BY DERRICK PERKINSA New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling upholding the Planning Board’s decision denying a proposal for a kennel last summer has local officials relieved, though the couple behind the project are crying foul. The decision was handed down more than a year and a half after Thomas and Donna Richard first approached the town with ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSThe Planning Board approved a new town-wide traffic impact fee system by a 6-1 vote on Aug. 11, but not before tweaking the proposal to offset concerns raised by local developers. Under the original plan, roadway construction cost assumptions included in the new fee system had been based on the full-depth construction of a ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSQuestioning the fairness of the new system and its impact on future development, local business owners have again raised objections to a proposed roadway fee system that is before the Planning Board. Under the proposed system drawn up by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., impact fees would be assessed on any new development in the ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSRobert Campbell is not new to writing town charters, an experience he believes will come in handy as the community’s Charter Commission moves forward. Campbell, a former selectman and current member of the Planning Board, chaired the commission in the late ’90s that established the first town charter in Salem. ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSLocal business leaders are concerned that a plan to update Salem’s system of traffic impact fees may put a damper on future economic redevelopment in the community. According to Planning Director Ross Moldoff, the town’s current traffic impact fees have not been adjusted for inflation since 1994 and the system in ...

BY DERRICK PERKINS Voters backed candidates with a background in local government for the Charter Commission, giving town employees and elected officials seats on the nine-member board on May 19. The three members of the Board of Selectmen on the ballot, Patrick Hargreaves, Michael Lyons and Chairman Arthur Barnes, won their bids for a spot on ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSPlanning board agendas may be lighter this spring than during past years, but town officials say the economy has not kept businesses from coming to the border community. “There are signs of life in the economy here locally. There are projects coming before the planning board,” said Ross Moldoff, Salem’s ...

BY DERRICK PERKINS With commercial space in Salem nearly fully developed, Planning Board members say the only way to go is up. A proposal to raise the height limits on commercial space around town is currently under discussion, though it may be put before the voters next March. James Keller, the chairman of the board, said ...