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Planning Board Regular Meeting

Town of Hillsborough · Planning Board
Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 6:30 pm

Regular meeting Historic preservationComprehensive planElections and districtsHousing and affordabilityIntergovernmental agreementsParks and recreationStormwater and floodingZoning text amendment

Agenda document Full packet Minutes Meeting page Watch

What's on this agenda

Hillsborough's Planning Board spent most of its September 18 meeting on the town's rewrite of its Unified Development Ordinance. Staff walked members through how zoning has grown since 1968, from nine base districts to 21 today, and flagged that several residential districts now overlap so closely in lot size and use that they could be combined. The board also discussed whether to change the boundary of the town's 1973 historic district, after a member argued the district has become more burden than benefit for property owners inside it.

The board approved its prior minutes and a calendar change by unanimous votes and heard updates on a floodplain variance the Board of Adjustment granted for the Orange County elections building and on the Parks and Recreation Board's work on a Riverwalk master plan. No formal votes were taken on the historic district or UDO topics themselves; both remain open discussions ahead of a projected August 2026 adoption date.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Speaking at this meeting

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Agenda items (11)

Procedural · 5Discussion item · 3Staff or committee report · 2Minutes approval · 1
  1. 1 Call to order and confirmation of quorum
    Procedural
    The board appointed a member to chair the meeting in the absence of both the chair and vice chair.
    Approved 4-0
  2. 2 Agenda changes and approval
    Procedural
    The board reordered the agenda to put the UDO rewrite discussion last.
    Approved 4-0
  3. 3.A Minutes for special joint meeting on August 21, 2025
    Minutes approval
    Routine approval of prior minutes.
    Approved 4-0
  4. 4.A Calendar change for October 2025
    Procedural
    The board moved its October meeting from October 16 to October 23 to accommodate a staff conflict.
    Approved 4-0
  5. 5.A Historic District Overlay and Historic District Commission
    Discussion item Historic preservation
    Staff reviewed the history and current boundary of the town's 1973 historic district. A member argued the district's design standards, such as requiring wood replacement windows, burden owners more than they benefit the town, and the board discussed whether the boundary should be redrawn or narrowed to specific properties.
  6. 5.B Orange County Land Use Plan update
    Discussion item Comprehensive planIntergovernmental agreements
    Staff previewed an October presentation by Orange County's planning director on the county's land use plan update, for the board's information rather than a recommendation.
  7. 5.C Unified Development Ordinance rewrite
    Discussion item Historic preservationHousing and affordabilityZoning text amendment
    Staff presented a history of the town's zoning districts and proposed consolidating several residential districts with overlapping lot-size and use rules. The board discussed how any changes must comply with a state law barring down-zoning, and whether allowing more density in the historic district would produce affordable housing or speculative development. Adoption is projected for August 2026.
  8. 6.A Board of Adjustment update
    Staff or committee report Elections and districtsStormwater and flooding
    The Board of Adjustment granted a floodplain variance for a loading ramp at the Orange County Board of Elections building on South Cameron Street.
  9. 6.B Parks and Recreation Board update
    Staff or committee report Parks and recreation
    The Parks and Recreation Board discussed the final draft of the Riverwalk master plan.
  10. 6.C Staff and board member updates
    Procedural
    Staff announced a personnel change and noted an open extraterritorial-jurisdiction seat and an upcoming member rotation.
  11. 7 Adjournment
    Procedural
    Meeting adjourned.
    Approved 5-0

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