Derry City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Growth Management
§ 165-111 Short title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) of the Town of Derry, New Hampshire."
§ 165-112 Statutory authority.
The Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) is enacted pursuant to the authority granted under RSA 674:16, 674:17, 674:21, 674:21-a and 674:22.
§ 165-113 General considerations; policy objectives and purposes.
A.
The Town of Derry has been experiencing unprecedented and rapid growth with respect to its population, housing, land development and utilization of resources since the mid 1980s. In real terms, Derry's population growth has far exceeded other communities in Rockingham County, especially since 1980. Derry's population grew by 10,700 persons from 1980 to 1990, an increase of over 50% during this period. Londonderry, its neighbor, grew by 6,200 persons in the same period. However, towns in the remainder of the county experienced significantly lower growth in real terms. Housing starts in a similar period show that from 1980 to 1993 Derry constructed over 6,000 housing units, where Londonderry constructed fewer than 3,000 and other surrounding towns far fewer.
B.
This period of rapid growth threatens to continue unabated with its attendant demands on public services and facilities. Transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and recreation, drainage and other public facilities and requirements have been and are being constructed to meet the needs of the Town's growing population, but the Town has been unable to provide these services and facilities at a pace which will keep abreast of the ever-growing public need. Derry has taxed itself to the very limit, having one of the highest property tax rates in the State of New Hampshire and certainly the highest among its neighbors. Derry's property tax rate in 1995 was $41.41 per $1,000, an increase of almost 39% from 1990. In 1997, Derry's tax rate was the highest of the surrounding communities. Derry is faced with a continuing additional demand for services, including a requirement to build additional school facilities so as to accommodate its existing student population in accordance with State of New Hampshire mandates. Future residential growth will increase the demands on Derry's crowded schools and overtaxed population.
C.
Derry's major transportation arteries are at full capacity and, in most cases, at levels of service indicative of a failure condition. Some of these arteries are state highways and their improvement is not prioritized in the state's ten-year transportation plan. All of Derry's major arteries, including compact roads and Town arterial streets, are severely impacted by the growth of surrounding communities in addition to Derry's own astounding growth. Route 102, Derry's main street, crosses Interstate 93 at one of its major junctions, also crossing Route 28 and the Route 28 By-pass at major intersections, one of which is a rotary located in an historic district. These roads form a north-south and east-west transportation corridor providing access for most of the surrounding communities to Interstate 93 and to the Boston commuter market. Accordingly, Derry is faced with extremely expensive highway improvements resulting from impacts both within and without the community. These must be funded almost exclusively out of Derry's already extremely high tax rate.
D.
Faced with the physical, social and fiscal problems caused by rapid and unprecedented growth, the Town of Derry has adopted an updated, comprehensive Master Plan to guide its future development and it has adopted a revised Zoning Map and a Capital Improvement Program so as to provide for a balance of the orderly, adequate, and economical development of the community. In doing so, Derry has considered and sought to balance its future residential, commercial, industrial, and public land uses with the availability of community facilities, including transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and recreation, drainage and other public facilities.
E.
In adopting these policies, Derry has considered local and regional development needs, recognizing in the process that over 50% of its housing units are multifamily or mobile home units. These provide low- and moderate-income housing opportunities far in excess of its surrounding communities. At least 1,700 of these low- and moderate-income units have been constructed since 1980. Derry has also made elderly housing one of the preferred uses in its downtown redevelopment plan so as to provide additional, properly located elderly housing.
F.
This article is adopted to promote and ensure the orderly development of land within the Town of Derry, to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of its residents, and for the following specific purposes:
(1)
To manage growth to ensure its compatibility with the revised Master Plan for the Town of Derry. The Master Plan has taken a long-term view of Derry's future and its land use patterns. In doing so the Planning Board has determined a long-term usage pattern for all remaining developable land in Derry, anticipating a full build-out population of 45,000 residents, as compared to the current Derry population of approximately 32,000 people.
(2)
To regulate and control the timing of development consistent with the Master Plan and Capital Improvement Program and provide a means to temporarily regulate the number of building permits issued during periods of excessive development pressure.
(3)
To assess and balance community development needs. The Planning Board has considered the necessity to immediately address the imbalance of Derry's tax base, exacerbated by the state-mandated 1993 revaluation which reduced Derry's net valuation by approximately 1/3. The Planning Board finds that the resulting increase in an already heavy burden imposed on Derry's residential taxpayers requires immediate redress. To meet this imbalance, the Planning Board has recommended adoption of a thirty-year Capital Improvement Plan upon which the growth management features of this article are based.
(4)
To consider past and future regional development conditions.
(5)
To ensure that essential municipal services, such as schools, transportation/roads, sewerage and water services, are available and will have sufficient capacity and quantity to accommodate new development. Derry's Planning Board has considered, in view of its findings as to the desirable land usage in Derry and its ultimate population estimate of 45,000 people, the minimum long-term capital needs of Derry in the form of a Capital Improvement Program. The resultant Capital Improvement Plan balances Derry's ability to pay with the needs anticipated for essential public facilities to service the build-out population.
(6)
To balance Derry's long-term capital needs, the impact of future development and Derry's ability to pay for the essential services this development requires. The Planning Board considers that Derry taxpayers are simply unable to support the rate of residential growth that Derry has sustained in the past. It has also considered the impact imposed upon Derry by development in surrounding communities and its already strained ability to absorb ever-increasing educational costs with its limited tax base.
(7)
To implement a residential unit allocation system to regulate the rate of residential growth commensurate with the Town's ability to provide adequate public facilities and services, based upon the goals, policies and objectives set forth in the Capital Improvement and Master Plans.
(8)
To prevent deterioration of public facility service levels, environmental degradation, and potential land use conflicts.
§ 165-114 Temporary residential building permit limitation.
The Planning Board hereby finds that Derry's short-term fiscal situation requires that a temporary building permit limitation be established. Derry's schools have been found to be overcrowded and inadequate for its existing student population. Seven hundred students are now being educated in temporary or portable facilities. The state has required Derry to construct new school facilities anticipated to cost $15,000,000. These facilities are required in spite of the fact that Derry has recently constructed a new middle school, and in spite of the fact that Derry has one of the highest property tax rates in the State of New Hampshire and the highest rate in Rockingham County. The Planning Board also recognizes the uncertainty now attending New Hampshire's system of funding public education. Derry currently has approximately 120 outstanding and unissued single-family residential building permits which, if used, will exacerbate an already overcrowded school situation. Additionally, Derry's short-term capital needs must consider the design and implementation of a viable transportation infrastructure for Derry's core community and industrial/commercial development needs. The Planning Board finds that these needs must be met as a priority among Derry's capital improvement requirements and has prepared a Capital Improvement Plan reflecting this priority. Accordingly, and in anticipation of additional submissions of residential plans and permit applications, the Planning Board hereby establishes this temporary building permit limitation and permit allocation system pursuant to RSA 674:22.
A.
No more than 50 building permits for residential housing units shall be issued in any year until the expiration of this temporary building permit limitation.
(2)
Lots which are exempted pursuant to RSA 674:39 and 676:12, V, or which are covered under legal settlement agreements with the Town pertaining to their status as vested lots shall not be affected by this provision, nor shall building lots legally existing as of the date of first posting of this article for public hearing, June 5, 1998, which otherwise conform to this chapter and as to which a single residential unit building permit is applied for. The provisions of this section shall not apply to housing for older persons under RSA 354-A:15 and supported residential care facilities under RSA 151 and New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules He-P 805.
(3)
For purposes of establishing allocation priorities, permits shall be issued quarterly, commencing on the first days of July, October, January and April in each fiscal year, on the basis of a pro rata allocation of then-available permits on a first-come-first-served basis until exhausted. All permits available in any quarter shall be available for issuance as of the first day of such quarter. Any unused building permits in any quarter shall be included in the next quarter's allocation. Authorized but unissued building permits in any year shall be carried forward and be additional to the next fiscal year's building permit allocation.
(4)
Permits shall be allocated pro rata based upon the number of applicants in each class, as defined in Subsection A(1) above, up to the maximum allowable permits in any quarter. Each eligible applicant shall receive at least one building permit until the respective allocation is exhausted. If the relevant allocation would be exhausted, the available permits shall be allocated within each class, based upon the date and time of application filing, until exhausted. Eligible applicants who applied for building permits and were unable to receive at least one permit in each allocation shall receive priority over other applicants in the class for the next occurring allocation.
B.
This permit limitation provision shall expire in four years; provided, however, that the Planning Board shall annually review and act upon this limitation as described in Subsection C below, and further provided that the Planning Board may reimpose such building permit limitation for a period(s) not to exceed one year if it determines that conditions are such that prospective growth, based upon the number of approved but unbuilt residential lots that are then available to be built and/or the anticipated applications for additional residential building lots, will cause conditions which threaten a short-term and significant disruption of the Town's Growth Management Plan. Conditions which the Planning Board may consider are:
(1)
Availability of excess school capacity of 10% or less.
(2)
Projected residential growth, based on building permits issued, which would exceed 5% over the previous year for two years in a row or 7% in any year.
(3)
Conditions of failure as determined by the Public Works Director or the State of New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) of the Town's major arterial intersections:
Ross' Corner | Crystal Avenue and Broadway | |
Shute's Corner | Route 93 Exit 4 Interchange | |
Webster's Corner | Intersection of Fordway Extension and Route 102 | |
Route 102 Rotary | Intersection of Route 28 By-pass and Tsienneto Road | |
Intersection of Tsienneto Road and Route 102 |
C.
Review.
(1)
Any permit limitation imposed shall be reviewed annually in April of each year starting with April of the year following the adoption of this article by the Planning Board, which shall consider whether:
(a)
Based on a report of the Derry School District, sufficient school capacity is available with reserve or excess capacity sufficient to meet the projected three-year growth in student population, considering building permits eligible to be issued pursuant to exemptions contained herein plus the number equal to the maximum number of permits allowed under this section;
(b)
Based upon a report of the Town's Public Works Director the conditions of failure specified in Subsection B(3) above have been alleviated or will be alleviated within the ensuing 12 months; and
(c)
Residential growth for the previous two years did not exceed 5% over the previous year for two years in a row or 7% in any year.
(2)
In the event the Planning Board shall find as provided in Subsection C(2)(a) or (b) below, the Planning Board shall, in the case of Subsection C(2)(a), or may, in the case of a finding under Subsection C(2)(b), suspend the permit limitation effective on the first day of the month following the finding or increase the number of permits to be issued for the next succeeding twelve-month period, as conditions warrant. Annual periods described in this section shall run from July 1 to June 30.
(b)
The Planning Board is satisfied that the improvements specified in the Capital Improvement Program for the next ensuing three years will be adequate to satisfy Subsection C(1)(a) above and provide reasonable relief from the conditions set forth in Subsection C(1)(b) and (c) above so as to avoid dangers to the health, safety or welfare of the community.
§ 165-115 Residential development special permit system.
A.
General provisions. The following section describes the procedure by which special permits for residential development shall be applied for and may be granted by the Planning Board. The special permit application and issuance system described in this section shall determine if and when special permits so issued may be exercisable, based on the availability of adequate public facilities.
(1)
A residential developer shall be required to obtain a special permit from the Planning Board prior to the issuance of any building permit for a new residential unit in any subdivision or site plan proposed before the Planning Board.
(2)
The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to residential lots, site plans or subdivision plans which are exempted pursuant to RSA 674:39 and 676:12, V, or which are covered under legal settlement agreements with the Town pertaining to their status as vested lots, nor shall building lots legally existing on the date of first posting of this article for public hearing, June 5, 1998, which otherwise conform to this chapter, and as to which a single residential unit building permit is applied for, be subject to the provisions of this section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to housing for older persons under RSA 354-A:15 and supported residential care facilities under RSA 151 and New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules He-P 805.
B.
Procedure for special permit.
(1)
Application. Residential subdivision or development applicants shall be required to submit an application for a special permit to the Town's Planning Director in such detail as shall be set forth in regulations established by the Planning Board, including a map showing the location of all abutting land holdings of the applicant or by entities owned or controlled by the applicant and the extent of the land proposed for development. The Planning Director shall review the application with respect to all of the standards set forth in Subsection C, as to the availability of municipal services and facilities and as to projected improvements scheduled to be completed in the Capital Improvement Plan of the Town. The Planning Director may request reports from appropriate Town or regional agencies, boards or officials, as may be desirable or as required by Planning Board regulations in force and applicable to the application. Within 20 days of the submission of an application otherwise meeting the application requirements of Chapter 170, Land Development Control Regulations, the Planning Director shall notify the Planning Board and the applicant as to his finding as to the acceptability of the application under this section and as to whether and how many of the development points the proposal is presently eligible to claim.
(2)
The Planning Director shall also proceed to notice the application for public hearing at the first regular meeting of the Planning Board not less than 10 days after the submission of the written report referred to in Subsection B(1). Such public hearing shall be conducted after notice in accordance with RSA 676:4, I(d). Applications shall be deemed completed applications within the meaning of RSA 676:4, I(b), only when they have conformed to all the requirements of this section and the application procedure in Chapter 170, Land Development Control Regulations.
(3)
The Planning Board shall, within 30 days after the report is submitted by the Planning Director, determine whether to accept jurisdiction of the plan pursuant to RSA 676:4, I(b). The number and designation of any lots approved in such special permit(s) to be issued shall be determined by the Planning Board in conjunction with its subdivision/site plan review conducted pursuant to RSA 676:4 et seq.
C.
Qualification for special permit through development points.
(1)
Except as otherwise set forth in § 165-116A, no special permits granted by the Planning Board under this section shall be exercisable unless a proposed residential development receives the following number of development points: LDR: eight points; LMDR: eight points; MDR: 11 points; and all other districts: 12 points, provided that the proposed development in any district must receive at least one development point in each of the following categories: transportation, school facilities, police protection and fire protection facilities. For the definitions of zoning districts (LDR, LMDR and MDR, etc.), see Article V of this chapter.
(2)
Development points shall be awarded according to the following categories. No application shall receive points in more than one subcategory of each part of this Subsection C(2).
(c)
Drainage facilities. Percentage of required drainage capacity available. All calculations based upon historic one-hundred-year storm event.
(d)
Transportation facilities.
[1]
Highway infrastructure improvements for roads or intersections impacted by this project installed or to be installed within one year: one point. Impacted roads are those roads which form one of the following intersections:
Ross' Corner | Crystal Avenue and Broadway | |
Shute's Corner | Route 93 — Exit 4 Interchange | |
Webster's Corner | Intersection of Fordway Extension and Route 102 | |
Route 102 Rotary | Intersection of Route 28 By-pass and Tsienneto Road | |
Intersection of Tsienneto Road and Route 102 |
[2]
Any negative impact to either the intersections listed in Subsection C(2)(d)[1] or intersections with arterial or collector streets identified by the Planning Board and/or its consultants as in failure and not mitigated by improvements set forth in Capital Improvement Plan or by the applicant. Arterial or collector streets are those designated as such in the Derry Master Plan: zero points.
[3]
All other: zero points.
(e)
School facilities.
[1]
Adequate school facilities available and having capacity for additional students: one point.
[2]
All other: zero points.
[3]
Adequate school facilities are deemed to be those facilities defined by the New Hampshire Legislature or other authority designated to do so and approved, if required, by the New Hampshire court of competent jurisdiction which meet the minimum standards of adequacy established by such definition. No school facilities within the jurisdiction of the Derry School Board shall be deemed adequate unless conforming to such standard without the use of temporary or portable facilities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, school facilities are not adequate if the available student capacity of any such facility, which otherwise meets the standard set forth in the preceding two sentences, is not sufficient to meet or exceed the student enrollment projected for the applicant's development when combined with student enrollment growth projected from available statistical data for existing and approved and unbuilt residential housing, including those units eligible for building permits under § 165-116A.
(f)
Recreation facilities. Improved park, playground or play field, including public school site or conservation easement and/or dedicated open space land of one acre or more, suitable for recreational use (to include a playground or play field) for adults and children, dedicated to and accessible from the subdivision or development to which it is appurtenant or which it abuts; provided, however, that private facilities are owned and maintained by associations of lot or unit owners whose responsibilities are set forth in documentation deemed adequate by the Planning Board.
(g)
Fire protection facilities.
[4]
For any occupancy within 1,000 feet of a Fire Department approved hydrant connected to the municipal water supply system or of an approved fire suppression storage facility: one point.
[5]
For any occupancy with access to appropriate fire suppression water storage and with installation of residential sprinklers compliant with NFPA 13 R and 13 D or within 1,000 feet of a fire suppression storage cistern compliant with NFPA 1231: one point.
[6] HIGH-HAZARD OCCUPANCY LOW-HAZARD OCCUPANCY MEDIUM-HAZARD OCCUPANCY
The following definitions pertain to this fire protection facilities subsection:
An occupancy with any of the following characteristics:
An occupancy with any of the following characteristics:
An occupancy with any of the following characteristics:
(h)
Police protection. Minimum of one point is required.
Number of Police Officers Per 1,000 Residents | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1.75 or greater | 2 | ||
1.50 to 1.74 | 1 | ||
1.49 or less | 0 |
(3)
Based upon the density of development allowed pursuant to Chapter 170, Land Development Control Regulations, and this chapter, the Planning Board shall determine whether to approve each application for special permit under its subdivision or site plan regulations. In connection with any such application, the Planning Board shall issue a finding specifying the number of dwelling units which it has approved in issuing the special permit. If any subdivision or site plan application does not attain the required number of development points at the time of such approval, however, no building permits may be issued on account of such approval except as allocable to the applicant's basic development right described in § 165-116A below, subject to the limitations otherwise set forth as to the timing and number of such building permit issuance in §§ 165-114 and 165-116A below.
§ 165-116 Basic development rights and additional development rights.
Special permits shall be exercised in accordance with the following:
A.
Thirty percent of the residential lots or units approved in the special permit pursuant to § 165-115C(2) (but not to exceed 21 lots or units) shall be deemed to be units for which the applicant shall be entitled to basic development right. The Planning Board may designate which lot(s) shall be allocated to the basic development right so as to provide for orderly development of the project and to minimize its impact upon municipal facilities or services. In case computations hereunder result in fractional units, the number of units shall be rounded to the next lowest whole number.
(1)
Such basic development right shall entitle the applicant to building permits for up to 1/3 of the units covered by such basic development right in the year of plan approval or five units, whichever is greater. The remainder of such basic development right building permits shall be issued in equal installments in each of the next two succeeding years until the basic development right is exhausted (based upon the Town's fiscal year). Such basic development right may only be exercised if the subdivision or site plan meets all conditions of approval, including the posting of a performance bond or other security as required by law or under Chapter 170, Land Development Control Regulations. The Planning Board, in establishing the performance bond or other security, may provide for phasing of such security in conjunction with the timing of the issuance of building permits under either this basic development right or the additional development right set forth in Subsection B. Basic development right building permits not applied for during such period may be subsequently issued in any year thereafter unless the provisions of § 165-114 are applicable.
(2)
The applicant's basic development right shall be subject to and further limited by the provisions of any temporary permit limitation set forth in § 165-114 herein, and the right to exercise such basic development right shall be extended in such case until exhausted or until any temporary permit limitation has expired.
B.
The balance of the applicant's special permit shall be allocated to the applicant's additional development right. Such right shall entitle the applicant to a building permit for each such residential unit only at such time as the development shall have the required number of points under § 165-115C(2).
(1)
As part of such Planning Board approval of the special permit, the Planning Board shall determine the year in which such additional development right shall be exercisable, based upon its finding as to that year that the development would attain the required number of points under § 165-115C(2). In making such determination the Planning Board shall consider the scheduled completion date of those capital improvements which it determines would be required in order to attain the requisite number of points as set forth in the Capital Improvement Plan then in effect. In the event any such capital improvements are completed in advance of the time schedule set forth in such Capital Improvement Plan, the Planning Board shall, upon request, review its finding and, if the requisite points are then available, advance the date when the additional development right shall be exercisable. Such additional development rights shall be vested at the time of Planning Board approval pursuant to § 165-115C(2) herein but shall not be exercisable until the time set forth above.
(2)
The Planning Board may, as part of such approval, require the phasing of such additional development rights at the time of exercise, depending upon the scope of the project and other off-site impacts or improvements required to accommodate the project. Such phasing may be required over a maximum three-year period in the discretion of the Planning Board.
§ 165-117 Capital Improvement Program.
A.
Preparation and function.
(1)
The Planning Board has prepared a long-term Capital Improvement Program of municipal capital improvements based on recommendations submitted by the departments and agencies of the Town, taking into account public facility needs indicated by the prospective development shown in the Master Plan of the Town and its Land Development Control Regulations in force and applicable. Such Capital Improvement Program has been based upon community facilities projected to meet the needs of Derry's build-out population as set forth in its Master Plan and will be submitted to the Town Council contemporaneously with this article.
(2)
To the extent that the Planning Board is required to make findings as to the adequacy of municipal facilities pursuant to §§ 165-114 and 165-115 herein, the Planning Board is hereby authorized to make such findings based upon the long-term Capital Improvement Plan adopted with this article. Such long-term Capital Improvement Plan is a good-faith estimate of Derry's present and future capital needs, and it has been adopted with due regard for Derry's projected ability to pay for such capital improvements.
B.
Authority. The Planning Board is hereby empowered to prepare and amend such Capital Improvement Plan on an ongoing basis pursuant to RSA 674:5 to 674:7. Such authority shall, and it hereby does include, all powers necessary to perform such function.
C.
Review and report. The Planning Board shall review the long-term Capital Improvement Plan described in Subsection A on an annual basis and make such amendment or update and report thereon as shall be appropriate. Such amendment or update and report shall be communicated to the Town Council and Town Administrator on or before January 1 of each year so as to enable the Town Administrator and the Town Council to consider the Planning Board's recommendations, if any, in the Town's annual budget-setting proceedings.
D.
Effect on article. This article is enacted pursuant to the revised Master Plan and Capital Improvement Program that have been prepared by the Planning Board. This article is subject to ongoing implementation, modification and amendment of the Capital Improvement Program, as well as any amendments to the Master Plan, and shall be reviewed at least each fourth year after its inception to determine whether changed conditions require its alteration. If the Capital Improvement Program is modified or altered, such modification shall apply to any applications for site plan or subdivision approval submitted after the date such modification is adopted by the Planning Board but shall not affect plans which the Planning Board has approved or accepted jurisdiction of pursuant to RSA 676:4, I(b), as of the date of the adoption of such modification.
§ 165-118 Effect of approval of special permit by Planning Board.
A.
Vested approval of special permit(s). If the Planning Board shall issue an approval of the application for residential subdivision/site plan approval, the approval shall vest a present right for the residential developer to proceed with residential development of the land to the extent of the applicant's basic development right in the year of subdivision approval, subject to the time limitations contained in §§ 165-114 and 165-116. Such approval shall also vest a right for the residential developer to proceed with residential development as to the additional development right in such year as the proposed development meets or is projected to meet the required development point value set forth in § 165-115C(1) and (2) above, as determined by the finding required in § 165-116B above.
B.
Developer options. For earlier or immediate development, a developer may advance the date of exercise of the additional development right by providing such public improvements as will bring the development within the required number of points required under § 165-115C(1) and (2) above. Such improvements shall be secured by surety sufficient to cover the cost of the proposed improvement, the form, sufficiency and amount of which surety shall be determined by the Planning Board after recommendation from the Planning Director and the Public Works Director and approval as to form by the Town's legal counsel. The required improvements shall be in such form and done in such time and manner as the Planning Board shall approve.
C.
Special permits assignable. All approved special permits vesting a present right to future development shall be fully assignable (as an appurtenance to the property to which they pertain) without restriction, except the right so assigned shall be subject to the conditions of the approval and of this article, provided also that any previously posted security for any required improvements is adequate and maintained by the assignee to the satisfaction of the Planning Board.
D.
Alternative uses permitted. Nothing herein contained shall prevent any land from being immediately used for nonresidential purposes if authorized by this chapter.
§ 165-119 Appeals.
Appeal of decisions of the Planning Board under this article shall be made to Superior Court pursuant to RSA 677:15.
§ 165-120 Special permit application fee.
The fee for each special permit application pursuant to this article to the Planning Board shall be as set forth in Chapter 170, Land Development Control Regulations, payable at the time of said application, and is not refundable.
§ 165-121 Implementing regulations.
To the extent deemed appropriate, the Planning Board may adopt regulations implementing this article pursuant to RSA 674:36, RSA 674:44, RSA 676:4, I(a) and (b), and RSA 676:4, II and III.