Vote no to Hollis zoning ordinance amendment

Friday, February 19, 2010

To the Editor:

Amendment 6 threatens our Hollis water supply. In March, please vote no on Amendment 6 to permit landscaping material yards in residential and agricultural zones.

A portion of Amendment 6 states, “Amend Section XI.A.6.m by deleting the phrase ‘and composting facilities.’”

In this proposal, there is no explanation of what this refers to or means. This change would allow commercial-scale composting facilities on Hollis aquifers.

The current Hollis Zoning Ordinance prohibits composting facilities in the Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone. Composting facilities are currently prohibited in the APO zone because they are a threat to contaminate our water supply.

These zoning standards reflect the recommendations of the Hollis Conservation Committee, Nashua Regional Planning Commission and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. To verify this, refer to pages 46-48 of the Hollis Zoning Ordinance, www.hollis.nh.us/regulations/HZO2009.pdf.

To make matters worse, there are currently no laws to monitor or limit the scale or content of a compost pile. We would have to be crazy to allow unlimited amounts of unregulated materials from anywhere to be processed on our aquifers.

As the town newspaper mentioned, the lawyer of Doug Orde, Hollis Construction, submitted this amendment.

This is just one of many legal tactics to try to change the decision made by the town zoning board to cease and desist operations of Orde’s landscaping business on 224 Depot Road in a residential and agricultural zone.

Orde’s property is on an Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone. To verify the location of this property on an aquifer, refer to the Hollis Environmental Overlay Map, www.nashuarpc.org/gis/pdf/Hollis_Environmental_Overlays.pdf.

Orde’s property contains a ginormous compost pile (wider and higher than my house). This is currently in violation of the Hollis APO Zoning. Thus the intent of amending Section XI 6.m is to remove the compost facility restriction, so that the processing of compost on our water supply can operate legally.

In conclusion, please vote no to stop compost facilities from contaminating our aquifers.

KATHY WILDE

Hollis