Category Archives: ZONING BOARD

Updated Zoning Board Meeting Agenda – 12/17/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment Agenda

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Appointment of an alternate if needed.

Minutes: Review minutes of November 2025.

Call to Order:

Old Business:

New Business:

Pauline Barnes will bring up ZBA web site and the Board will work on prioritizing menu on left side of the document.

Shane wants to discuss RSA 91-A is about Access to governmental records and meetings and meetings open to the public.

Zoning Board Meeting Agenda – 12/17/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment Agenda

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Appointment of an alternate if needed.

Minutes: Review minutes of November 2025.

Call to Order:

Old Business: 

New Business:

Pauline Barnes will bring up ZBA web site and the Board will work on prioritizing menu on left side of the document.

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 11/19/25

Walpole Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. Three members constitute a quorum, so the Board continued its meeting.

Review of Minutes: Minutes of October 2025. Mr. Sommers made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Old Business:

Recap: Joint meeting and ADUs Legislative Position and Walpole’s Zoning Ordinance.

Mr. Sommers received copies of the talking points made by Chair Murray and Vice-Chair Barnes at the joint meeting of the ZBA and the PB in October about ADUs. He also received a copy of that meeting’s minutes.

New Business: 

Applications: Mr. O’Keefe did not attend the meeting.

Zoning Board of Adjustment on the town’s web site

Using the big screen Ms. Barnes was able to get on the town’s web site and pulled up the information about the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Tonight’s and next month’s concern was and will be the “menu” on the left side of the page and the organization of that menu. The current web shows the first two items are “Meetings” and “Appeal of an Administrative Decision.”

Ms. Barnes posed the question if you were a citizen of Walpole what would you want to see first. While minutes are written for every meeting, Appeal of Administrative Decision would be a very special meeting and  something in which the Board rarely would be involved.. Ms. Barnes was also concerned about how does the board make it “user friendly” so townspeople know what the different applications (variances and special exceptions) were for and about. She thought the Board should start with definitions and explanations of the applications.

The Board will continue to tackle these questions at its December meeting.

Adjournment 

Mr. Murray made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Sommers seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:46 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

Joint Planning Board & Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 11/11/25

Walpole Planning Board November Minutes

Joint Meeting with the Zoning Board of Adjustment

November 11, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm.

Role Call: Planning Board members: Chair Jeff Miller, Vice-Chair Dennis Marcom, Jeff Harrington, Trevor MacLachlan, Select Board Representative Steve Dalessio. Alternates: Travis Adams, Bill Carmody. Absent: Jason Perron, Joanna Andros.

Zoning Board of Adjustment members: Chair Tom Murray, Clerk Pauline Barnes, Alternate Don Sellarole.  

Call to Order:  Mr. Miller called the meeting to order at 6:55 pm. Mr. Miller asked Mr. Carmody to fill in for Mr. Perron. He agreed.

Minutes: Review minutes of the October 2025 meeting. Mr. Adams made one correction to paragraph 5. His first name Travis was printed instead of his last. Mr. Harrington made a motion to approve the amended minutes. Bill Carmody seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

Josh Perry letter

Mr. Miller referenced a letter from Josh Perry regarding the comments about the inspection of if his gravel pit on Old Drewsville Road. Mr. Perry wrote that the bottom of the salt shed is asphalt and it has been there since 1996 and he is “planning on replacing it with a concrete floor, hopefully this year, but if not, the year after. Regarding the bank for the fill sand. Per the MSHA regulations the bank can be half again in height as the largest piece of equipment that is on the site. The loader reaches 20 feet to 22 feet, so the face of the bank be 30 feet.” This fill is being removed as this is where the new salt/sand shed will go.

New Business:

Lot Line Adjustment: Jay M. Landry, 100 Wentworth Road, Town Tax Map 17, Lots 5-5 and 5-4,  Zoning District Residential A. 

No new lots will be created but three lots will be tweaked. The plat shows .49 acres bordering Old Keene Road to be annexed to Cynthia Reeves Tax Map  17, Lot 12. It will remain open land and nothing will be built on this land. On Tax Map 17 Lot 5-4 and .01 acres will be annexed to Lot 5-4 to square off that corner to create enough room for the 20 feet needed between lot line and the building of a potential barn. The driveway to the Timothy Kelly Worth property on Wentworth Rd, Tax Map 17 Lot 5-2 will get .04 acres making it easier for him to access the road. This is what Mr. Landry presented to the board.

Mr. Marcom made a motion to hold a public hearing in December for the Lot Line Adjustment and Mr. Harrington seconded the motion. The motion carried. 

Joint meeting with ZBA: 

Pauline Barnes and Tom Murray talked about the latest legislative changes to Detached Accessory Dwelling Units and compared it to our current Zoning Ordinances.  

Our ordinance says the accessory dwelling must be 150 feet of the principal dwelling. They both thought 100 feet would be enough because it would create more green space.

Occupancy limited to family members but No. 7 already says renters can be unrelated to family members.

Parking: Our ordinance says ample parking for both the principal and DADU dwellings but legislative dictates adequate off-street parking? However, In Walpole no cars should be parked on the street during a snow storm. Our standards don’t harmonize with state standards.

Raise basic standards from 900 to 950 square feet,.

The state allows two bedrooms compared to our three bedrooms.

Limit of one driveway.

Aesthetics: Legislative aesthetics don’t matter to legislature. Walpole suggests that accessory building have some continuity with the main building.

Both state and Walpole prohibit multi-family uses.

Mr. Miller said he eventually would like the town’s attorney, Jeremy Hockensmith to take a look at both documents. Mr. Dalessio suggested that maybe someone from Southwest Community Services should look at it first – either Todd Horner or Carol Ogilvie.

Changes to Planning & Zoning Laws in 2025: A Guide for Municipalities

Mr. Miller brought up a concern in these updates about building on a Class VI road. Currently our ordinance says you have to get Select Board approval and also sign a liability waiver about keeping up the road open and not expecting emergency services.

But the state ordinance says:

“The statute does not prohibit municipalities from establishing separate road frontage requirements for new construction. Therefore, a municipal zoning ordinance can require frontage (of a certain length) on a Class V or better road. However, the municipal ordinance must clearly state this requirement by defining the road a “Class V or better.” If the zoning ordinance does require frontage on a Class V or better, a variance from the ZBA would still be required to build on a Class VI road. Because the statute is not effective until July 1, 2026, municipalities have time to amend their zoning ordinances if desired.”

Currently Walpole does not have such an ordinance.

Old Business

Takeaway from presentation about the PB on the Town Web Site. 

The purpose of going over the web site was to tweak it so it would be more user friendly. One thing the board did was to put together major categories. For example, under one click there is a list of all the things one must do to complete a site plan application – file out the check list, fill out the application, attach a plat, fees, rules for parking, lighting, etc.

The one hiccup is on the left hand side of the site, which is where the “menu” is, and at this time items cannot be changed.

Gravel pit inspection due. Jeff Harrington and Jason Perron did not get a chance to connect with Mr. Tim Graves about an inspection on Wentworth Road. 

Adjournment

Mr. Harrington made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Marcom seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 8:17 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine 

Recording Secretary

Zoning Board Meeting Agenda – 10/15/25

 Zoning Board of Adjustment Agenda

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Appointment of an alternate if needed.

Minutes: Review minutes of September 2025.

Call to Order:

New Business:

Handouts:

Update on DADUs

2025 Changes to Ordinances by NH legislators.

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 9/17/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment

September 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the October meeting for corrections.

Roll Call: Board Present: Chair Tom Murray, Vice-Chair Pauline Barnes, Shane O’Keefe, William Sommer. Alternate: Don Sellarole. Absent Dave Edkins, Myra Mansouri.

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7pm. Mr. Murray asked alternate Don Sellarole to fill in for the absent board member. He agreed. Mr. Edkins came in at 7:15 pm.

Review minutes of August 2025: Mr. O’Keefe pointed out that the August minutes didn’t have any approval. The secretary looked back at the August minutes and found that Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to approve the July minutes as amended. Mr. Edkins seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Regarding the August minutes, besides Mr. O’Keefe’s correction Ms. Barnes pointed out three typos. Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Sommer seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business:

Kristen Burke, 68 Cold River Road, Tax Map 26. Lot 24, Rural/Ag. Add a 19-foot-by-foot-14 deck to the back of the house. The ordinance says he must put the deck 65 feet from the middle of the road which is in the front of the house. She said it was 55 feet. 

Kristen Burke came to the meeting. She said she went to the Town Offices for a building permit to add a deck to her house on Cold River Road. She was told to contact the Administrative Zoning Coordinator, Ernie Vose. He suggested going to the town web site for an application. She had filled out an application for an Appeal From an Administrative Decision. That application is for an appeal of a decision already made and was not the correct form.

Ms. Barnes asked about the age of the house. Ms. Burke said it was built in the 1940s. This meant it was a nonconforming. There was a long discussion about Article X in the Walpole Zoning Ordinances document about nonconforming uses. There were five suggestions about possibilities of things to do. As an example item “D” says “A nonconforming use may be expanded or enlarged or changed to another nonconforming use after the Board of Adjustment determines, after a public hearing, that the proposed expansion, enlargement or change will not materially increase the hazard or nuisance value of the nonconformity.”

After several minutes of discussion on nonconforming uses, it was decided to follow the Administrative Zoning Coordinator’s advice. In an email Mr. Vose wrote:

“The problem is that the deck will be on the back of the house and doesn’t change the set back from the street.

“As long as the deck isn’t too close to the rear boundary line

“”I think that a (building) permit should be granted.”

Ms. Burke has about three acres of property behind the house.

It was suggested that Ms. Burke go to a Select Board meeting next week and explain the situation and ask them for a building permit. 

Discussion of MG Building/Abingdon Spares property on South Street.

There was some talk about this property at the September Planning Board meeting and Mr. Murray said he has heard some some talk about possible buyers. Mr. Murray wanted to remind the Board that this property received a variance that had three conditions and that the conditions go with the property. The conditions were: 

1. That only the mail order business be conducted at the above location.

2. Only the existing building be utilized.

3. All business operations be conducted within the interior of the building.

Owners were Doris and Gerard Gougen. They obtained a variance from the Board of Adjustments on March 1980 to conduct a motor car parts mail order business from their premises. The property is located in Residential B district. The use was “Pick and Pack,” a mail order for auto parts. The original use of the building was a chicken coop. The minutes of that meeting say that before zoning the land was categorized as commercial. 

Adjournment

Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Edkins seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 8:50 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Zoning Board Meeting Agenda – 9/17/25

 Zoning Board of Adjustment Agenda

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

Roll Call: Appointment of an alternate if needed.

Minutes: Review minutes of August 2025.

Call to Order:

New Business: 

Discussion of MG Building/Abingdon Spares property on South Street.

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 8/20/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment

August 20, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the September 17, 2025 meeting for corrections.

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 8:03 pm. A full board was present so an alternate was not needed to fill in. 

Minutes: Review minutes of July 2025: Mr. Murray made two corrections. On page 1, last paragraph a free-standing sign can be 20, not 10 feet high and the free-standing sign that was approved was 38.6 square feet not 38.8 square feet. Ms. Barnes corrected some typos. For example, on page three, paragraph six, the letter “t” should go before the “his” in the first sentence. 

Old Business: 

Public Hearing Variance for Boundary Line Setback: Lori Frandino and David Sanchez-Navarro, 37 School Street. Tax Map 10. Lot 48-1, Residential A district. Ordinance: Article V, D2 yard requirements.

Mr, Sanchez-Navarro explained that he needed the variance because he wanted to protect the cargo van from the weather. The van was too wide to fit into the barn on his property and even if it weren’t too wide all the bays of the barn are filled. He couldn’t park on the east part of his property because there is a stream there. The terrain is too steep and wooded to put the van in back of the barn. This left the land to the west, owned by Bill and Frances (Dutchie) Perron. The couple signed a letter addressed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. It stated that they “had no problem with construction of a lean-to roof off the north side of their barn.” There was a photo of the location.

Mr. Sanchez-Navarro then read the answers to the five criteria that makes up a variance.

Appeal for Variance: A variance is requested from article V section D-2 of the zoning ordinance to permit the building of a lean-to roof attached to the north side of existing barn. The lean-to roof support posts would be less than the required 20-foot distance from the back side of neighbors property line.

Facts in support of the granting the variance:

1. Granting the variance would not be contrary to the public interest because: The lean-to roof attached to the north side of our barn can not be seen by the public as the site is more than 250′ from the road and is not visible from the street.

2. If the variance were granted, the spirit of the ordinance would be observed because: The lean-to roof would not impact neighboring property or view and would be the most economical way to protect our recently purchased cargo van. (Attached is letter from neighbors Bill & Dutchie Perron)

3. Granting the variance would do substantial justice because: The lean-to roof is the most economical way to shelter the van. It’s too wide to fit though our barn doors (west side of barn), and the barn already stores three vehicles so there is no room in the barn anyhow.

4. Granting the variance will not diminish the values of the surrounding properties because: The lean-to roof attached to the north side of the barn can only be seen from the back of our neighbors property and the back of their property is semi-wooded. The barn (Oliver Hubbard’s old barn) is a three-story barn built into a hillside and the top two stories are already visible from the neighbor’s house.

5. Unnecessary Hardship Appeal for Variance a. Owing to the special conditions of the property that distinguish it from the other properties in the area, denial of the variance would result in unnecessary hardship because:

i. No fair and substantial relationship exists between the general public purposes of the ordinance provision and specific application of the provision to the property because: Without a variance there is no other economical way to shelter/protect the van.

 -and ii. 

The proposed use is a reasonable one because: The lean-to roof is the least obtrusive way to shelter the van. 

b. Explain how, if the criteria in subparagraph (a) are not established, an unnecessary hardship will be deemed to exist if, and only if, owing to special conditions of the property that distinguish it from other properties in the area, the property cannot be reasonably used in strict conformance with the ordinance, and a variance is therefore necessary to enable a reasonable use of it. 

The proposed site of the lean-to roof is located on the barn’s north side. On the barn’s south side, an adjacent seasonal brook is too close to build out to (approx. 10′).

The west side barn doors (1st floor) are too narrow to fit the new van and we already store three vehicles on that level. 

The east side of the barn (2nd floor) is on a hillside and inaccessible for a standard street vehicle. 

Mr. Murray asked the public if there were any questions. There being not questions he closed the public hearing at 7:25 pm.

Mr. O’Keefe said “As required by RSA 36:56 all development applications that come before a Land Use Board must consider if it has regional impact. He made a motion that the proposed development, if approved, would not have potential for regional impact. Mr. Edkins seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Barnes said items one  (public interest) and two (impact on neighboring properties) go together. One of the purposes of the setback rule is privacy and since the lean-to can’t be seen from the road, it fulfilled that purpose. The lean-to would not be visible. The land is the physical handicap in this case. There is no where else on the property to go. She made a motion to accept the variance as presented. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Tom Aldrich and DADUs

Mr. Aldrich has recently been to a Planning Board meeting, a Select Board meeting and now was at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting to discuss his concern about the Detached Accessory Dwelling Units ordinance. He is concerned that with the state’s current focus on expanding the ordinance in ways in which they can be used in order to help with the housing crisis, those ways will hurt small towns like Walpole. As he was speaking someone from the public googled the state’s web site and noticed several more attempts to promote accessory dwelling units by the governor signing several DADU related House Bills.

Adjournment

Mr. Edkins made a motion to adjourn. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion passed. The time was 8:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

ZBA Recording Secretary

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 7/16/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

July 16, 2025

Town Hall

 7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the August 20, 2025 meeting for corrections.

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meting to order at 7 pm. He asked Alternate Don Sellarole to sit in for the absent Board member. Mr. Sellarole agreed.

Minutes of June 2025: Mr. Murray made one correction: On page 2 he requested that the numerals  2, 3, 4. be placed before three items of the list of Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit requirements. Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to approve the amended minutes. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion and the motion carried. 

New Business: 

Lori and Dave Frandino, 37 School Street. Request for Public Hearing in August for a Variance, Map 10, Lot 48-1, Residential A District. Setback distance to boundary line.

The Frandinos want to build a lean-to roof attached to an existing barn but it would be too close to the property line of their neighbors to the north. Mr. Sellarole made a motion to hold a public hearing on the matter in August. Mr. Murray seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Special Exception request for a Public Hearing. Diane and Dale Ferland at 342 Whitcomb Road,  Rural/ag District. Addition of a DADU, Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit. No one came to the meeting.  

Old Business: 

Public Hearing: Variance: Justin Parker of Classic Signs in Amherst, NH is requesting a variance for two signs (a wall sign and a free-standing sign) at Blue Seal as well as an electronic messaging center on the free-standing sign. The property is at 334 Main Street, Tax Map 12, Lot 59-3 in the commercial district.

Mr. Murray explained to the public that the Board decided at the June meeting to hold one hearing for both the free-standing sign and the wall sign.

Mr. Parker began by discussing the free-standing sign next to Route 12.The ordinance states that “Signs (in the commercial district) shall be permitted no larger than thirty-two (32) square feet” and not be higher than 10 feet, Mr. Parker was proposing a sign of 38.6 square feet and 13 feet high. It would have three components – a Blue Seal logo sign, a Farm – Home sign and an Electronic Messaging System that would create a new short message every couple of minutes. 

The reaction to Mr. Parker’s presentation from several members of the public was that the Electronic Messaging System would distract drivers on a road that had two roads merging nearby. At about the point where the sign would be located on Main Street, cars on Main Street, coming from the village, are trying to merge with cars on Route 12. Local traffic is 35 mph on both roads but usually Route 12 traffic is going a little faster. Members of the public felt that the movement on the electronic sign ahead and a little to the right of the drivers would distract drivers trying to get onto Route 12. This feeling was repeated time after time from members of the public. Mr. Peter Palmiotto also said that if these larger signs are approved, the next variance will ask for an even larger sign and that will snowball into larger and larger signs down the road in the commercial district. 

Another member of the public put forth the idea that since the message was forever changing meant that it it was a new “sign: every time the message changed. Another gentleman talked about the general manufacturing of these electronic signs indicating that there may be another manufacturer out there that could provide a messaging system to fit our ordinance. Mr. Sellarole picked up on this idea and asked Mr Parker about this. Mr. Parker agreed there could be another manufacturer that could make a smaller unit but it would probably be much more expensive.

Someone else pointed out that these signs don’t have to be any larger. Walpole shoppers know where to go for particular items. For example, if he wanted some grass seed, he would know he could find it at Blue Seal. The same for LaValleys for building materials. In other words, people in town learn pretty quickly what stores sell what items.

Ms. Barnes read the sign ordinance about signs with movable parts.

“Limitations:

No sign of any type shall be designed or be placed in such a position as to create a hazardous condition by way of 1) obscuring a clear view of, or interfering with, vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or 2) similarity with official street signs and signals. Inflatable signs, feather flags, oscillating, rotating, flashing, neon, or other tubular gas signs are not permitted except when used for public safety purposes by a governmental entity. “ 

Mr. Parker responded by saying that the sign is not spinning or rotating. It is not flashing. He also said that the store manager can program the electronic system to do many things – change the message, change the time of the message. In fact, he manager could decide to keep the same message for a longer period of time, even to one new message a day. 

Mr. Edkins explained that the only thing this Zoning Board could do was to decide on was what the Planning Board asked to do – address the size of the sign. It cannot make determinations about the message board, a sign being internally lit or not lit. The Zoning Board is only here to determine one thing – the size of the signs. The rest is up to the Planning Board.

Ms. Barnes explained that this board, the ZBA, used to handle all of the signage in Walpole. In March, at Town meeting time and voting time, this changed. So now the Planning Board, since it handles site plan reviews for new businesses including lighting, building size and design, traffic flow,  now also handles signs at these businesses. This is a new learning experience for both boards, she said.

Mr. Edkins asked Planning Board member Joanna Andros, who was at the July meeting, what the Planning Board said when it handed over the task to the Zoning Board. She responded the Planning Board was concerned that the signs were larger than permitted. 

According to the Planning Board minutes of July 2025 it says,  “Mr. Harrington worried the message might distract drivers. He read from the sign provision No 3 “oscillating, rotating, flashing, neon or other tubular gas signs are not permitted except when used for public safety purposed by a governmental entity.”  Mr. Marcom also mentioned provision 3 (Limitations) but other Board members didn’t state concerns about the message board.”. Mr. Parker also said  that the Planning Board wanted to address the size of the signs. He added that that’s when he requested a variance to get permission for two larger than permitted signs. Variances are under the purview of the Zoning Board. 

After many other comments from the public on the safety of the messaging system and how to proceed, Mr. Murray closed the public portion of the meeting at 8:30 pm.

Mr. Parker read his responses to the five variance application questions:

Variance Criteria A variance from Article XIX.A.6 of the Walpole Zoning Ordinance is requested to permit (Give specific details of project) the allowance of a 50 square-foot wall sign. 

1. The proposed use would not diminish surrounding property values because:

The proposed sign will have a design that is consistent with the character of the town and the surrounding properties. 

Ms. Barnes wanted to know how his sign was consistent with the character of the town. He said the frame of sign if made of wooden beams much like you would find in a barn. Mr. Murray agreed and said he liked it. It looks a lot like the one Bensonwood has on their property.

2. Granting the variance would be not contrary to the public interest. 

The proposed sign will be consistent with the character of the surrounding properties, and will provide adequate advertisement to potential customers. 

Someone asked if it couldn’t be closer to the building and Mr. Murray said there is a rule that signs must be at least 100 fee from another sign.

3. The proposed use would not diminish surrounding property values because: 

The proposed sign will have a design that is consistent with the character of the town and the surrounding properties. Granting the variance would be not contrary to the public interest. The proposed sign will be consistent with the character of the surrounding properties, and will provide adequate advertisement to potential customers.

4. Denial of the variance would result in unnecessary hardship to the owner because of the following special circumstances of the property that distinguish it from other properties similarly zoned because:

With the square footage allowed by the town, the next smallest EMC would not fit with the sign design. This business has many changing deals and specials that would be advertised. This EMC will be much safer to change the message on than a manually changed reader board.

The entrance to this business is not centrally located to the building, so any increased advertising area will help customers find the business. 

Granting the variance would do substantial justice because: 

Granting this variance would allow this business to have an EMC message board, which would provide a safer alternative for the employees to a manually changed reader board. The proposed use would not be contrary to the spirit of the ordinance because: This sign will provide adequate advertising to potential customers, while keeping with the character of the surrounding properties. 

End of reading of the responses to variance criteria.

Mr. Murray made a motion to approve the 38.9 size of the sign but it would only be 10 feet high and the message would be changed once a week. No one seconded the motion.

Mr O’Keefe made a motion. He moved to deny the application as denial of the variance would not result in an unnecessary hardship to the individual. The motion was seconded by Mr. Edkins. The vote was 4-1 in favor of the motion with Mr Murray voting no. 

Wall sign on the building

Mr. Parker showed a picture of the current signage at Blue Seal and also his proposed sign with the new Blue Seal logo and text Home – Farm beneath it. He said the wall sign current is 60.91 square feet. His proposal was for a 49.58 square-foot sign.

Definition: A variance is an authorization, which can only be granted under special circumstances, to use your property in a way that is not permitted under the strict terms of the zoning ordinance. In several decisions from 1952 to the present, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has declared that for a variance to be legally granted, you must show that your proposed use meets all rive of the following conditions.

Here are Mr. Parker’s responses to the application.

The values of surrounding properties are not diminished.

The previously existing sign was 60.91 square feet, the new sign will be 49.5 square feet, and will be more compliant with the code. The proposed sign will not be any more disruptive to the surrounding properties than the previous sign.

Granting the variance would not be contrary to the public interest.

The proposed sign will be moving more toward compliance with the code than the previous sign. 4.

Hardship as the term applies to zoning, results if a restriction, when applied to a particular property that distinguishes it from other properties under similar zoning restrictions. Denial of the variance would result in unnecessary hardship to the owner because of the following special circumstances of the property that distinguish it from other properties similarly zoned because:

The previous tenant’s sign measure at 60.91 square feet. The denial of this variance would cut the current tenant’s signage in almost half compared to what was previously allowed.

Granting he variance would do substantial justice because:

The sign will be brought further into compliance with the town code while still giving this business an adequate amount of sign area compared with what used to exist there.

The proposed use would not be contrary to the spirit of the ordinance because:

The proposed sign will be small than the previous sign, and bring it more towards compliance while giving the tenant comparable square footage to what was previously allowed.

End of reading of responses to variance criteria.

Mr. Murray asked the Board if Agway, the previous owners of the store, had gotten a variance to have such a large sign, since the permitted signage for the largest sign is 32 square feet. No one researched the previous sign so Mr. Edkins pointed out that the proposed new sign is quite a bit smaller than the one the building now. He made a motion to approve the proposed sign as it is smaller and more conforming than the one that is there now. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, 5-0.

Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The time was 9:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

Zoning Board Meeting Minutes – 6/18/25

Zoning Board of Adjustment Minutes

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the July 16, 2025 meeting for corrections.

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7 pm. Mr. Murray asked Alternate Don Sellarole to fill in for the absent Board member. He agreed.

Minutes: Approve minutes of May 2025 meeting: Mr. Edkins made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Sommers seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

New Business: Justin Parker of Classic Signs in Amherst, NH is asking for a variance for two signs at Blue Seal – a wall sign on the building and a free-standing sign on Route 12. The property is at 334 Main Street, Tax Map 12, Lot 59 in the commercial district. Blue Seal was formerly owned by Achilles Agway.

Also at the meeting were Janus Gibbons, project manager for the Blue Seal re-branding project, Walpole Blue Seal Store Manager Larry Earle and Walpole Blue Seal Assistant Store Manager Tara Pacheco.

Mr. Edkins asked the Board and folks from Blue Seal if he should recuse himself. He is not technically an abutter because the driveway between the Blue Seal building and his home is a right of way. However, his home is next to the driveway. Both the Board and the folks from Blue Seal agreed he could stay on the Board to vote on the variance. 

Mr. Murray asked Mr. Parker what occurred at the Planning Board meeting. Mr. Parker said it was decided that the Planning Board would not approve the building sign or the free-standing sign unless they were 32 square feet. However, the Planning Board did approve the signage for the propane tank and the sign to the entrance to Blue Seal. Mr. Parker asked for a public hearing next month.

The next issue was since there were two signs in question for a variance, should there be two applications or one. Mr. Sellarole thought there should be two applications because there might be two different outcomes. One sign might be okay but the other wasn’t. Mr. O’Keefe felt that the board could handle both with just one application and it would cost the applicant twice as much money if there were two applications. Mr. Edkins made a motion to hold one public hearing at the July ZBA meeting for a variance for both signs. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion passed with 4 yeas and 1 nay.

Old Business: Discussion on Updated Zoning Ordinances from SWRPC. No Board member had any comments on the newly reorganized Walpole Zoning Ordinances.

Mr. Murray felt that since there is such a housing crisis issue, the Zoning Board of Adjustment should further discuss DADUs or Detached Accessory Dwelling Units. He pointed out four important parts of the document.

1. One Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU) shall be allowed in all zoning districts that permit single-family dwellings. The following requirements apply: A. No change in frontage or setbacks shall be required for a DADU, however, the minimum lot size for any given Zoning District shall be the following:

  1. Residential District Type A minimum lot area shall be 80,000 square feet
  2. Residential District Type B minimum lot area shall be 50,000 square feet
  3. Rural/Agricultural minimum lot area shall be 80,000 square feet
  4. Timberland not permitted B. 

The maximum area for a Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit shall be 900 square feet of living space. A larger living space may be permitted by a variance granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment. 

Adequate provisions for water supply and sewage disposal for the detached accessory dwelling unit in accordance with RSA 485-A:38 shall be demonstrated by the applicant. Separate systems, including but not limited to plumbing, heating, electrical and sanitary disposal systems, are not required for the principal and detached accessory dwelling unit provided that occupants of both units 

The owner of the property shall occupy either the principal dwelling unit or the detached accessory dwelling unit as their “Principal Place of Residence.” Whichever dwelling unit is not the property owner’s principal place of residence may be rented to a person(s) unrelated to the property owner A. 

Adjournment

Mr. Edkins made a motion to adjourn. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The time was 7:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary