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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 Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 3.AMinutes for special joint meeting on August 21, 2025 Approved 4-0

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

Hillsborough's Planning Board takes up a rewrite of the town's Unified Development Ordinance, along with two related discussions: whether to change the boundary of the 1973 historic district, and a preview of Orange County's Land Use Plan update. None of the three is up for a vote; all are discussions ahead of a rewrite the town projects adopting in August 2026.

The board also has routine business: approving minutes from its August 21 joint meeting with the Board of Commissioners, moving its October meeting date, and hearing updates from the Board of Adjustment and the Parks and Recreation Board.

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

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

In the absence of both the chair and vice chair, the board voted 4-0 to name Sherra Lawrence chair for the meeting; Vice Chair Hooper Schultz arrived partway through and took over as acting chair. Members voted 4-0 to reorder the agenda, approve the August 21 joint-meeting minutes, and move the October meeting to October 23, then turned to the historic district and zoning discussions without a vote on either.

Senior Planner Molly Boyle reviewed the 1973 historic district boundary and its design standards. Member Sean Kehoe, who owns a historic property downtown, said the standards force him to install costlier wood windows instead of energy-efficient alternatives, and Vice Chair Schultz said the district has become more burden than benefit for property owners. Senior Planner Tom King then walked the board through the town's zoning history, pointing out several residential districts with near-identical lot-size and use rules, and said any consolidation must comply with a state law barring down-zoning. The board heard that the Board of Adjustment had granted a floodplain variance for the Orange County Board of Elections building and that the Parks and Recreation Board was finishing a Riverwalk master plan, then adjourned 5-0.

How the votes went

The board voted 4-0 on each of its four procedural items - naming a chair, amending the agenda, approving minutes, and moving the October meeting date - then adjourned 5-0. It took no votes on the historic district or UDO discussions.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Town of Hillsborough's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

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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