Skip navigation.

Wilton ZBA > Zoning Ordinance > 2005 > Industrial District

This online version of the Zoning Ordinance has not been comprehensively checked against the official version. Neither the Town of Wilton nor the Zoning Board can be responsible for the consequences of any action taken on the basis of any errors in the online text.

This PDF file is the official printable text of the Wilton Zoning Ordinance as prepared for the Town of Wilton. by the Nashua Regional Planning Commission It is also available on the Planning Board page at the official Town of Wilton web site under the “Current Land Use Laws and Regulations” link.

This is the 2005 version of the Zoning Ordinance, including all amendments up to and including those passed by Town Meeting in March, 2005, but not any amendments passed in 2006 or later.

8.0 Industrial District

8.1 Permitted Uses.
8.2 Lot Requirements.
8.3 Conditions for Use of Area Water Supply.
8.4 Traffic Generation.
8.5 Prohibited Uses.
8.6 Special Exceptions.

This district provides a location for the establishment of industrial facilities and operations to improve employment opportunities and broaden the tax base in the Town of Wilton.

All industrial establishments will meet the following provisions.

  1. All future industrial establishments in this district must receive prior approval to build based on the proposed layout as evidenced by satisfactory working plans submitted to the Planning Board under the Site Plan Review procedure adopted by the Planning Board.
  2. Any expansion of an existing industrial establishment must have prior approval based on the proposed layout as evidenced by satisfactory working plans submitted to the Planning Board under the Site Plan Review procedures adopted by the Planning Board.
  3. Any alterations of the nature of the industry carried on in an existing industrial establishment must have prior approval from the Planning Board under the Site Plan Review procedure adopted by the Planning Board.

8.0.1 District Location. The Industrial District encompasses those areas within the Town of Wilton designated on the Town Zoning Map and includes the following five areas:

  1. The area in northern Wilton bordering the Town of Lyndeborough along Forest Road and the B&M Railroad right-of-way. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map, this includes Lots B-3 through B-6 (inclusive), B-8, B-10, B-11, B-97 through B-112 (inclusive). Also, lots B-117 through B-121 (inclusive) to a depth of 350 feet from the centerline of Forest Road. (Amended March 1995, March 2003.)
  2. The area adjacent to NH Route 101 west of the Souhegan River Bridge and the area adjacent to NH Route 31 and Mansur Road. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map, this includes lots D-100, D-101, D-102, E-17, E-23 through E-28 inclusive, a portion of E-29. F-11. F-12-1 through F-12-32 inclusive, F-13 through F-21 inclusive, F-23, F-24, F-25, a portion of F-141, west of the Souhegan River, F-142 through F-146, inclusive F-158, F-159 and F-161, a portion of F-163, and F-165 through F-173 (inclusive). (Amended March, 2001.)
  3. The area fronting on the south side of Whiting Hill Road. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map this includes Lot D-92.
  4. The area at the east end of Highland Street along the Souhegan River. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map this includes Lots J-104 and J-105.
  5. The area south of Main Street and north of NH Route 101 along the Souhegan River. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map this includes Lots D-94, J-49, J-110, J-113, K-159 through K-162 (inclusive), portions of K-165 and K-166 through K-169 (inclusive), K-174 through K-176 (inclusive) and L-64 through L-66 (inclusive).
  6. The area south of the Souhegan River and north of NH Route 101. As delineated on the Town of Wilton Tax Map this includes Lots D-94, portions of J-49, J-110, J-113 and L-64 through L-66 (inclusive). (Amended March, 2001.)

8.1 Permitted Uses.

A building or structure may be erected, altered or used, and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes, provided the use meets the performance standards of this ordinance:

  1. manufacturing, compounding, processing, packing, treatment or warehousing of goods and products;
  2. research and/or testing laboratory; and
  3. offices.
  4. Non-residential commercial uses are permitted in the Industrial District under the same terms and conditions as the other permitted industrial uses. (Amended March, 2001.)

8.2 Lot Requirements.

All new construction or development within the industrial district shall meet the following requirements.

8.2.1 Area. Two (2) acres of land excluding wetlands and land contained within the one hundred (100) year floodplain. (Amended March 1992, March 2004.)

8.2.2 Frontage. Two hundred (200) feet on a Class V or better road.

8.2.3 Lot Coverage. A maximum of sixty percent (60%) of the gross area of any lot shall be occupied by buildings, parking and roadways. Total lot impervious coverage (buildings, parking area and roads) shall be forty (40) percent within the Aquifer Protection District. Industrial buildings, structures and parking areas in existence as of March 13, 1990 that exceed the permitted lot coverage within the district may be maintained at or rebuilt to the existing level. Any increase in impervious area will not be permitted. (Amended March 1992.)

8.2.4 Setbacks. The setbacks within this district shall not be:

(Amended March, 1991.)

  1. less than one-hundred (100) feet from the edge of the public right-of-way for NH Route 101;
  2. less than seventy-five (75) feet from the edge of the public right-of-way for all other public roads;
  3. less than thirty-five (35) feet from side and rear lot lines.
  4. No buildings or parking areas are permitted within the front setback or in any setback which abuts a residentially or residential/agriculturally zoned parcel. (Amended March, 1991.)
  5. Parking areas are permitted up to within ten (10) feet of the side or rear lot line of an industrially zoned parcel where it abuts another commercially or industrially zoned parcel. (Amended March, 1991.)
  6. Parking areas shared between two adjacent industrially or commercially zoned parcels may be developed up to the common side or rear lot-line if all other conditions of the district are met. (Amended March, 1991.)

8.2.5 Buffer Zones. Buffer zones shall be provided between industrial establishments and surrounding uses as follows:

  1. Any lot bordering an area zoned for residential use or an area containing residential uses shall have a landscaped buffer between any building or parking area and the residential zone or use. (Amended March, 1991.)
  2. All setbacks from public roads shall be sufficiently landscaped with trees and shrubs, an earth berm and/or fencing as to maintain a visual buffer between the highway and any building or parking area. (Amended March, 1991.)

8.2.6 Structure Height. Maximum structure height is forty-five (45) feet or two (2) stories.

8.2.7 Parking. Off-street parking facilities shall be provided following the standards established in the Site Plan Review Regulations.

8.2.8 Access. Any lot with frontage on NH Route 101 shall be accessed by any other street or side road available and not by NH Route 101 unless no other alternative exists. If no other access is available, entrance and exit for such lot(s) shall be limited to one (1) curb cut on NH Route 101 for each lot-of-record existing as of March 8, 1988. If access to a lot is available by a street or side road other than NH Route 101, access to the lot shall be taken from the street or side road. As each lot is developed within this district, provision shall be made during the Site Plan Review process for the lay-out and construction of streets or side roads as the Planning Board shall determine necessary to permit travel between adjacent lots without accessing NH Route 101. To encourage shared lot access, where at all possible and practical, the location of all accessory street or roadway curb cuts shall be situated to allow adjacent lots to also take advantage of or share the same point of access along the street or roadway. Access to any Town road or State highway shall require Town or State permit approval.

8.3 Conditions for Use of Area Water Supply.

8.3.1 Public Water Supply. Industrial establishments intending to be served by the public water supply system shall be reviewed by the Planning Board to ensure that the proposed use would not require more than ten percent (10%) of the available capacity as determined by the system's current safe yield and average daily water usage at the time of the proposed development. In any circumstance, where the Town of Wilton may require professional assistance or additional information to make a determination of compliance, the developer shall be required to pay the costs associated with obtaining this assistance.

8.3.2 On-site Water Supply. In areas not served by the public water system, industries shall obtain their own water supply. In cases where industries will be utilizing a private well to supply adequate water for manufacturing and employee use, the following performance standards shall be applied in an effort to avoid depletion of water supplies for neighboring uses:

  1. In areas determined by the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S) as having a high potential to yield water, proposed uses may utilize a maximum of four thousand (4,000) gallons per day, (GPD) of groundwater from a drilled well.
  2. In areas determined by the U.S.G.S. as having a medium potential to yield water, proposed uses may utilize a maximum of two thousand (2,000) GPD of groundwater from a drilled well.
  3. In areas determined by the U.S.G.S. as having a low potential to yield water, proposed uses may utilize a maximum of one thousand (1,000) GPD of groundwater from a drilled well.
  4. In areas determined by the U.S.G.S. as generally yielding enough water for domestic supplies, proposed industrial uses shall be limited to a maximum of seven hundred-fifty (750) GPD of groundwater from a drilled well.

The developer may conduct additional hydrogeological studies of the site to determine the actual location and extent of the groundwater, the capacity for groundwater supplies and the impacts on surrounding groundwater users at his own cost. The Planning Board may modify the above limits based on the results of the hydrogeological testing and the determination that sustained use of the water supply will not unreasonably reduce the water supply to adjacent users.

8.4 Traffic Generation.

Industrial uses shall be permitted to generate traffic in keeping with the character of the roadway from which the use has access and egress, according to the following schedule:

Street AccessAllowed Trip Generation per Acre
Class IV and Class V Roads 0 - 10 Average Daily trips
Class I and Class II Roads 0 - 150 Average Daily Trips

8.5 Prohibited Uses.

Residential uses are not permitted in the Industrial District.

8.6 Special Exceptions.

(See also section 4.4)

8.6.1 Lots of Record. In the event that a lot-of-record existing as of March 8, 1988 cannot satisfy the minimum lot or buffer requirements set forth in section 8.2 because of its configuration, the Zoning Board may permit a reduction in these requirements (except for section 8.2.3, Lot Coverage) by special exception. The permitted reduction in the requirement the lot-of-record cannot meet in these circumstances is designed to permit a proposed use in accordance with the objectives and purpose of this district.