The natural setting of Monadnock is being challenged every day. A group of concerned local citizens...
...has organized to preserve the natural setting of Mt. Monadnock and the Mountain Zone and to challenge the exploitation of Mt. Monadnock and the Mountain Zone.
...has organized to preserve the natural setting of Mt. Monadnock and the Mountain Zone and to challenge the exploitation of Mt. Monadnock and the Mountain Zone.
Citizens for the Protection of Mount Monadnock (P.O. Box 62, Jaffrey NH 03452) is a local organization including H. Charles Royce, President, and board members Ann Royce, Richard and Heather Ames, Ken and Suze Campbell, Janey Grant, Jack and Stephanie Minteer, and Cassius and Anne Webb. All donations are tax deductible.
On June 10 the New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments on their challenge of the Van Dyke Mountain Zone development plan approved by the Town of Jaffrey. Click to hear oral arguments on a webcast (scroll down to June 10 at left).
The letter of June 22 from H. Charles Royce, President of Citizens for the Protection of Mount Monadnock, Inc., to friends in the region, will appear here shortly.
The letter below from H. Charles Royce, President of Citizens for the Protection of Mount Monadnock, Inc., on November 6, 2009 (abridged), describes the citizens' concerns:
Dear Friends,
Imagine you are climbing Mt. Monadnock, the symbol of our region and a National Natural Landmark that annually draws thousands of hikers and new residents to this region. You reach the summit, look southeast and your view of rural New England is disturbingly interrupted by 28 suburban houses, spaced 30 feet apart at the base of the mountain in Jaffrey's Mountain Zone, which permits only rural residential and agricultural uses and only "small changes" in zoning.
Since 2004, the Forest Society and 22 property owners and Citizens for the Protection of Mt. Monadnock, Inc. (CPMM) have succeeded in reducing the proposed development at 100 Mountain Road from 40 to 28 units. We believe applicable zoning ordinances would allow a maximum of 9 to 11 single family houses -- not 28. If the recent Superior Court decision favoring the developer and the Jaffrey land use boards stands, it would set a dangerous precedent. It would allow an increase in housing density 100% above the limits set by Jaffrey voters expressly to avoid "exploitation in a zone immediately adjacent to the (Monadnock) highlands." (Note that the voters of Jaffrey, Dublin, Marlborough and Troy created the Mountain Zone in the 1990s precisely to prevent this kind of development project.)
The Forest Society and the property owners, who include all the CPMM board members, are now going before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, confident that the Court will rule that Jaffrey's Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment have acted unlawfully and unreasonably. Developers are watching this case closely. The current court decision not only threatens the future rural character and beauty of Monadnock, it could also have serious implications for municipal zoning statewide. Open Space Development Plans (OSDP) are generally geared toward permanently preserving otherwise developable land and protecting natural resources in exchange for a slight increase in development density. The is a case where the developer is running roughshod over the very spirit and intent of an OSDP, doubling development density, not preserving otherwise developable land, and hiding the true impact upon the natural resources of he property. The decision could also set a dangerous precent permitting developers to utilize the condominium form of ownership and by-pass otherwise applicable land use restrictions (e.g. once principal structure per lot).
Attorney Peter J. Loughlin, renowned land use law expert in the State of New Hampshire, feels strongly enough about the merits of the case that he has agreed to join the CPMM legal team, headed by James P. Bassett of Orr & Reno. Attorney Loughlin is the author of New Hampshire's leading treatise on last use law an is cited regularly by the NH Supreme Court and the state trial courts. The core issues we are raising at the NH Supreme Court are: 1) whether the Town properly applied its zoning ordinance in determining that 28 units is a legally appropriate concentration of development on these 17 acres, 2) whether the Town is properly protecting its wetlands in this development, and 3) whether the Town properly has allowed variances from its zoning and wetland ordinances for this development. CPMM believes the Town has failed its duty to uphold its laws. Again, the voters of Jaffrey, Dublin, Marlborough and Troy created the Mountain Zone in the 1990s precisely to prevent this kind of development project.
For more information write to: CPMM, P.O. Box 62, Jaffrey NH 03452. H. Charles Royce, President (former State Representative).
