I attempted to address the Town Council at their 3/3/2025 meeting. I had originally written a 5 page document, but after reading several times found I would not be able to finish it in the allotted 5 minutes the Town Council allows. I edited out several pages and thought I could speed read through it, but I was wrong. When I reached the 5 minute mark the chair responded ‘Sir your time is up’ and would not allow me to finish the last few paragraphs.
I will note that another speaker exceed his time, but another resident ask that her time be yielded to him. Town Council rules do not allow time to be yielded, but the chair responded that his rules can be overruled by the Council, after a vote by the council the speaker was granted an additional 5 minutes.
Public comment continued and the chair closed public comment. Councilor Farrell as is his habit addressed some of my comments, I was unable to respond since public comment had been closed.
Councilor Farrell then backtracked on his claims and stated he was not an expert in impact fees stating he merely read the law, yet not one person who is experienced with impact fees agrees with the matching fund requirement.
Below is the text as written. I will attach the video of the meeting below.
Good evening and thanks for giving me the time to address the council.
I as many others in the community feel Londonderry is facing an ever growing issue with development. I understand that as a growing community controlling development is a very challenging issue. We’ve been told many times ‘Property owners have the right to develop their properties’
My concern is that I do not believe the town council has addressed the rapid growth Londonderry is experiencing. In the last few years, a growth management ordinance has been proposed several times, unfortunately the topic of growth only seems to be addressed shortly before an election. Last year at this time it was again suggested that a growth management ordinance be studied by the council, unfortunately in the year since nothing has been done and the council has taken very little action to investigate growth and development.
What we have been told is that the town needs tools to address growth and development. In the past the town used impact fees to offset the costs of infrastructure caused by new development in town. Impact fees were assessed on new construction and paid to the town. Those fees could be used to offset the infrastructure needed in town.
Recently a video put out by town council candidate John Farrell discussed Impact Fees. In the video Mr. Farrell stated that the town no longer uses impact Fees because they require matching funds. In lieu of impact fees the Town has chosen to use Development Agreements which he claims are much more beneficial to the town. It was stated that if we get $1,000,000, we need to find a $1,000,000’ implying that matching funds were required.
When I heard this, I was surprised because I don’t recall matching fees being required in the past so what I did what most people do now and consulted Google. I googled matching funds for impact fees in NH and I could find virtually no information that required matching funds. I reached out to several other people in town, and no one recalled matching funds being needed for impact fees.
I reached out to the candidate Farrell on his reelection Facebook page and asked for clarification about the matching funds. Mr. Farrell responded:
Mr Douglas impact fees are for a portion of improvements under the state regulations with many restrictions. The Town has found that Development Agreements are much more effect with less improvement restrictions and less overall cost to the community. They are designed to have the development/project carry the line share of the needed improvements. It’s my understanding that Ms. Caron the ATM will be bringing a comprehensive presentation to the Community in the near future so that residents have a clear understanding. Thank you for your question.
Unfortunately, this did not answer the question I asked. What funds are required to use impact fees?
I reached out to Kristine Perez who had asked about impact fees recently at a council meeting if she had any information that required matching funds for impact fees. Ms. Perez reached out to several people.
Brody Duchesse: NH Municipal Association
Diane Pauer: Chairman Municipal and County Government
David Scanlon; Secretary of State
Noah Hodgetts: Office of Planning & Development – NH Economy
Heather Shank NH State Senior Planner
All these individuals stated that impact fees do not require matching fees.
I also contacted Kellie Caron, the Assistant Town and Director of Economic Development. I asked for all development agreements for projects currently under construction in the town and was sent for the agreement for Woodmont Commons, when I asked about other agreements the response was there are no other projects under construction that have an agreement.
I responded to the Assistant Town Manager and asked for all previous agreements last Thursday, as of today I have not received any. My question is if Development Agreements are used in lieu of Impact Fees how is it that we only have one agreement?
I’d like to also like to address something else that was brought up in the video it was stated that the reason Mr. Farrell ran for town council was he got a phone call from Art Rugg, the Planning Board Chairman, asking him to meet with the developers of Woodmont. Mr. Farrell stated after meeting with them he realized they were going to build and wanted to run for the council to have input and control of what was being built.
If we go back to another video filmed in 2010 the same candidate stated that he was aware of the sale of Woodmont Commons two years prior to the video that would have been 2008.
Woodmont was zoned AR1 (Agricultural / Residential) in 2008. AR1 zoning restricts what can be built in the zone.
The Planned Unit Development (PUD) passed in 2010 allowed for changing the zoning in property contained in a PUD. The expanded zoning allows for commercial buildings, a restaurant, hotel, etc that could not be in an AR1 zone.
Chairman states 10 seconds left.
I began to summarize my last 10 seconds when the Council Chairman the stated ‘Sir Your Time is Up’
The text below was not read:
The PUD was passed January 4th, 2010, Town Councilor Brian Farmer stated:
“this can forever change the face of Londonderry this ordinance what we are doing right here can forever change Londonderry’
Shortly after the PUD passed the Londonderry Times, Union Leader, Derry News, and other news outlets broke to story that Woodmont Apple Orchards had been sold. Several articles mentioned that developers were watching the PUD process closely stating the project could not have been built without it.
The PUD was developed by the Planning Board and subsequently approved by the Londonderry Town Council. I think it’s important to note that Mr. Farrell served on the planning board prior to being elected to the Town Council.
Going back to the beginning, development is hard to manage.
Property owners have a right to develop their property, but they must develop their property in accordance with the zoning regulations of the town.
Zoning has changed significantly over the years in Town.
As I said earlier, I don’t believe this council has done much to stem development. In fact, it appears we give incentives to developers to come here, and we’re told there are development agreements which protect the town. The reality is we only have one agreement.
We need the council to seriously look at the development in this town in the upcoming year. I’m not saying that there should be no development, but long time residents are continually being asked to pick up the tab for the cost of new construction.
Councilor Ron Dunn has submitted a Bill, HB 471, AN ACT establishing a commission to study issues related to growth, traffic, planning and land use for certain towns. Londonderry and 9 other towns are listed. I’m looking forward to what recommendations the commission will recommend if the bill passes.
Thank-you
To summarize many of the people that claim to be addressing development in town have been key in bringing development to town and changing the zoning regulations. These changes allowed for larger development and increased traffic. With all the talk about Development Agreements why do we only have one agreement in place for project under construction?
Related Posts:
History of the Planned Unit Development (PUD)
I was Town Treasurer when we had Impact Fees in past years and we never “chipped in” or matched any money collected. They were discontinued some years ago when building had slowed.
Betsy McKinney