Conference vmszoo::new_hampshire

If the owner follows the town zoning and subdivision regulations there's
nothing you can do.  People have a right to do what they want with their
land as long as they follow local, State and Federal regulations.

Your rights as an abutter include being notified by mail of a subdivision
of a lot bordering yours.  You have the right to attend the public hearing
on that subdivision and voicing your concerns to the planning board.  Unless
the subdivision saturates a town service or creates an environmental hazard
then you can expect to have some new neighbors.

As for the cutting permit that's pretty standard when you're harvesting trees,
especially on someone else's land.

After being on a town Planning Board for 3 years I will never buy a house or
a piece of land without going to the town/city hall and reading the hearing
notes for the subdivision to learn about the property.  Even if it's just
one house on a main road there's bound to be some public record of how the
lot and the ones around it were created.


Dan

    What is the zoning  on your street.  Do the houses under contruction
    have building permits?
    
    PJ

    I am also a planning board member in my town (Raymond). I concur with
    .1  Get a copy of the sub-division and site plan regs (assuming they
    exist). Attend the meeting(s). Only the 1st requires your notification.
    Many times the hearing is continued to a 2nd or 3rd and you will only
    read about it in the newspaper.
    	If they are puting in a road, make sure that it is being built to
    town stds. Many times they will ask for waivers for various reasons,
    many because they don't wnat to spend the $$.
    	Watch for such items as site lines (how far you can see from the
    driveway or raod entrance). Headlight sweeps when entering or exiting.
    Landscaping. Off site improvements (if applicable in your town).
    Traffic studies.
    
    I would question how the land went from town owned to private. This
    could be perfectly legal. My town just swapped some land. They have to
    have had a public hearing on it though.
    
    Good luck
    Steve

Debbie,

First, go to the assessor's office in Town Hall. Look at the maps, find where
the property lines are, who owns the property, and when it changed hands. 
That's all public record, and this gets to the heart of your question. 

As the other notes suggested, find out the planning regulations and 
the approval process.

.0>    We are going around to all of our neighbors on the street to make sure
.0>    we all appear at the town meeting on 6/12.  

I don't think any official is going to take the time to explain
this, at town meeting. Get the facts first.  Then, if you see a need, talk to
various town officials. Consider whether making a fuss at town meeting is going
to alienate people, or help bring your point to a wider audience. Citizens
typically like a quick town meeting, so taking time there is a chancy move.

-Steve

  I agree, you should attend town meeting but it's probably not a good idea
to bring this up there, unless (unlikely) there is an article on the warrent
that is specific to this issue. It might be OK in a town of 500 people but
Danville is much larger than that, right?
  As I understand it, the town cannot sell or otherwise convey town land to
private hands without public notice. But that public notice might have occurred
before you bought the house, or there might be a loophole I don't know about.
What I am more concerned about is the possibility that the land (specifically,
the portion of the land abutting the road) might have been privately owned 
when you first inquired about the house and that the Realtor might have
unintentionally or intentionally misrepresented this fact.
  The sad fact is that in this day and age, you can't assume that any beautiful
scenery within sight of a home you are considering buying is going to remain
beautiful for long. The only safe policy is to go to town hall, carefully
look over the maps, and ask lots of questions. It sure can be time consuming,
especially in small towns where the relevant offices in town hall may only be
open at limited times.

>  I agree, you should attend town meeting but it's probably not a good idea
>to bring this up there, unless (unlikely) there is an article on the warrent
>that is specific to this issue. It might be OK in a town of 500 people but
>Danville is much larger than that, right?

I think from the context (and from the fact that this is June, not March) that
the "town meeting" the bsae note author is referring to is probably the planning
board meeting that this subdivision will be presented at. 

For those who aren't in town government, Town Meeting, a Planning Board meeting,
and a ZBA meeting probably all look like "town" meetings.

	-Neil