Welcome to Canterbury, NH - Article 2: General Provisions

No land in the Town of Canterbury shall hereafter be used for building, development or otherwise, and no structure shall be erected, enlarged, materially altered, or moved, except in conformance with this ordinance.

Land shall not be used in any manner that is noxious, offensive, or detrimental to the public or to the owners or occupants of adjacent property or prejudicial to the general welfare of the community. If the use is found to be obnoxious by the Selectmen, a public hearing, conducted by the Board of Adjustment, may be requested by the applicant or aggrieved party before a final decision is rendered under this provision.

No owner or occupant of land shall permit buildings ruined by fire or other causes to be left indefinitely. Said ruins shall be made safe within 30 days after the date of the original damage or destruction. Within one year, the owner shall remove the ruins and grade the area to clear ground level or shall begin to repair, rebuild or replace the structure in conformance with this ordinance.

All sanitary systems within and serving dwellings and structures shall at a minimum be constructed and maintained in accordance with existing and amended regulations of the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Water Supply and Pollution Control Division or successor agency.

Temporary structures used in conjunction with construction work shall be permitted only during the period that the construction work is in progress and upon issuance of the appropriate permit by the Selectmen. Nothing in this ordinance shall prevent a property owner from being the builder, or prevent the property owner and his family from living in the structure being built during construction for a period of one year, even though the building does not conform to all the building regulations prior to completion, except those pertaining to sewage disposal.

An office (occupation), shop, or industry conducted entirely inside a dwelling unit or accessory structure by a member of the family residing in said dwelling unit. Home offices, shops, and industry shall be permitted provided:

D. There is no exterior storage of commercial material or equipment (including the parking of more than one commercial vehicle) and no other exterior indication (excluding advertising signs) of such use or variation from the residential character of the premises, and

3. The portion of the property used for the business shall not exceed 3,000 square feet of interior space and/or 5,000 square feet of exterior space. If exterior space is used for the business, it shall be adequately screened or buffered so as to meet the requirements of paragraph C, as determined by the Planning Board through its site plan review.

4. The prohibition of paragraph D of exterior indication of business use shall not apply, but the Planning Board may impose requirements for screening, appearance and buffering appropriate for the neighborhood in which the property is located.

In a commercial zone, a single apartment shall be allowed as a permitted accessory use to an allowed business. The accessory apartment shall conform to all standards required for an accessory apartment as defined in Article 3, except that the apartment shall be accessory to an allowed business instead of a single family residence.

Advertising signs shall be limited to on-site locations only and to one per business enterprise, except for temporary signs advertising the sale of agricultural products. All signs shall be limited to ten (10) square feet per side or twenty (20) square feet total, whichever is less, and no sign shall endanger driving on the public roads, either by reason of placement or excessive glare caused by illumination of the sign. On-site signs attached to structures, solely for the purpose of identifying the owner or occupant of an industrial or commercial building, are permitted as a special exception provided that the length of such sign shall not exceed one half the length of the building. The size and number of signs located on a property in a Commercial/Industrial district may be increased as a special exception by the Board of Adjustment.

All permitted uses shall meet these standards as a condition of meeting the terms of the ordinance. Uses granted a special exception or variance by the Board of Adjustment shall meet these standards in addition to those determined by the Board of Adjustment.

A. Any uses in any district shall not be conducted in a manner that is unsightly, or emits dangerous, noxious or unpleasant odors or is objectionable due to risk of fire, explosion, noise, vibration, smoke, dust or other forms of environmental pollution.

B. At all times the natural features of the site shall be respected. Excavation and removal of sand, gravel or soil, stripping of topsoil or clearing of vegetation so as to cause erosion or long term disfiguring of the landscape shall not be permitted. Filling, culverting, draining or rerouting of natural area water courses may only occur with the approval of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and as required by N.H. RSA Chapter 149 & Chapter 483-A, as amended.

C. The disposal of industrial or commercial wastes in any form resulting from a proposed or existing operation shall meet all state and federal regulations prior to commencing operations. A statement of the volume and chemical content of such wastes shall be required of the owner/operator. This data and the type of disposal methods proposed shall be presented at requests for special exceptions under Article 8. The cost for the evaluation of this data by the town or its agents shall be borne by the developer.

D. Roads and access to public roads shall be constructed in such a manner as to respect the landscape and shall promote public safety. Sufficient off street parking is required for all uses. Two spaces are required for each dwelling unit and/or for each 400 feet of non-residential floor space, unless amended by the Board of Adjustment.

E. The Town of Canterbury has maintained a rural, residential and agricultural character that is incompatible with "adult businesses" which involve public indecency or sexually explicit activities or materials. The Town's limited police and public protection resources are insufficient to address the secondary effects and well-documented problems that are often associated with adult businesses. The Town has limited areas available for commercial development and the location of adult business within those commercial areas would deter their development for uses that would enhance the community tax base. The table of uses set forth in section 5.3 shall therefore be interpreted so as to preclude the establishment of an adult business within any permitted use or special exception.

Upon application duly made to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, that Board, by approving a special exception pursuant to Section 8.2, may allow waiver of dimensional standards otherwise applicable to a property occupied by an individual with a disability as defined by the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The Board may grant the special exception if it finds that the criteria set forth in Section 8.2 are met and if it finds that the waiver of the dimensional requirements is necessary to provide reasonable accommodation under said law to allow the individual to make reasonable use of the property. The Board of Adjustment may attach such conditions to approval of the special exception as it deems necessary, including provisions to require compliance with the waived dimensional requirement if the property is no longer occupied by the individual with the disability.