Public Hearing on Emergency Temporary Zoning To Strengthen Local Control, Dalton, NH 9/19/2026

Video from the Public Hearing in Dalton, NH on Saturday, September 19, 2026, to discuss Emergency Temporary Zoning. The primary concern raised was the potential for Dalton to be targeted for the development of an unwanted, uninvited Data Center, or some other future, unpopular, and harmful industrial development. As you can see in the video, the public hearing was a very productive one, as the consensus amongst those in attendance was for the Planning Board to develop a simple, one-page ordinance designed to protect the town and individual property rights from the harm and nuisance of unwanted, uninvited industrial development, including Data Centers, landfills, or even small nuclear power energy plants. As the petitioner, I did ask the town attorney if I could withdraw the petition calling for a special town meeting to vote on ETZ, since a permanent zoning ordinance crafted by the Planning Board was the ultimate goal, but he informed us that it could not be withdrawn. So, we will have a special town meeting on Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 6PM to discuss and vote on Emergency Temporary Zoning, which then leads to the creation of a Zoning Board and the Planning Board can put forth a permanent zoning ordinance, as discussed, on the town warrant in March, 2027, Town Meeting Day. It was nice to see so many citizens, many of whom have disagreed over the years bout the landfill project, come together in agreement that the Town of Dalton needs to be protected, as does our individual property rights. Thank you to those who attended, and thank you, in advance, to those who will attend the Thursday special meeting and vote YES on ETZ. A special thank you to Paul Deveno for bringing forth the popular proposal of developing a simple town zoning ordinance to protect the Town of Dalton from potential harm and nuisance associated with unpopular, unwanted, and uninvited industrial development. This should include a "Nuisance Zone, akin to Bethlehem's "District V", in its town zoning ordinance, consisting of the 22-acre town-owned landfill and highway department/transfer station, since that parcel already has contamination issues. We would not be saying NO, just WHERE, as permissible per the NH Supreme Court. Should a developer come to town with a proposed development, Dalton would not be banning such, as state preemption may prohibit that, but, we would have the authority to determine where such development may take place, as per North Country Environmental Services, Inc. v. Town of Bethlehem: "Accordingly, when evaluating whether a particular local regulation conflicts with the State scheme, courts should err on the side of finding State law preemption, unless the local regulation concerns where, within a town, a facility may be located." https://www.nhmunicipal.org/court-upd... The Town of Dalton, NH will therefore hold a Special Town Meeting on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 6pm for the purpose of final discussion and voting on whether or not to enact Emergency Temporary Zoning (RSA 675:4-a). Polls for voting will open immediately following the discussion period and will remain open for a minimum of 2 hours after the town meeting has concluded. “Shall the town adopt the provisions of RSA 674:24-29 entitled “Emergency Temporary Zoning and Planning Ordinance?”. Applicable RSA’s can be found here. These meetings will take place in the gymnasium at the Municipal Building located at 756 Dalton Rd., Dalton, NH 03598. Voting will take place in the meeting room in the Municipal Building. https://townofdaltonnh.gov/event/noti...