Sandown Conservation Commission 2004 Goals
The Sandown Conservation Commission saw many changes in 2003. We have many new members and collectively we are looking forward to getting our goals accomplished in 2004, which begin to address the “Conservation” issues facing the Town of Sandown . Here are the following goals we hope to accomplish in 2004 in no particular order:
• Create buffer zones to protect our wetlands, waterways and bodies of water
• Increase our Inventory of Conservation Land
• Increase Conservation Awareness, Education and Outreach Programs
• Develop an Open Space Management Plan
• Develop a Forestry Management Plan
• Develop a network of non-motorized recreation trial
• Create buffer zones to protect our wetlands, waterways and bodies of water
In December 2003, the Sandown Conservation Commission submitted a Zoning Ordinance Warrant Article to the Sandown Planning Board, which re-writes the current Wetlands Conservation District , Article I Part B of the Sandown Zoning Ordinances. The revised Wetlands Conservation District will create buffer zones and setbacks to help protect our natural resources. The Sandown Planning Board supports this Ordinance change and on January 6, 2004 , voted unanimously to “Recommend” the Article, which will be placed on the Town Warrant and discussed at the Town Meeting Deliberative Session on February 7 and placed on the Town Meeting Ballot for vote on March 9.
The revised “Wetlands Conservation District” gives the Conservation Commission review of certain construction projects within the buffer zones that could potentially cause erosion, which may impact wetlands, waterways and bodies of water.
If passed by the voters, the new review process is not designed to stop projects within the “buffer zone” but simply provide the Conservation Commission and the public, with an opportunity to make recommendations to the Planning Board to insure that all protection measures within the “buffer” have been studied and that “Best Management Practices” will be followed.
Currently there are no buffer zones in Sandown and we urge the voters to support this Warrant Article. If you would like to review the proposed Ordinance, you can read it on-line at www.sandown.us , click on “departments” then click on the “conservation” link or visit the Planning Board Office during regular hours.
• Increase our Inventory of Conservation Land
A major topic of concern raised during the Community Profile Project held last September, as well as noted strongly in the Town of Sandown Master Plan , last updated in 1995, was the need for the preservation of “Open Space”.
In December 2003, the Sandown Conservation Commission completed an inventory of land listed as “Town Owned” or land that had “Conservation Restrictions”. The results of the inventory showed that Sandown has very little “Conservation” land and that the majority of “Town Owned” land had no “Conservation Restrictions” and could be developed in the future, with the exception of the two Town Forests.
The Conservation Commission narrowed down the inventory of “Town Owned” parcels and at a meeting held on December 8, 2003 submitted 12 “Land Grant” Warrant Articles to the Sandown Board of Selectmen for their review and recommendations. The Selectmen voted unanimously to “Recommend” that the voters of Sandown pass these Articles.
By placing jurisdiction and management of these parcels under the Conservation Commission, it enhances our quality of life by preserving these parcels as “Open Space”.
“Conservation” does not mean that activity is not allowed on this land, quite the contrary. We want to provide appropriate access to some of the hidden gems in town as well as recommend best uses of these parcels, which may include recreation, trails, agriculture and or forestry.
Another way to increase Sandown's “Open Space” is for the Conservation Commission to: request conservation easements from developers as set-a-sides, purchase conservation easements from landowners who want to preserve their land or purchase land at discounts from those landowners who are conservation minded and do not want to sell to a developer.
To make these purchases the Conservation Commission will need funding. During the Selectmen's meeting held on December 8, 2003 the Commission submitted a Warrant Article to the Selectmen to deposit an additional 50% of the “Land Use Change Tax” (Current Use Penalty) for a total of 100% into the “Town's Conservation Fund”.
The “Current Use” program RSA 79-A was passed in 1972 to protect “Open Space” by not taxing open, agricultural, forest or other large tract of land at rates that would force landowners into selling their land to developers simply to pay the property taxes. If a landowner or developer changes the use of the land designated as “Current Use” for housing developments or anything other than “Open Space”, they are subject to a penalty of 10% of the present day value of the land. The NH Legislature intended that all or a percentage of the penalty collected be deposited into a “Conservation Fund” RSA 79-A:25 II for towns to purchase open space to try to preserve the rural character of New Hampshire Towns.
Sandown began depositing 25% of the penalty into a conservation fund in 1997. The voters approved an increase to 50% in 2002 and as of December 15, 2003 the “Town of Sandown Conservation Fund ” balance was just under $120,000.00. While this sounds like a substantial amount of money, a single “build-able” lot in Sandown costs about $130,000.00. That's 1 Lot !
Open space poses no expenses to the town, unlike housing developments. There are Sandown landowners who want to keep their land open and undeveloped and they are willing to sell the land or an easement to the Conservation Commission at a discount, which may qualify them Federal Tax breaks. The Commission can and will apply for State and Federal Grants that will match our money 1 to 1. If we put up $250,000.00 we can apply for $250.000.00, doubling our buying power.
The Sandown Conservation Commission urges the voters to support this and other Warrant Articles submitted by the Commission at the Town Meeting Deliberative Session on February 7, 2004 and again at the Town Meeting Elections on March 9, 2004 .
The Conservation Commission cannot pursue these opportunities alone and we would like to involve more Sandown residents in this effort by creating an “Open Space Acquisition Subcommittee” which may include people with backgrounds in, Real Estate, the Law, Insurances as well as regular folks who have an interest in this area.
If you would like to read, the proposed Warrant Articles submitted by the Conservation Commission or to get involved in the efforts of the Sandown Conservation Commission please visit our temporary web page at, www.sandown.us click on “departments” then Conservation Commission or e-mail at comments@sandownconservationcommission.org .
• Increase Conservation Awareness, Education and Outreach Programs
One of the biggest challenges facing all of us in Sandown is a lack of communication! The town is growing so fast that it is difficult to keep up with what is going on with our town or for voters to prepare themselves for “Town Meeting” votes. This was also another area of most concern expressed by the attendees at the Sandown Community Profile Project. The common theme was that obtaining information or understanding the weekly and monthly activities of the town government was not as easy as it should be. The Sandown Conservation Commission concurs.
The Commission is presently updating our communication efforts and we have targeted certain areas for this upcoming year. In November the Commission created an “Awareness, Education and Outreach Officer” who'll be focused on communication efforts from, newspaper articles, channel 17 projects, mailers, flyers as well as utilizing the power of the world wide web by building and maintaining our own informative web site.
We think that because we all lead busy fast-paced lives, the fastest way to communicated in 2004 and beyond, will be a well constructed, and timely updated Sandown Conservation Commission “Web Site”.
Sandown residents who are connected to the web can read meeting minutes to see what projects of the Conservation Commission is supporting or working on. They will also be able to review Sandown's “Conservation Land Inventories” as well as how they can access trails, recreational opportunities and special events without leaving their home 24 hours a day!
The Commission will focus on this particular effort early on in 2004 and we welcome comments and input from all residents. There is grants money available for funding communication efforts including building and maintaining a “Web Site” that the Commission will be pursuing.
To further our communication efforts the Commission has added a second monthly meeting and now meets on the 2 nd and 4 th Thursday's of each month with the exception of November and December, when the regular meetings are planned for the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday's, due to the Holidays. The meetings are public and we encourage public input.
• Develop an Open Space Management Plan
The Commission will be developing and implementing an “Open Space Management Plan” in 2004. This first step in this process started in late 2003 by taking a detailed land inventory. A discovery during the land inventory project was that some of the “Town Owned” parcels do not appear to be as large today as they were originally recorded in the town records. Most of these lots have not had an official land survey and have very old records and deeds.
The next step in the management plan is to identify the boundaries and the process of hiring professional surveyors will be quite costly. However ignoring these issues and boundary errors could be more costly.
The Conservation Commission applied for a “Grant” of $5,000.00 to pay for the survey and environmental assessment costs for one (1) town owned parcel of land. This parcel was originally recorded in 1944 as 82-acre and now looks like 30 – 40 on today's town maps. We hope to be awarded this grant money in early 2004. If we are awarded this money, we hope to have the results of the land survey and environmental report by the end of 2004.
Other land uses and management of “ Conservation Land ” will be discussed ongoing in 2004 and the Commission welcomes input from the residents of Sandown.
• Develop a Forestry Management Plan
Sandown has two “Town Forests” pursuant to RSA 31:110 , which by definition are protected or considered “ Conservation Land ” and therefore, are not parcels included in our “Land Grant” Warrant Articles for the 2004 ballot.
However, The Fremont Road Town Forest, about 34-acres and the Seeley Parcel, about 20-acres do not have an up-to-date Forestry Management Plan. It is very important that we properly manage these two “Town Forests” and the Conservation Commission is researching and will be developing the best forestry management plan for our needs.
During our meeting on December 18, 2003 , the Commission had an eye opening “Forestry” presentation given by Mathew Tarr, Rockingham Country Forester part of the UNH Co-operative Extension.
We are in the very early stages of this plan and we welcome input from Sandown residents. Some of the reasons for proper forestry management include; planting, thinning, harvesting, reforestation and other land management programs. We also want to implement these parcels as well as others into the “Sandown Trails System” and the overall forestry plan will factor in trails integration.
• Develop a network of non-motorized recreation trials
In November 2003, the Sandown Conservation Commission along with the Sandown Recreation Commission and Sandown Historical Society and Depot Museum began to develop a “Trails Subcommittee” with hopes of building and maintaining a trails network in Sandown and possibly linking with our neighboring towns.
We have held two in a series of three informational meetings with the third meeting scheduled sometime in February. We already have 25–30 residents who have attended the meetings and expressed an interest in this project however more volunteer input is needed for success.
This is a major undertaking and is a long-term project with long-term benefits for the Town. The focus of the committee will be on non-motorized trails at first. There are already some possible sites and old discontinued roads for trails but there is a lot more research needed. If you would like to get involved with the new trails subcommittee please e-mail us at trails@sandownconservationcommission.org or call Mark Traeger at 887-8859.
These are the goals of the Sandown Conservation Commission for 2004 and they are extremely aggressive. We need to accomplish these goals soon because Sandown is behind schedule when it comes to “Conservation” issues. We have not kept pace with development, we need more volunteers and the support of the voters. All input, support and help welcome!
Respectfully submitted by The Sandown Conservation Commission:
Brian Butler
Paul Carey
Dave LaFleur
Matt Russell
Eddy St Pierre
Chuck Crowe
Mark Traeger
Steve Brown , Selectmen's Liaison
The Sandown Conservation Commission would like to thank the following for their input and support :
Sandown Board of Selectmen and Office Staff
Sandown Planning Board and Office Staff
Sandown Recreation Commission
The Depot Museum and Historical Society
The NH Association of Conservation Commissions
NH Department of Environmental Services
The Rockingham Planning Commission
The Town Engineer Steve Keach of Keach Nordstrom
Town Attorney John Ratigan
Environmental Consultant/Wetland Specialist Gerry Miller
Bob Spoerl of the NH Trails Bureau
Mathew Tarr County Forester
Mark and Catherine Hevesh of Tangram Marketing