Jonathan Edwards, Director
Planning@HanoverNH.org

Rural Study Group 2007

Other Documents
Downtown Hanover Vision
Guiding Growth in Rural Hanover
'Something for Everyone' Scenic Locales Report
Class VI Roads In Hanover

Zoning
Zoning Board of Adjustment
Zoning Ordinance


Conservation
Conservation Commission
Open Space Priorities Plan
Trails
Flora and Fauna
Protected Lands

Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing Commission
Affordable Housing Study
Gile Tract Housing

Inspections
Building Code
Building Code Advisory Committee






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Open Space Plan Appendices

36-A:5 Appropriations Authorized.
I. A town or city, having established a conservation commission as autho­rized by RSA 36-A:2, may appropriate money as deemed necessary for the purpose of this chapter. The whole or any part of money so appropriated in any year and any gifts of money received pursuant to RSA 36-A:4 may be placed in a conservation fund and allowed to accumulate from year to year. Money may be expended from said fund by the conservation commission for the purposes of this chapter without further approval of the town meeting.
II. The town treasurer; pursuant to RSA 41:29, shall have custody of all moneys in the conservation fund and shall pay out the same only upon order of the conservation commission. The disbursement of conservation flinds shall be authorized by a majority of the conservation commission. Prior to the use of such funds for the purchase of any interest in real property; the conservation commission shall hold a public hearing with notice in accordance with RSA
675:7.
III. In the muncipallty that has adopted the provisions of RSA 79-A:25, II, the specified percentage of the revenues received pursuant to RSA 79-A shall be placed in the conservation fund.
History
Source. 1963, 168:1. 1973, 550:4. 1987, 318:2.1988, 120:1, eff. June 18, 1988.
Amendments-1988. Paragraph III: Added.-1987. Designated the existing provisions of the section as par. I, in that paragraph rewrote the first sentence, inserted "and any gifts of

The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hanover and the Conservation Commission of the Town of Hanover hereby enter into this Memorandum of Understanding which establishes procedures and guidelines which govern the placement of revenues from Land Use Change Tax, timber sales, and environmental fines and penalties into the Conservation Fund as authorized by RSA 36-A:5.1 and by the 1999 Annual Town Meeting and which govern expenditures from this Conservation Fund:

1. No capital expenditures shall be made by the Conservation Commission from this fund except in conformity with an Open Space Acquisition and Priorities Plan; this plan shall be:
• Developed through a public meeting and hearing process by the Comnussion with the assistance of the Planning and Zoning Department staff;
• Reviewed by the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board prior to adoption by the Commission;
• Consistent with the Town of Hanover Master Plan.

2. The Commission may make expenditures from the Conservation Fund for any purpose set forth in and according to RSA 36-A and other applicable laws:
• Expenditures for non-capital purposes, such as public education, and maintenance and management of lands may be made from the Conservation Fund without any limitation other that set forth in such laws;
• In addition to stipulations set forth in such laws, capital expenditures by the Cominission from the Conservation Fund for land acquisition of any type shall not exceed an annual aggregate total of $50,000; such expenditures may be used for any purpose set forth in the above- referenced RSA 36-A, such as the acquisition of property, or the acquisition of conservation easements or other property interests, or the obtaining of binding options in order that property can be held pending Town Meeting approval for fee-simple purchase over $50,000;
• Capital expenditures in excess of an aggregate total of $50,000 shall require approval by the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting; this Memorandum of Understanding shall not preclude the possibility of the Board and Commission agreeing in individual cases that the Board request and recommend to Town Meeting that additional flinding apart from the Conservation Fund be authorized to finance large capital acquisitions.

3. The Board of Selectmen shall as part of the budget process henceforward recommend to Town Meeting that each year's accumulated balance in the Land Use Change Tax Restrtcted Fund be appropriated annually by Town Meeting in the following manner: one-half to be transferred into the Capital Improvement Restricted Purpose Fund and the other half into the Conservation Fund.

4. To the extent allowed by law, all proceeds from Timber Sales, as well as Fines and Penalties resulting from conservation and natural-resource-related environmental violations, shall be accounted for as Conservation Commission revenue within the General Fund budget, along with associated appropriations for Conservation Commission operating expenses and trail and forest maintenance, the balance of which will be reserved and balance at year end, and which shall be recommended by the Board of Selectmen to be appropriated at the ensuing Town Meeting for transfer into the Conservation Fund.

5. The Board of Selectmen shall rescind Ordinance #22 pertaining to the Land Use Change Tax surplus.

6. This Memorandum of Understanding shall be effective as of July 1, 1999 and shall be in force for one year from that date. It shall by agreement between the Board and the Commission be renewed on an annual basis, either on these same terms or on such other terms as may be agreed mutually between the Board and the Commission.

Made and entered into this date 7 December, 1999, by

Chair, Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hanover

Chair, Conservation Commission of the Town of Hanover

Since 1974 there have been five surveys of Hanover residents in which some portion of the questionnaire elicited public opinion about land use, open space, conservation and related matters. In 1974, 1981 and 1994, the Planning Board sent forms to a statistically significant sample of Hanover residents. Each time, the surveys asked similar questions to allow the Planning Board to track changes in needs and opinions.

In 1998, the Scenic Locales Cornmittee, under the auspices of the Select Board, surveyed 1200 randomly selected residents to establish the importance of the scenic qualities of the town, and which areas were the most significant. Finally, in 1999, at the request of and supported by the P1anning Board a citizen group surveyed rural residents on land use issues. One of the four sections of this Guiding Growth in Rural Hanover survey focused on open space.

The responses to each survey reflected strong citizen concern for the future of Hanover's landscape, support for conservation, and strong desire for higher levels of municipal action. The three Planning Board surveys showed increasing support over time. The Scenic Locales survey elicited a list of more than 200 sites located within the town's 49 square miles that were highly valued by one or more people. Eighty-one percent of the responders to the Guiding Growth in Rural Hanover survey thought the town should do more to preserve open space. Seventy-seven percent supported increased development restrictions and 60% supported a 1% tax to finance greater municipal conservation activity.

In commenting on an early drafi of this report, officials of Dartmouth College (the town's largest employer and landowner) affirmed their long-standing commitment to preserving Hanover as a community, and to the value of open space in the community.

In I 999, residents acted in concert with the opinions they had expressed in the surveys when they voted at Town Meeting to establish a Conservation Fund as defined by state law (RSA 36-A:5; see Appendix 1) A different but equally significant demonstration of support for protection of open space occurred in 1999 when $500,000 was raised though private donations from approximately 500 people in only two months in response to an unexpected opportunity to purchase 112 acres of open space, impending development of which had presented a crisis for the conservation community for many years.

APPENDIX V

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

CONNECTICT RIVER Corridor Management Plan Volume 1 River Overview and Volume 4 Upper Valley Region The Connecticut River Joint Commissions, 1997.

GUIDING GROWTH IN RURAL HANOVER: CITIZEN MEETINGS AND
COMMUNITY SURVEY ON THE FUTURE OF THE LESS DEVELOPED PARTS OF
THE TOWN. Guiding Growth in Rural Hanover Committee. 1999

HABITAT ASSESSMENT AND INVENTORY OF THE MINK BROOK NATURE
PRESERVE: OBSERVATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SOILS, INDIGENOUS
MAMMALS, AND TREE, SHRUB, AND HERBACEOUS SPECIES. Hanover
Conservation Council. 1999.

NATURAL COMMUNITIES AND RARE PLANTS OF HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Nature Conservancy. 2000.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: THE SCENIC LOCALES COMMITTEE REPORT FOR THE TOWN OF HANOVER, NH. Scenic Locales Committee. 1998

TOWN OF HANOVER SURVEYS OF RESIDENT OPINION (1974, 1984, 1994).

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The Open Space Committee issued copies of the draft Open Space Priorities Plan to the Select Board and the Planning Board for their review, as specified by the Memorandum of Understanding (see Appendix II). It also made copies available to the public by placing a reference copy and a circulating copy in the Etna and Howe libraries; putting the text onto the town's website; and having copies available in the Planning and Zoning Office in the Municipal Building and at the public hearings. Pubhc notices of availability were printed in the Valley News as part of the three announcements of the public hearings on October 4 (Trumbull Hall, Etna) and October 11 (Howe Library). Notices were placed on the door of the Etna Post Office, and at the intersections of Greensboro and Etna Roads, and Ruddsboro and Etna Roads. An announcement letter was printed in the forum section of the Valley News on October 10. An additional presentation and discussion of the draft plan took place at a noticed Planning Board meeting on October 10. The plan was also discussed at Conservation Commission meetings on October 18, and approved on December 20.

PUBLIC COMMENTARY
Approximately 90 people attended the three public meetings at which the draft plan was discussed. All questions and comments were recorded. In addition, a total of 16 letters and a few personal communications were received. Each gave evidence of careful thought and, in many cases, of a generous amount of time on the part of the commentator. To each responder, the Open Space Committee is grateful.

Approximately 45 separate suggestions for additions to the open space plan were offered, ranging from short trail connections to a new area equivalent in size to the Monahan Valley or Lord's Hill areas. Most suggestions have been incorporated into the final open space report, along with the recommendations that separate, detailed trails and historic/cultural sites plans be developed in the future that would give further consideration to these and other suggestions.

Policy suggestions included determination of the appropriate use of recreational trails by mountain bikes and ATVs, and a request for evaluation of the tax impact of implementing the Open Space Priorities Plan. The committee recommends that the trails question be addressed in the context of the trails report cited above. Fiscal impact is briefly considered at the end of this report.

Several commentators noted typographical errors, and offered refinements of wording, all of which have been given close consideration and, for the most part, incorporated.

All comments noted at the public meetings and received in writing are on file for public reference in the Planning and Zoning Office.