The Case for Hanover’s Article 10

On behalf of Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, I ask Hanover residents to vote “yes” on Article 10 at Town Meeting on Tuesday.

Article 10 requests a change in setback and limited maximum-height requirements in one specific portion of the “I” (Institutional, i.e., Dartmouth) zoning district: a parcel adjacent to the Thayer School. The zoning change is needed to permit construction of an additional building for the school that would match the height of our current facility and be intimately connected to it, allowing for seamless integration of the interdisciplinary programs that enable our entrepreneurial environment to flourish to the benefit of the Upper Valley. The new building would also house Dartmouth’s Computer Science Department, facilitating collaboration between the digital and engineered worlds.

As part of the zoning proposal process and in conjunction with the Hanover Planning Board, we met with West Wheelock neighbors and other parties to seek their input and discuss any concerns. Article 10 is the result of that process and has addressed concerns: A parking facility on West Wheelock Street is not proposed, and the proposed building and onsite parking will not overwhelm or otherwise negatively impact the neighborhood because of the topography and planned pedestrian and traffic improvements along West Wheelock. The Hanover Planning Board unanimously recommends that Town Meeting adopt Article 10.

A “yes” vote would allow Thayer to expand its positive impact on the region and the world. With student interest in engineering at an all-time high, our undergraduate numbers continue to grow. We’re proud that half of the students in our current senior engineering class are women, far above the 19 percent national average. Our students mentor Upper Valley pupils through science programs, Lego League and Junior Solar Sprints. Our researchers work on sustainable energy solutions and partner with Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinicians to advance medical technologies. A third of our professors have founded companies, providing jobs in the Upper Valley while turning research into technologies and products that benefit people everywhere.

I urge Hanover residents to help us continue to serve society through engineering by voting “yes” on Article 10.

Joseph J. Helble,
Dean, Thayer School of Engineering

Hanover

Please Support Amendment 14

I am the sponsor of Amendment 14 on Tuesday’s ballot in Hanover. I am humbly asking you to vote for allowing expansion of a non-conforming property to increase from 20 percent to 65 percent. I own one of the ugliest houses in Hanover. I’m fixing it up and have already gotten much done, but now I’m stopped by a rule.

There is simply no good reason for this. My old house is a non-conforming duplex built on a single-family lot, (built as a duplex before zoning rules came into effect), and that’s the problem. Non-conforming properties cannot expand by more than 20 percent. If the rule were enforced regarding expansion of the footprint, (the foundation), that would make sense. However, the rule is enforced in such a manner that I cannot put the second floor on top of my existing first floor. This is nothing short of bureaucratic lunacy.

That’s why I am asking voters to allow the expansion allowance to increase to 65 percent. Please help me. Without your support, I will have to kick out my low-income tenants and declare my property a single-family home to proceed. My tenants are good people who need low-income housing in Hanover and there is not enough of it to go around. Two of the fellows make sandwiches for us in downtown Hanover. How are they supposed to get to work, (park in Hanover?), if they are forced to live far away to have reasonably priced housing?

You can contact me at bosniamail@yahoo.com or 603-727-8032 if you have any questions.

Warren Coughlin

Hanover

Don’t Shame Girls With Dress Code

Woodstock’s dress code issue is asking the wrong question. Dress codes should never be about “distraction,” which leads to blaming girls for boys’ misbehavior and brings about the worst behavior in the adults charged with enforcing this blame-game. A dress code should be about self-respect and dressing for success: If the parents wouldn’t wear it to work, then the kids shouldn’t wear it to school. School is a formal environment for learning, with rules and standards. Everyone’s dress should reflect that. As for the boys misbehaving, the assembly should have been for them, conducted by the grown men, to teach them about decent, civilized behavior.

 Katie Friedland

Norwich