Preface
The 2006 Lee Master Plan is
designed to guide the future development of the community through the year
2015. It exemplifies a philosophy
derived from the Town’s cultural heritage, its current assets and state of affairs,
and the aspirations of its citizens at this time in its history. However, for this plan to be a truly
effective and a useful tool it must not be casually endorsed by the Board of
Selectman, The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment; it must be
considered the governing rules for all deliberations, decisions, and future
planning efforts by these boards.
The development of the Master
Plan required the support, the patience, and the efforts of many. This Chairman appreciates your
participation. In particular, I thank
the Code Enforcement Officer, Mr. Allan Dennis, and the Planning Board
Secretary, Ms. Caren Rossi, for their untiring perseverance and unceasing humor
throughout this process.
John
R. LaCourse, Chairman
Lee
Planning Board
Pursuant to New Hampshire
RSA 674:2-4 & 675:6, the revisions set forth herein to the Town of Lee’s
Master Plan were formally endorsed and adopted on June 28, 2006.
______________________
John R. LaCourse, Chairman
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Robert
Smith
______________________
Dwight Barney
______________________
Robert Moynihan
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Scott Kemp
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Frank Reinhold, Selectmen Rep
The 2006 Lee Master Plan is designed to guide
the future development of the community through the year 2015. This document was the culmination of a
well-defined effort of the Planning Board to discover the needs of the citizens
of the Town of Lee.
Lee’s Master Plan is a policy document. It should guide not only the Planning Board
in its deliberations but all the Boards, Departments, and Committees that
comprise the governmental structure of the Town of Lee. In the spirit of this effort, municipal decisions,
regulations, and ordinances should reflect the policies and objectives that
this plan recommends.
During the development of the Master Plan, ten general
themes became apparent. These themes
are listed here in non-ranked order for easy reference and, more importantly,
as a statement of our collective vision for the Town of Lee.
Community Development Recommendations
·
To identify and protect the remaining uplands from
development
·
To protect, preserve, and enhance the town’s
historical heritage
·
To identify, maintain, and preserve the abandoned
cemeteries
·
To slow down the residential growth
·
To identify and address the needs of the senior
citizens
·
To plan for future water, septic, and waste needs for
the community
·
To explore other revenue in addition to the property
tax
·
To maintain and develop recreational facilities
consistent with the needs of the citizens
·
To identify, preserve and protect the natural
resources of the community
·
To identify and maintain rural and agricultural land
through land use regulations, easements, and conservation easements
MASTER PLAN PROCESS
This document came to fruition through a well -planned protocol and schedule of activities.
Seven Public Hearings were held: January 16, 2004 (kick-off); October 6, 2004; October 13, 2004; October 27, 2004; November 3, 2004; November 17, 2004; and December 8, 2004 to obtain public input on the areas listed below.
· Cemeteries
· Conservation Issues
· Economic Development
· Education
· Forestry
· Historical Perspective
· Housing and Demographics
· Land Use/Agriculture
· Library
· Natural Resources
· Recreation
· Solid Waste
· Community Services
· Town Governance
· Transportation
· University of New Hampshire
· Water Resources
A questionnaire developed by the Planning Board was distributed to all citizens of the Town and analyzed by the Master Plan Committee. The questionnaire had a 43% return.
(See Appendix C for questionnaire and graphs)
A draft Master Plan was written by the Master Plan Committee and approved by the Planning Board with input from the Boards, Departments, and Committee members.
A penultimate draft Master Plan was available for public review through two public hearings with community copies available at the Lee Town Hall. Public hearings were held on October 19, 2005, and November 9, 2005.
The Lee Master Plan - 2006 to the Year 2015- was adopted by the Planning Board on June 28, 2006.
TOWN OF LEE
MASTER PLAN 2006
I. INTRODUCTION
As property owners, residents, and workers, we received a valuable investment from the past which, once expended, cannot be replaced. We can use it carefully and with restraint or we can squander it -- but we can never really own it. We merely have it in trust for a time to use as wisely as we can and then pass it on to the future. Those who follow us will inherit from us those things, tangible and intangible, that they receive from us.
George Gilman
Former Commissioner
NH Department of Resources and
Economic Development
This Master Plan of the Town of Lee, New Hampshire, has been prepared as a policy statement for planning and future growth and development of the Town. The plan exemplifies a philosophy derived from the town’s cultural heritage, its current assets and state of affairs, and the aspirations of its citizens at this time in its history. Its function is to provide assistance in formulating the policies and the ordinances that will guide the development of the town in the future.
Present-day Lee is primarily a residential bedroom community composed mainly of single-family dwellings with a strong rural character. However, the town is not a static entity, nor should its Master Plan be allowed to stagnate. As the town grows and evolves, so also should the Master Plan change and evolve. Similarly, the town is not an isolated community. Its planning must take into consideration regional and even statewide factors.
The master plan entitled “Town of Lee Master Plan: 1996 to the Year 2005” is the basis for this updated Master Plan entitled, “Town of Lee Master Plan: 2006 to the Year 2015”.
II. HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
Like other New England Communities, Lee has countless ties to the Native American past. Not only did the ancient Pentucket Trail cross our territory from north to south but a prehistoric fishing village more than 8,500 years old has been discovered at Wadley Falls. Ten to eleven thousand years ago when glaciers were retreating, Lee’s highest point, Wednesday Hill, then bald, served as a lookout for the Native hunter who could follow from here the large herds passing through the grasslands below.
The colonists began settlement about 1623, at which time Lee was regarded as part of ancient Dover. The first land grants were made at Wadley Falls in 1657 and at Newtown Plains in 1663.
The Oyster River area that included the territory of our future town separated from ancient Dover and was made into a parish in the early 1700’s. In 1732 this parish incorporated as a town called Durham. In 1733/34 the common land of Durham located around Little and North Rivers was sold by lottery to Durham residents and 169 persons purchased land in what was soon to become Lee; additional grants were made in 1737. On January 16, 1766, the western part of Durham was separated by petition and the parish of Lee was incorporated.
The original settlers sought trees for ship masts and lumber for export. From the 1700’s through the early 1900’s the economic basis of the community was agriculture, tanning, and exploitation of water power through saw, grist, carding, and fulling mills.
In 1874 the Nashua and Rochester Railroad became instrumental in the exportation of milk and lumber from local farmers to the Boston markets. With the growing popularity of the automobile, the railroad discontinued service in 1934, and Route 125 was subsequently opened on the former railroad bed. Major technological advances in agriculture, transportation, and industry, as well as the expansion of the University of New Hampshire, changed the economic and occupational structure of Lee, evident from the 1950’s on.
Sites of historical interest
include the locations of Lee’s three old garrisons; the Quaker meeting-house,
the Free Will Baptist Church (now the Jeremiah Smith Grange), the site of the
Union meeting-house and the Congregational Church with its Vestry and
Parsonage; the Town Hall, the former Lee Depot Freight House (relocated, now
the Lee Historical Society); the site of the Town Pound; nine (9) mill sites;
colonial houses, and sites connected with the Native Indian past such as
“Peter’s Oven” and “Indian Oven” (two small natural caves in the sides of steep
ledges); Wednesday Hill; a prehistoric Indian fishing camp at Wadley Falls and
a historical marker near Wheelwright’s Pond commemorating a battle between the
Indians and the first settler’s in 1690; railroad
cattle crossings; and the Town Poor Farm (now Velvet Pastures). (See
Appendix A )
In the summer of 2005, the National Park Service made inquiries about the Cartland House in Lee being part of their National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. This effort is in the process. The Cartland House will be a “secret site” with just the story of the Cartlands’ activity in the Underground Railroad being made public.
The Lee Heritage Commission was established by Town Meeting in 2005. The membership consists of eight three -year term members, including a Selectman or his/her representative and a Lee Historical Society representative. The inaugural meeting was held in June 2005.
The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources states that Heritage Commissions are “intended to have a town-wide scope and a range of activities that is determined by each individual municipality. Heritage commissions do for cultural resources what conservation commissions do for natural resources” (See Appendix I)
The Lee Heritage Commission works
collaboratively with the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Conservation
Commission, Recreation Commission, Lee Historical Society, and New Hampshire
Preservation Alliance. The Heritage
Commission and the Lee Historical Society offer the following goals and
actions.
GOALS
ACTION ITEMS