Council votes unanimously to spend $175K for zoning rewrite

LACONIA — After a public hearing, council voted unanimously to spend $174,000 in InvestNH Municipal Grant funds to rewrite and modernize the city’s zoning ordinance, at a meeting Monday night.

The city’s current zoning ordinance has not been “comprehensively updated” since 1995. Assistant Planning Director Tyler Carmichael recommended council authorize $150,000 for the project, which includes public outreach, mapping and visualization, adoption and implementation support, project management, development of a new code framework, regulatory assessment, and preparation of the community development code. Carmichael also recommended council authorize an additional $24,000 for a comprehensive zoning map redesign at a cost of $24,000, and interactive zoning map, along with training, for $14,000.

The regulatory assessment will evaluate and identify outdated provisions, conflicting requirements, administrative barriers, and seek out opportunities for simplification.

The Community Code Development project aims to continue to protect the community through appropriate standards and minimizing regulatory complexity. The new code will make the development review process more predictable, with clearer standards, and outlining administrative procedures to be more understandable.

The additional zoning map redesign will make zoning information easier to locate and understand. The redesign will improve upon the city’s zoning map, and the interactive online map will allow users to easily identify regulations, such as dimensional standards and applicable districts. Carmichael believes the zoning map redesign is essential to support informed public and private investment in Laconia, allowing the city to execute smart growth policies.

The project emphasizes public transparency, including illustrations and flowcharts, using plain language, code organization, and comprehensive mapping.

To spark community engagement, the project may also include open houses, council presentations, developer and business roundtable discussions, surveys, and public workshops. Throughout the process, the public’s input will be captured and used to improve draft code provisions, aiming to give residents an opportunity to be a part of Laconia’s long-term development framework.

The project could have cost up to $244,000, if the planning department thought it necessary to include a design or pattern handbook for $50,000, and an administrative procedures manual for $20,000.

“The planning department and I, we met, and we don't support those additional ones,” City Manager Kirk Beattie said. “We were just showing, sort of, there were some additional options out there. We think this is the best fit for what we're trying to do.”

“So, you don't foresee you coming back and saying to us, 'We need additional money to bring it to 244?'” Councilor Robert Soucy (Ward 2) asked. “This is probably the most important thing we’ve done in a long time, and it’s going to really lay out a lot. I just want to make sure we’re not trying to be penny wise.”

Beattie emphasized the benefits the zoning ordinance changes will have for taxpayers.

“I will just note that this won’t start tomorrow. This is going to start after the Master Plan is accepted and approved, which we know, within a month or two, of having that done. We’ve already awarded a bid to it, so the company's ready to go,” Beattie said.

Clarifying the process for councilors on Monday night, Carmichael said while state law requires the planning board to adopt the Master Plan, the final approval and adoption of the zoning ordinance rewrite will come from city council.

A public hearing gathered community input on the project.

“Earlier this week, we had a great presentation, and Mr. [Rob] Mora and Mr. Carmichael gave an update on how our Master Plan is going, very exciting. But that document will not become viable without rewriting our zoning ordinance, and you all know that. So, therefore, I'm really going to request that you grant this request, to invest the money to make sure we update and modernize our system,” Marcia Hayward, a member of the zoning board, said. 

Mike Mills, a resident of White Oaks Road, also spoke in favor of the rewrite.

“My understanding of the rewrite is that the neighborhood heritage district designation is also going to be considered for this,” Mills said. “And I'm definitely in favor of that, as well as everybody on my road that I talked to. White Oaks Road really needs to preserve its distinctive historic character. We want to preserve its rural appearance, stone walls, open spaces, scenic views and natural landscapes.”

Council voted unanimously to spend $174,000 in grant funds for the city’s zoning ordinance, opting out of the additional products the planning department found unnecessary.

Laconia’s Master Plan is expected to be updated and completed in the next two months. Beattie said the zoning ordinance rewrite will be “right on the heels” of that completion.