§ 674:44 — Site Plan Review Regulations

I. Before the planning board exercises its powers under RSA 674:43, it shall adopt site plan review regulations according to the procedures required by RSA 675:6.
II. The site plan review regulations which the planning board adopts may:
(a) Provide for the safe and attractive development or change or expansion of use of the site and guard against such conditions as would involve danger or injury to health, safety, or prosperity by reason of:
(1) Inadequate drainage or conditions conducive to flooding of the property or that of another;
(2) Inadequate protection for the quality of groundwater;
(3) Undesirable and preventable elements of pollution such as noise, smoke, soot, particulates, or any other discharge into the environment which might prove harmful to persons, structures, or adjacent properties; and
(4) Inadequate provision for fire safety, prevention, and control.
(b) Provide for the harmonious and aesthetically pleasing development of the municipality and its environs.
(c) Provide for open spaces and green spaces of adequate proportions.
(d) Require the proper arrangement and coordination of streets within the site in relation to other existing or planned streets or with features of the official map of the municipality;
(e) Require suitably located streets of sufficient width to accommodate existing and prospective traffic and to afford adequate light, air, and access for firefighting apparatus and equipment to buildings, and be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system;
(f) Require, in proper cases, that plats showing new streets or narrowing or widening of such streets be submitted to the planning board for approval;
(g) Require that the land indicated on plats submitted to the planning board shall be of such character that it can be used for building purposes without danger to health;
(h) Include such provisions as will tend to create conditions favorable for health, safety, convenience, and prosperity;
(i) Require innovative land use controls on lands when supported by the master plan; and
(j) Require preliminary review of site plans.
(k) As a condition of site plan approval, require that the applicant protect or document archeological resources in areas of archeological sensitivity that have been identified in the master plan in accordance with RSA 674:2, III(h).
III. The site plan review regulations which the planning board adopts shall:
(a) Provide the procedures which the board shall follow in reviewing site plans;
(b) Define the purposes of site plan review;
(c) Specify the general standards and requirements with which the proposed development shall comply, including appropriate reference to accepted codes and standards for construction;
(d) Include provisions for guarantees of performance, including bonds or other security; and
(e) Include provision for waiver of any portion of the regulations. The basis for any waiver granted by the planning board shall be recorded in the minutes of the board. The planning board may only grant a waiver if the board finds, by majority vote, that:
(1) Strict conformity would pose an unnecessary hardship to the applicant and waiver would not be contrary to the spirit and intent of the regulations; or
(2) Specific circumstances relative to the site plan, or conditions of the land in such site plan, indicate that the waiver will properly carry out the spirit and intent of the regulations.
IV. The site plan review regulations of the planning board may stipulate, as a condition precedent to the approval of the plat, the extent to which and the manner in which streets shall be graded and improved and to which water, sewer, and other utility mains, piping, connections, or other facilities shall be installed. The regulations or practice of the planning board:
(a) May provide for the conditional approval of the plat before such improvements and installations have been constructed, but any such conditional approval shall not be entered upon that plat.
(b) Shall provide that, in lieu of the completion of street work and utility installations prior to the final approval of a plat, the planning board shall accept a performance bond, irrevocable letter of credit, or other type or types of security as shall be specified in the site plan review regulations. The planning board shall have the discretion to prescribe the type and amount of the bond or other security, require satisfactory evidence of the financial ability of any surety or financial institution to pay such bond or other type of security, and specify a period for completion of the improvements and utilities to be expressed in the bond or other security, in order to secure to the municipality the actual construction and installation of such improvements and utilities. The municipality shall have the power to enforce such bonds or other securities by all appropriate legal and equitable remedies.
V. The planning board may, as part of its site plan review regulations, require an applicant to pay all costs for notification of abutters and may provide for the assessment of reasonable fees to cover the board's administrative expenses and costs of special investigation and the review of documents and other matters which may be required by particular applications.

Legislative History

1983, 447:1. 1985, 103:21. 1986, 200:3. 1987, 256:3. 2004, 71:5. 2005, 33:2. 2009, 292:2. 2013, 76:3, eff. Jan. 1, 2014.