The Peterborough Planning Board has put three proposed zoning changes forward to the town’s ballot in May. 

The first proposed amendment applies to a single property, 75-77 Hancock Road (Route 202) , a former private residence which is now surrounded by commercial properties. The amendment proposes rezoning the property from Commercial to Village Commercial. 

“The family has been struggling to sell this property for quite some time, but everyone who has been interested in the property wants to make it into housing. Currently, the property is only zoned for low- and moderate-income housing because it is in the Commercial district, and that is not what people who have been interested in the property would like to do,”  said Peterborough Town Planner Danica Melone. “This family has been very, very patient, and we would really like to help them out by rezoning their property to the Village District.” 

While the Planning Board has discussed the benefits of rezoning all commercial properties to Village Commercial, the proposed zoning amendment going on the ballot in May applies only to the specified property. The board has stated its intention to review the change for all properties in the Commercial District going forward. 

The second proposed amendment for the May ballot clarifies the language in the Wetlands Protection Overlay Zone. 

“We worked closely with the Conservation Committee on this amendment. It is really just housekeeping items to better clarify what is expected of applicants when applying to the board. Nothing has been changed which would make the requirements more strict,” Melone said. 

The third proposed zoning amendment would make minimum lot size requirements for creating a single-family home or duplex consistent between the Family District and the General Residence District. Currently, homeowners in the Family District are required to have a 50,000-square-foot lot for a duplex, or 40,000 square feet for a single-family residence. In the General Residence District, only 20,000 square feet is required for either.

According to Melone, one of the core reasons behind the proposal is “to give property owners the ability to convert their single-family homes into duplexes.” 

Carl Staley, chair of the Peterborough Planning Board, said the proposed changes will have “really minimal impact.”

“This proposed amendment is not changing anything about the Family District except for lot size. This change which will be more reflective of what is actually in the district. It will not have many unforeseen consequences,” Staley said. 

Staley said the proposed change would not lead to subdivision of new lots in the Family District,  as very few lots in the zone have enough road frontage to meet the subdivision requirements.

“Right now, because of the zoning, we have situations where a homeowner on one side of the street is permitted to create a duplex from a single family home on a 20,000-square-foot lot, while their neighbor across the street is not permitted to do that because they are required to have twice the space,” Melone said. “This is just a very small step toward bringing equity between the zoning districts. We want Family District homeowners to be able build single-family homes or duplexes the same way their neighbors in the General Residence district can. These two districts are very intermingled, and the requirements should be the same to eliminate confusion and inequity for property owners. ” 

Melone said that the zoning change will affect very few lots, and will not affect requirements for sewer and septic. 

“The vast majority of these properties are already connected to town water and sewer. We already have regulations on the books regulating septic and sewer,” Melone said.

Melone said that the question of water and sewer is a “non-issue,” adding that “there are regulations already existing that new residential development with a density of one unit per acre requires connection to town water and sewer.”

“This will not open the doors to multi-family housing,” she said.

The amendment proposes to: "Revise 245-6B1, the minimum lot sizing in the Family District, by replacing it with the same language for minimum lot sizing of the General Residence District under 245-7 C1, thereby reducing the amount of spare footage needed to build a single family or a duplex.” 

The board stated in the proposed amendment: “This change may provide greater flexibility for property owners who are not located in the Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone (TNOZ). 

Melone said the town is planning a community forum to educate residents about the proposed changes. 

The Town of Peterborough has created a website with more information on all three amendments at peterboroughnh.gov/government/boards_and_committees/planning_board/_22_zoning_proposals.php.