Meetings are held at 5pm on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at the South Hampton Town Hall
James VanBokkelen "28 Ron Preston"26 Eric Worthen "27
email: selectmen@southhamptonnh.org
Hello Residents,
On Tuesday, May 20th, at 7 PM at the South
Hampton Town Hall, the selectmen invite you as a resident South Hampton voter
to participate in our second town discussion of the year. The two topics are
real estate evaluations and future development in town. Participants raised
both in our first discussion in February.
The
basics of how our properties are assessed and how these evaluations determine
our twice-yearly tax bills are straightforward. However, the process is not
self-evident. If you have not heard it laid out, you should come. Chad Roberge
from Avitar Associates will be here to help give an overview and answer
questions.
You will also get a sense of the full complexity
of the process, which is not straightforward and which the state directs in
minute detail. The state provides selectmen with a manual that runs 209 pages
and references state laws in tiny print. If any of your questions range into
these depths, we will do our best to answer them or attempt to get answers for
you.
The
second topic is larger and harder. How would you see our town grow? The state
requires every municipality to have a master residential and business
development plan. Although it has been revised slightly, ours dates from 1990.
Our Planning Board is gearing up for a new edition, and that is a big project
requiring workgroups that you might be interested in joining. At issue are (1)
our zoning ordinances that set the parameters for new and updated housing and
businesses and (2) the related infrastructure and services and their costs.
South Hampton is greener and less populated than the surrounding communities,
which comes with benefits and challenges. Any changes we make in zoning will
impact our taxes and quality of life, often in unclear ways. These prospects
warrant discussion. Also, concerned with housing costs and economic
development, our state legislature regularly considers laws to override town
zoning in ways that could impact South Hampton significantly. Such proposals
and what lies behind them also warrant our attention.
On
the 20th, we can do no more than launch this second discussion. Still, we need
to begin. If we do nothing, change will come to South Hampton regardless. We
who live here will then have no say in what our town becomes. Currently, the
selectmen know what a few people in town think about development, but not many.
The whole town should weigh in. There is much about our community that deserves
preserving and some that needs improving. We should discuss both.
