HB397: permitting towns and cities to deny a planning board application by a vote of the legislative body.

HB 397 - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0377

08/10

HOUSE BILL 397

AN ACT permitting towns and cities to deny a planning board application by a vote of the legislative body.

SPONSORS: Rep. J. Dunn, Ches 25; Rep. Hammond, Graf 18; Rep. Brueggemann, Merr 40; Rep. P. Allen, Ches 27

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill provides a procedure for towns and cities to disapprove certain applications to the planning board by a vote of the municipality's legislative body.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0377

08/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT permitting towns and cities to deny a planning board application by a vote of the legislative body.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Disapproval by Vote of Legislative Body. Amend RSA 676:4 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:

V.(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a municipality may disapprove an application filed with the planning board by vote of a majority of the qualified voters of the municipality voting on the question at an annual or special meeting or regular election, pursuant to a petition signed and submitted in accordance with subparagraph (b).

(b) A petition for a vote on the question of disapproving an application under this section shall be signed by not less than 3 percent of the qualified voters of the municipality, and presented to the legislative body or the clerk of the municipality any time before the final approval of the application by the planning board.

(c) When a petition is submitted in accordance with subparagraph (b), the governing body of the municipality shall place the question on the disapproval of the application on the warrant for the next annual or special meeting or on the ballot for the next regular municipal election to determine whether the voters will disapprove the application.

(d) Not less than 2 copies of the application shall be posted at each polling place during the hours of voting, and copies thereof made available to voters at the polls on request. It shall be sufficient to refer to the application by the general description of the proposal.

(e) If a petition for a vote is submitted in accordance with this paragraph, to determine whether an application shall be disapproved by the voters of the municipality, the application shall be approved by the planning board, unless a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question vote to disapprove the application in which event it shall be denied by the planning board.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.