Bill To Prohibit Landfills Near State Parks Won’t Move Forward In 2020
The Caledonian-Record, June 9, 2020
Posted with permission
Robert Blechl
After nearly a year of public meetings by the Dalton Planning Board, which has been writing a zoning ordinance for a town that until last year did not have one, public comment is being invited for the draft zoning posted on the town web site.
The comment period closes June 26, planning board members said in a press release issued Sunday.
The draft ordinance is available on the town web site and hard copies will be available at the town office during regular business hours, and will also be available for viewing by appointment by calling 837-7027, ext. 10.
“Dalton residents are encouraged to provide feedback on this draft, and the Planning Board welcomes all constructive feedback (pro or con),” said planners.
Comments can be submitted online through the planning board website or by emailing planningboard@townofdalton.com, or delivered or mailed to Dalton Planning Board, 756 Dalton Rd., Dalton, NH 03598.
Town planners said they seek informal public comments as they recognize the difficulty of large public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and public participation via written feedback is encouraged.
When the final zoning ordinance is ready to go before Dalton residents for a vote, planners said there will be a notice of public hearing held prior to a town meeting.
In an update on the ordinance in March, Dalton planning board members said a vote would take place at a special town meeting later in 2020 or at the annual March town meeting in 2021.
The draft ordinance comes after a special town meeting vote in July 2019 in which residents voted 154-129 to adopt emergency temporary zoning in response to the proposed Casella Waste Systems landfill beside Forest Lake State Park.
Landfill Bill On Hold
Opponents of the landfill were hoping to have a some ammunition to fight it this year in the form of House Bill 1319, sponsored by state Rep. Elaine French, R-Littleton, which seeks to prohibit landfills within two miles of any state park.
Casella’s proposal is within that distance from Forest Lake State Park.
HB 1319 passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives in March and was expected to soon be taken up by the New Hampshire Senate.
In an email last week, however, a legislative aide notified Whitefield resident Sarah Doucette, member of the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, that the bill will not be taken up by the Senate in 2020.
Doucette had written earlier to state Rep. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, to ask her if the bill would be considered this session.
“I spoke to the leadership staff and unfortunately due to the partisan vote on the bill out of the House, the bill will not be moving forward,” Jennifer Horgan, a legislative aide, wrote to Doucette on Wednesday.
Recent opposition to the bill came from the Androscoggin Valley Regional Refuse Disposal District, which runs the Mt. Carberry landfill near Berlin, and in a letter to the Senate in May said the legislation as written and without amendments would harm it and its member communities.
French plans to keep the bill moving forward and to address concerns.
“Provided I’m reelected, I will be resubmitting it and making sure it has the Carberry stamp of approval,” she said Monday. “If I’m not reelected, I will find somebody to reintroduce it.”