Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the June 18, 2025 meeting for corrections.

Roll Call:  Board members present: Chair Tom Murray, Vice-Chair Pauline Barnes, Clerk Dave Edkins, Shane O’Keefe and Bill Sommers. Alternate Don Sellarole. Absent Myra Mansouri.

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. A full board was present.

Minutes: Mr. Murray made one correction. He mentioned that the caveat about the minutes not being approved was not at the beginning of the April minutes. Ms. Barnes made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Walpole Zoning Ordinances: The Board received copies of the updated zoning ordinances booklet recently reorganized by Southwest Region Planning Commission. This update reflects the recent changes voted on by townspeople at the March warrant vote. After members have had a chance to look over the booklet, they’ll come back next month with their comments. A quick look showed that all the definitions were in alphabetical order. 

Conway in the news again: Ms. Barnes said Conway, NH was in the news again. The NH Superior Court recently made a decision about a bakery that had a mural painted over the top of its sign. The mural had pictures of pastries in it. The bakery was said to be in violation of the sign ordinance, however the high court found in favor of the bakery owner.

Gravel Pit Inspections: Mr. Murray said that later this year he will go over the gravel pit inspection process with the Planning Board. Inspections are required once a year and this is done usually in the fall. The Zoning Board has been doing this for years but legally it’s under the purview of the Planning Board. There are three gravel pits in Walpole that are still operating – Cold River Materials on Brewery Road, Tim Graves gravel pit at the end of Wentworth Road and the former Hodgkins gravel pit on Old Drewsville Road now owned by Josh Perry Trucking. 

It was suggested by Mr. Sellarole that he may want to get an expert to help him because it can be complicated. Mr. Edkins suggested a geologist who lives in Charlestown. Someone else suggested an engineer from a company that is hired to do this from a nearby town such as Westmoreland. He will also cover reclamation or closing of gravel pits and add what happens to those inspections: letter to gravel pit owners including a copy of the inspection report. Regulations on gravel pit are RSA 155:E.

Mr. O’Keefe briefly brought up development of regional impact. He referenced RSA 36:56, Section I. “A local land use board as defined in RSA 672:7, upon receipt of an application for development, shall review it promptly and determine whether or not the development, if approved, reasonably could be construed as having the potential for regional impact. Doubt concerning region impact shall be resolved in a determination that the development has potential regional impact.”

Spring conference: Ms. Barnes said she virtually attended a webinar on Saturday, May 10 put on by the New Hampshire Office of Planning and Development Spring Conference. This is what she gleaned from the conference in the afternoon question and answer session.

Recusing oneself:

• The refusal of a Board member to recuse him/herself when there is a perceived conflict. When that happens, you can be 100 percent sure that there will be an appeal.

There was a lot to say about variances:

• The applicant must answer all of the five questions. Otherwise the application is incomplete.

Hardship is often the hardest part of application to answer. Here’s some help:

• Figure out what the underlying purpose of the restriction is about.
• Is that purpose affected by a request?
• Focus on the merits of the proposition.
• What is the purpose behind the zoning restriction for which the variance is being requested. Is the purpose furthered when you apply the restriction to this particular property? If so, then there may not be a hardship.
• Be tolerant on matters of procedure and focus instead on the merits of the proposition.

Equitable Waivers:

• The lecturers themselves couldn’t agree on some questions about equitable waivers, underscoring how complicated they are. An equitable waiver does not confer protected status.  Once granted, it does not create a non-conforming use. Ms. Barnes wondered if the Board had ever dealt with an equitable waiver, leading to a discussion about them.  No member could recall having done so.     

Adjournment

Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Edkins seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 8 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

Tagged: Meeting Minutes, ZONING BOARD