Lyndeborough will have seven zoning amendments for March’s ballot, including allowing detached accessory dwelling units, updating conditions for home businesses and updating the definition of “wetland.”

Zoning amendments are proposed by the Planning Board or by citizen petition, and are approved by the voting public with a majority vote during Town Voting in March.

The first amendment is to update the definition of “wetland,” adding language to the zoning ordinance that defines wetlands as being identified and delineated on the National Wetlands Inventory available on the NH GRANIT website, granit.unh.edu, or that have been delineated in a site-specific analysis by a wetland scientist.

The same amendment would eliminate the current language in the ordinance about the boundaries of the Wetland District, which currently encompasses all areas identified as poorly and very poorly drained soils identified by various state and regional reports, and instead relying on on the NH GRANIT wetlands inventory or individual identification by a wetlands scientist.

The second amendment requires that fences cannot be built in a way that blocks safe sight distance on the road. The current ordinance allows fences up to six feet high without a building permit, limits fences at a total height of 10 feet and states that all fences must be constructed at least a foot from the property line, which would remain the same under the amendment. New language specifies that the fence must not block line of sight from a roadway or intersection, or from an abutting driveway.

The third proposed amendment creates a new definition for both “home business” and “home occupation” and changes the conditions for approval of home businesses.

The previous definition for a home business was that it must be “incidental and subordinate” to the residential use. The new definition is expanded, allowing any occupation or profession carried on by the occupant of a residential building or an accessory building, which “does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use.” 

The new definition also includes four provisions, noting that a home business has traffic due to customers or suppliers in excess of what is normal for the district, water or sanitation impacts in excess of what is normal for residential use, production of noise, odors, dust or smoke in excess of what a residential homeowner might produce or storage or use of hazardous materials.

A home occupation, under the new definitions, has a minimal impact of traffic, water or waste management or sanitation.

The fourth amendment would allow detached accessory dwelling units in town. Currently, the zoning ordinance allows ADUs, but only “within or attached to a single-family dwelling.” Additional language would allow detached ADUs either as newly constructed buildings or conversions of existing accessory buildings, but specifically disallows manufactured housing units and recreational vehicles as ADUs. The new language also specifies that ADUs may not contain more than two bedrooms and should not exceed more than 2,000 square feet.

The fifth amendment provides new definitions for “short-term rentals” and “resident owner.”

A resident owner owns a dwelling unit in town, either directly or through a trust, and resides there at least 120 days of the year. A short-term rental would be the use of any dwelling or portion of a dwelling for lodging for guests paying a fee, for periods of less than 30 consecutive days. It does not include rooming houses or hotels, as defined by the fire code.

Under the new amendment, short-term rentals, which would include services such as Airbnb, would be allowed if the home is operated by the owner, includes no additions or changes that would make it impractical to revert the building back to a purely residential use, and that two off-street parking spaces for the owners, one for each rental unit and one for each employee be provided. The existing septic must support the increased load of the rental.

Amendment six replaces the term “special exception” with “conditional use permit.”

Amendment seven would eliminate the sections in the ordinance for “exclusive optional method of developing large tracts of land” and “conservation lands,” both of which are methods of subdivision.

The amendment would replace those options with a “large lot overlay district.” The district would allow a subdivision of any parcel with is 50 acres or larger in any Rural Lands zoning district, as long as it meets three criteria: the average size of the subdivision shall not be less than 25 acres, with a minimum of 10 acres; the lots must be accessible by an existing Class V or private road; and no further subdivisions are permitted using private roads.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.