We sent the following letter to the Lyme Planning Board regarding the petitioned zoning amendment regarding propane tanks to be considered at Town Meeting in March 2025.
The hearing will be on Thursday, 12 January 2025 at 7:00pm in Town Offices. If you have comments but cannot attend the meeting, you can mail them to zoning@lymenh.gov
Rich & Lin Brown
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To the Planning Board,
This Thursday, 12 Jan 2025, the Board will hold a public hearing regarding a petitioned warrant article about buried propane tanks. As the primary mover of this amendment, I come to this board as a private citizen to give you background on the article.
The Lyme Ordinance prohibits “underground fuel tanks” in the Shoreland Conservation District extending 200 feet from major water bodies (for example, Post Pond) and 100 feet from other surface waters.
This seems overbroad because it includes buried “oil” and “gas” tanks (which should be regulated because they can pollute ground water), and propane/natural gas tanks which cannot. There is no evidence that buried propane tanks can cause pollution of a water body: any leaks would simply dissipate into the atmosphere and would never be carried into the water.
I took the opportunity to speak with David Roby, to see if there was a consideration of propane tanks when the ordinance was written. He was clear that they never considered propane tanks, and was supportive of this amendment.
In addition, there are no national codes or New Hampshire standards that regulate the placement of propane tanks near water bodies. This was confirmed by our licensed propane installer who specifically asked his instructor about national or state codes at a license renewal training.
Moreover, the NH RSA’s distinguish “oil tanks” from other natural gas/propane fuel tanks. In the section https://gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/X/146-A/146-A-2.htm, RSA 146-A:2 states:
III. “Oil” means petroleum products and their by-products of any kind, and in any form including, but not limited to, petroleum, fuel, sludge, crude, oil refuse or oil mixed with wastes and all other liquid hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity and which are used as motor fuel, lubricating oil, or any oil used for heating or processing.
The term “oil” shall not include natural gas, liquified petroleum gas or synthetic natural gas regardless of derivation or source;
Furthermore the NH DES page (https://www.des.nh.gov/business-and-community/fuel-storage-tanks) also makes this distinction (see attached PDF)
Mr. Robbins has agreed that there is no risk of water contamination, and that it might make sense to change the ordinance. However was not within his power to grant an exception to the rule. A request to the ZBA for a variance also failed because of the strict prohibition on “underground fuel tanks”.
This petition (see attached PDF) is intended to remove that restriction on underground propane and natural gas tanks. It changes the language from “No underground fuel storage tanks are permitted” to the following:
Article ###: To change section 4.65-C-2 of the Lyme Zoning Ordinance to say “No underground oil storage tanks (as defined in NH RSA 146-A:2, III) are permitted. Propane and natural gas tanks are excluded from this provision.”
We should also note that our personal connection with this issue is that we do have an underground propane tank at our home on Orford Road, within the Shoreland Conservation District. (In fact, most of our home, built in 1804, is within the Shoreland Conservation District.) I realize I should have obtained a zoning permit prior to the work where this concern might have been discovered, but would still be making a request to amend the ordinance because a buried tank in that location remains the best location both for placement near the generator, as well as ease of refilling.
We look forward to the discussion on Thursday. Thank you.
Rich & Lin Brown
84 Orford Road
NH-DES-Fuel-Tanks
Fuel-Tank-Petition-for-2025-Town-Meeting-2Oct2024
Feel free to share this post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or email. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own, and not those of any public body, such as the Lyme Planning Board, Budget Committee, or Trustees of the Trust Funds where I volunteer. I would be interested to hear your thoughts – you can reach me at richb.lyme@gmail.com.
