Hanover Town Meeting is May 10. Residents may cast their ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hanover High School gymnasium and attend the floor meeting at 7 p.m. in the same place.
Hanover
If voters approve all expenditures during the floor meeting, budget documents predict an average municipal tax rate increase of almost 1.6 percent, or an extra 10 cents per $1,000 of valuation. That translates to $40 more on a $400,000 house, though the actual amount will vary between the town’s fire districts.
In balloted voting, Dartmouth junior Brian Chen is challenging Selectboard Vice Chairman Athos Rassias for a three-year seat.
Chen, who writes for the conservative campus publication The Dartmouth Review, confirmed he was running on Wednesday. He declined to comment further, saying he had not yet “formally launched” his campaign.
Rassias, a physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who is seeking his fourth term on the board, could not be reached for comment.
The Town Meeting warrant also includes a long list of proposed zoning amendments, many of which municipal officials say are intended to clean up the town’s code and conform to new and current state statutes.
Town Manager Julia Griffin said it was “somewhat unusual” to have 13 zoning amendments on the warrant, though many of them are “housekeeping” measures.
“We rely on voters to do their homework by looking at the warrant and the background report to demystify those amendments and see what they’re about,” she said, adding that Hanover’s Planning and Zoning Department soon will release a video explaining the proposed changes.
One zoning amendment would ease height and setback restrictions in the campus “institutional” district near West Wheelock Street, where Dartmouth hopes to build a parking garage.
The only zoning measures lacking Planning Board support are the warrant’s two petitioned articles. The first, which made a failed appearance at last year’s Town Meeting, would change the current method of measuring building height, which some residents say can lead to houses taller than they desire.
For structures with peaked roofs, Hanover now takes the average height between the eaves and the ridge. The amendment would instead have the town measure to the highest point of the building’s roof.
Hovey Lane resident Bryant Denk said the proposal was in response to the construction of a large house on the hill above. The home rising on Ledyard Lane has a steep roof that, despite being in line with existing code, is too tall for his and other neighbors’ liking.
“It’s really not that restrictive,” Denk said of the amendment that he submitted. “It’s saying the max is the max.”
The second petitioned article, submitted by a resident who was denied a variance to add a second floor to his home, would increase the size limit allowed in expansions not conforming with surrounding zoning.
During the floor portion of the meeting, residents also will consider a number of land-use agreements involving the town.
On downtown Allen Street, a landowner is seeking to enter into a five-year lease with the municipality to use his property as a 16-space public parking lot.
And in Lebanon, voters may approve a Dartmouth land donation intended to facilitate the construction of a second ice rink that would abut Campion Rink.
That gift will not go through, according to Griffin, unless the expansion receives all necessary permits from the city of Lebanon.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or at 603-727-3242.