CANAAN — An Upper Valley town that has opposed past attempts to enact zoning laws is exploring whether to implement new rules governing development in one of its neighborhoods.

The Canaan Planning Board will hold a public hearing next week to discuss a proposed zoning ordinance for the Canaan Historic District, which encompasses the area around Canaan Street.

If approved at Town Meeting, the ordinance would limit what types of buildings are allowed in the district, regulate its signs and set height and lot requirements.

However, the ordinance wouldn’t change how the town treats private property in the district because its proposed rules already are enforced through Canaan’s historic district regulations.

Canaan Street was first known as Broad Street and was “laid out in 1788” with a plan that “provided for an orderly arrangement of attractive homesteads” near what is now known as Canaan Street Lake.

Planning Board Chairman John Bergeron said Wednesday that the zoning proposal was put forward by the town’s attorney who recently recommended that the historic district’s regulations be split into two places.

Those governing aesthetics, including paint schemes and building material, would continue to be part of the district regulations while land-use rules would go into the zoning ordinance, Bergeron said.

“The goal is not to add anything,” he said, adding that the single zoning ordinance would “round up” existing regulations and make them available in an easily accessible place.

It also would give Canaan’s Board of Adjustment, which rarely meets, the authority to mediate zoning disputes and appeals, including objections to Historic District Commission rulings.

Still, some town officials are skeptical and worry it could lead to townwide zoning, which has traditionally been rejected by residents.

Selectboad Chairman Scott Borthwick, who ran for office 13 years ago on an anti-zoning platform, said he opposes the proposed ordinance.

“Zoning is basically other people telling you what you can do with your property,” he said.

Borthwick went on to acknowledge that the rules within the proposal would largely match existing ones but, he said, “it’s still a zoning ordinance and that would mean that Canaan would have zoning.”

Canaan voters were last asked to approve a zoning ordinance in 2007 when the Planning Board put forward regulations for Canaan Village, Canaan Center and the area surrounding Route 4 and the Enfield town line.

That effort included minimum lot sizes that would have ranged from a quarter acre in the village to two acres in more rural areas, with exceptions proposed for those who would leave large portions of parcels undeveloped.

But after more than 20 public meetings and hearings, the proposal was defeated in a 494-310 ballot vote. The vote marked the second time in two decades that residents rejected a proposed zoning ordinance.

However, Bergeron pointed, Canaan has approved warrant articles governing land use since. For instance, residents in 2018 voted, 263-135, to enact regulations limiting large-scale wind projects.

Those regulations were in response to the Spruce Ridge Wind project, which sought to install 29 turbines across Canaan, Orange, Dorchester, Alexandria and Groton.

Bergeron added that the town also has land-use rules aiming to protect Canaan’s drinking water and prevent floods.

The Canaan Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning ordinance at 6:30 p.m. on Monday via teleconferencing software.

A draft of the regulations as well as login information for the meeting can be found at CanaanNH.org.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.