Ball Fields Petition Warrant Articles to be Reviewed

Town residents who hope to create more recreational ball fields on land off Stearns Road will face their first test on Tuesday night when the Planning Board reviews three petition warrant articles.

According to Brad Knight, who owns land known as Acorn Fields, the first two petition warrant articles would amend the current zoning ordinance in the rural residential area to permit sports and recreational fields, which would allow the property owners to petition the town if they wanted to create them.

The third petition warrant article would supercede the first two warrant articles if they were passed by a majority vote at the March 11 Town Meeting. Even if voters passed the first two petition warrant articles to make it possible to create more sports and recreation fields, Town Administrator James O'Mara said if voters passed the third warrant article they would negate the first two warrant articles.

The Planning Board is scheduled to review the three petition warrant articles on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Souhegan High School.

“There are three that have been submitted to the Planning Board and the board will take a vote to support or not support these proposed petitions and their vote will be recorded on the ballot for the community to see the Planning Board’s position.”

O'Mara said the issue of whether create more recreational ball fields in town has raged for the past few years.

O'Mara said the demand for more recreational ball fields is very high in Amherst, which has a population of about 11,000 people.