     Every dwelling shall have a minimum of two (2) easily accessible exits, windows excluded; exits shall provide alternate means of escape.  Any building to be erected or altered for use as rented apartments shall have a minimum of two (2) readily accessible exits, windows excluded, from each apartment; exits shall provide alternate means of escape.”  

To Article II B. 3:  

            “3.     Septic tanks, cesspools, privies or sewage disposal area shall conform to state regulations and regulations adopted by ordinance by the Town of Warner and in the instance the two may conflict, the more restrictive shall apply.  

                     a.   Change of use of a structure from seasonal to year-round residency shall require that the waste disposal system meets state and local requirements.”    

To Article II B. 4:  

            “4.     Every freestanding dwelling unit to be used by a single family shall have a minimum single floor living area of five hundred (500) square feet.”  

To Article II B. 7:  

            “7.   Application for a building permit must be accompanied by a plan(s) of the proposed construction, movement, or alteration together with a statement from the applicant describing the intended use of any new, moved or altered building.  All documents shall be retained by the Board of Selectmen.”  

To Article III:  

“The Board of Selectmen shall appoint a board of Adjustment of five members, of whom one may be a member of the Planning Board.  The Board of Adjustment shall have authority to allow slight variance from the specific terms of this ordinance where it can be shown that unnecessary hardship would otherwise result.  The Board of Selectmen shall establish an appropriate fee schedule for building permits.”  

The members then proceeded to a review and discussion of the Zoning Ordinance.  It was agreed to change all references to building or buildings to “building or structure” or “buildings or structures.”  The definition of Building would be changed to read:   

            Building:  means any combination of materials constructed for the shelter of persons, animals or property.”  

This would remove the following wording:  “having a roof and enclosed exterior walls, fixed to the land, and . . .”  

The definition of the word Structure as “that which is built or constructed” will remain the same.   

Ms. Lightfoot was asked to contact Don Gartrell to see if it is appropriate to write a combination warrant article to cover the above and what the wording might be.   

The Open Space Ordinance at Article XIV B. 1. c and d were noted to be inconsistent with the table.  It was generally agreed that the chart in the ordinance was the intent of the Board, so the corrected articles would read:  

c.  In the OC-1 Zone, this article shall not apply to subdivisions in which all lots in the completed subdivision have a minimum lot size of twelve (12) fifteen (15) acres.  .  . .”  (lined through to be deleted)  

d.   In the OR-1 Zone, this article shall not apply to subdivisions in which all lots in the completed subdivision have a minimum lot size of fifteen (15) twenty (20) acres.  . . .”  (lined through to be deleted)  

The chart will be corrected to be comply.  The warrant article would read:  “To see if the Town will amend the Open Space Table so that the minimum parcel area before subdivision acreage for the OC-1 Zone is 15 acres and for the OR-1 Zone is 20 acres and adjust Sections 1. c. and d. to read as follows:  

c.  In the OC-1 Zone, this article shall not apply to subdivisions in which all lots in the completed subdivision have a minimum lot size of twelve (12) fifteen (15) acres.  .  . .”  (lined through to be deleted)  

d.   In the OR-1 Zone, this article shall not apply to subdivisions in which all lots in the completed subdivision have a minimum lot size of fifteen (15) twenty (20) acres.  . . .”  (lined through to be deleted)  

Finally, Ms. Annis said there was a mistake in what NH OEP sent for the Flood Plain Ordinance update last year.  Ms. Lightfoot later located the letter from NH OEP and the following corrections need to be made:  

In Item VII:  Flood Elevation Determination

            2.  Add Zone A, so it will read as follows:  

      “2. The Code Enforcement Officer/Building Inspector's 100 year flood elevation determination will be used as criteria for requiring in zones A and AE that:” (underlined added)  

In Item VII:  Flood Elevation Determination

            2(a) Eliminate “Zone A” (number 2 above already covers both zones), so it will read as follows:  

“(a.) All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures in Zone A have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the 100 year flood elevation;” (lined through to be deleted)  

Ms. Annis said that there has been a request from Fran Brown to change the Zoning Ordinance to not allow unregistered vehicles on a vacant piece of property.  Mr. Violette said there is something in the ordinance to cover that right now.  Mr. Davies said that any junkyard or storage of unregistered vehicles is referred to in the RSAs.  Ms. Annis said that one unregistered vehicle and parts thereof is allowed.  Mr. Hartman said that he had not heard of this and said that the Board of Selectmen should handle it and he took it for their consideration.   

Mr. Violette reported on some of the decisions of the Master Plan Committee in preparation for the December 8, 2008 Visioning Session.  

The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m.