CNHRPC staff provide assistance to member communities which manifests itself in many ways.  

• General assistance can include ordinance and regulation review, consultations for Master Plans and Capital Improvement Programs (CIP), access to data or GIS data, traffic counts, and technical assistance for planning issues.

• Specialized assistance is available to member communities for Master Plan and CIP preparation and updates, circuit rider planning, development review, grant writing, revisions to ordinances and regulations, GIS mapping projects, and other opportunities.

• Other specialized assistance develops projects to help communities, such as Hazard Mitigation Plans, Corridor Studies, and others.

• Local Board and Committee members can benefit from the many meetings and workshops the CNHRPC organizes or hosts yearly, including Full Commission meetings with guest speakers, Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings, Regional Resource Conservation Committee/Conservation Commission Institute meetings and workshops, Community Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) workshops, and others.

Local 2010 Zoning Amendments
What are other communities in the region working on for zoning ordinance amendments? We have compiled a list with the help of Town and City staff and/or volunteers. Thank you to all who contributed. We can connect you to your neighbor, or email the file they may have shared with us, if you’d like more information on any of them. Email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Select 2009/2010 Land Use Law Changes

There are recent changes in land use law that Board members and staff should be aware of while performing Planning and Zoning Board duties.

Senate Bill 189 which came into effect on September 14 has made changes to the responsibilities of land use boards. The legislation includes:

(1)Requiring land use boards to make copies of written decisions available to applicants.
(2)Requiring the recording of written decisions with or on the plats.
(3)Changing the time frame for public access to certain minutes to conform to the change made in the right-to-know law.

House Bill 156 which came into effect on August 8 authorizes Planning Boards to require third party review and inspection.

Land use board minutes must be made available for inspection within five business days beginning January 1, 2010 per House Bill 210.

The Local Government Center developed the Final 2009 Legislative Bulletin which addresses these and several other important changes. Pages 14-15 of the Bulletin summarize new planning and zoning laws, most of which are now in effect. Please discuss the information in the Bulletin with your Board (find complete bills online here) and revise your procedures as necessary.