City Council to hold public hearing on proposed rezoning

posted on: 7/13/2020

The City Council will hold a public hearing on proposed rezoning amendments on Wednesday, July 22, at 7 p.m., in the Council Conference Room at City Hall. The public hearing is open to all City of Dover residents, property owners and business owners.

The July 22 public hearing follows five public hearings held by the Planning Board this spring. The Planning Board unanimously adopted the amendments in June.

There are two sets of amendments, all of which are intended to promote economic development and improve quality of life in Dover. The first is a collection of syntax and terminology changes. These amendments focus on updating city code to ensure that current terms and titles are used, as well as maintaining references to state statutes and regulations. In addition to these terminology amendments, General Code, the City’s vendor managing the online representation of the City Code, has recommended renumbering some sections of the code to enhance readability.

The second set of amendments contains substantive changes, such as rezoning areas of the city, updating the Transfer of Development Right’s Ordinance and creating and Alternative Energy Code.

The rezoning recommendations stem from a report presented by a committee tasked with reviewing nonresidential opportunities in Dover. In 2019, after reviewing transportation corridors and existing infrastructure, the committee developed its recommendation, which were then presented to the Planning Board. These items were adopted by the Planning Board in June 2020. The report can be viewed at https://bit.ly/2BLan80.

According to Dan Barufaldi, Dover’s Economic Development Director, evaluating Dover’s zoning is important to its future viability.

"Dover needs to continue to preserve the continued job growth viability of Dover for the next several decades,” Barufaldi said. “We want to be vibrant and accessible to all age brackets and demographics, and work to maintain our diversity. We stand out in New Hampshire and the region and want to maintain that position."

Christopher Parker, Dover’s Assistant City Manager, who oversees planning activities, notes the proposed changes are also guided by the City’s Master Plan.

“Dover operates strategically,” Parker said. “Zoning changes are among the most important strategies we have for long-term growth and vibrancy. At the same time, they are some of the toughest decisions staff and policy makers make. These decisions are not made lightly, and are not made without a consistent review of Dover’s Master Plan.”

In addition to rezoning, many of the amendments focus on streamlining the existing zones and cleaning up inconsistencies. If all of the amendments are adopted, Dover’s three commercial districts will be merged into one, two high tech and assembly zones will be merged into one, and a new commercial manufacturing zone -- a hybrid zone -- will be created. In addition, the recommendations include establishing a gateway zone. Parker explains that this zone is a rethinking of an existing zone.

“Dover has had a Downtown Gateway District as part of the Central Business District,” Parker said. “The goal of that zone was to have a transition zone as people traveled into downtown. As the committee reflected, it became clear that idea would be better if citywide. So, the Gateway District would be on the major entry points to the community.”

Two other areas of the code being updated include expanding the City’s Small Wind Energy Systems Ordinance to include solar and geothermal elements. This section, a recommendation of multiple chapters of the Master Plan and developed with the Energy Commission, creates guidelines for promoting solar power generation systems.

Finally, some of the proposed changes to Zoning Code promote more diverse housing options, primarily as part of the existing Transfer of Development Right’s Ordinance. Dover’s ordinance allows property owners to purchase development rights above what they have in the underlying zoning. The funds raised from these purchases are placed into the Conservation Fund and used to preserve and protect land in the community.

In 2018 the City developed a program to sell development rights for size-restricted homes. In its review, a Planning Board subcommittee recommended changes to the program to expand its use. Under the amendments before the City Council, there are four areas that look to incentivize the development of housing at sub-market rents:

• In manufacturing and commercial zones, for any assembly/manufacturing structure approved, and constructed, above 40,000 square feet, the property owner receives one dwelling unit per 2,000 square feet approved (for example, a 50,000-square-foot building nets five units). These can be used onsite as employee housing, sold to other developers to be used citywide, or may be used by the property owner anywhere else in the City.
• In the Gateway zone, if a developer/property owner agrees to limit the rent to HUD fair market guidelines, the density changes from one unit per 4,000 square feet of lot size to one unit per 2,000 square feet.
• Through the Transfer of Development Right’s Ordinance, if a developer/property owner agrees to limit the rent to HUD fair market guidelines, and creates a 600-square-foot or smaller detached unit or (no size limit) multifamily units, they pay no TDR fee.
  In the Residential/Commercial Mixed-Use District, if a single-family dwelling is limited to 1,000 square feet of total living area, density is one unit per 10,000 square feet of lot size; otherwise, it is one unit per 40,000 square feet of lot size.

To learn more about the rezoning amendments, including copies of the amendments, a presentation to the Planning Board and City Council, a summary of the amendments, and the rezoning committee report, visit the Planning Department web page at https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/planning.

For more information, please contact the Office of Economic Development at 516-6043, or the Planning Office at 516-6008.