The Walpolean

Roll Call – Board Present: Chair Tom Murray, Vice-Chair Dave Edkins, Clerk Pauline Barnes, Tom Winmill. Alternates: Don Sellarole, Myra Mansouri. Absent: Board member Shane O’Keefe.

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. The Chair asked Alternate Sellarole to fill in for the absent board member. Mr. Sellarole agreed to do so.

Minutes: The date of the year of the meeting was corrected to 2024. Mr. Murray made two corrections. On page 1 the word “is” is repeated in the last sentence of paragraph 4 and on page 2 he corrected the spelling of the word “would” in criteria No. 3. Mr. Sellarole made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion and the motion passed 4 to 0, with one member not voting.

Discussion of an email about Airbnbs:

This discussion came about because of an email about two potential properties in the Walpole village becoming Airbnbs and both are owned by people who would not live in Walpole. Both locations have limited parking. The email was sent to the chairs of both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board, the Manager of Administration and a Select Board member. The chair of the Zoning Board asked the chair of the Planning Board if he would be adverse if he brought it up at the meeting tonight. He said he would not.

Mr. Edkins immediately said that the board should not discuss this topic. If any board member gives an opinion or makes a statement about Airbnbs it would compromise their being impartial if some time in the future the issue comes before the Zoning Board, he said. He repeated what he has said may times that “the Zoning Board is an Appeals Board.”

Ms. Barnes said she disagreed. She read from the NH Supreme Court decision of May 2, 2023. Town of Conway v. Scott Kudrick. 

“Currently, many municipal ordinances do not clearly address STRs, and, as the trial court recognized, until they do we ‘will make decisions based on the language of the ordinances in effect, even if results vary from one municipality to the next.’ “

She continued by saying Town counsel Jeremy Hockensmith suggested a couple of years ago that Walpole should have an article in its zoning ordinances about Airbnbs. And Ms. Barnes reminded the board that that was also suggested at the joint meeting of both boards with the Southwest Region Planning Commission in July. She suggested that the topic be brought up at the next joint meeting with the Planning Commission and someone could ask them for suggestions regarding our ordinance.

Mr. Edkins said he didn’t have a lot of confidence in Mr. Hockensmith and that we did not have to take the advice of a former Select Board member. He said he wanted to preserve his integrity and would not take part in a discussion of Airbnbs and would leave. Mr. Edkins departed at 7:15 pm.

Mr. Winmill made a motion that the email be attached to the minutes. His written motion says

“Resolved, that to comply with the spirit of RSA 91-A-2, Right to Know law and to be open and transparent to citizens of Walpole the full and complete wording of the emailed references in the agenda of tonight’s meeting and the subsequent chain of responses be recorded in the minutes in an appendix as follows:

Mr. Sellarole said he agreed with some of what Mr Edkins said but also the Zoning Board has discussed the idea of needing an ordinance on long-term rentals on and off for the last couple of years. 

Ms. Mansouri said it is the role of the Planning Board to write articles for the Zoning Ordinances, but they haven’t been doing it. Past experience has been that when the Zoning Board has written a new zoning article to be put on the warrant, the next step was to present it to the Planning Board and they would tinker with it by adding, moving or changing the wording. The required public hearing is then held and when approved it would go on the warrant. She also thought the topic should come up at the next joint meeting with SWRPC.

At this point in the meeting Mr. Windmill’s motion was seconded by Mr. Murray. The vote was 3 yeas and 1 nay.

Discussion of the New Hampshire Municipal Association article, titled “N.H. Supreme Court Throws a Curveball on Short-term Rental Zoning Regulations,” was postponed to next month so that everyone would have a chance to read it.

Adjournment:

Mr. Murray made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 7:40 pm.

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

Respectfully yours,

Marilou Blaine

ZBA Secretary

This is the email referenced in the minutes to be posted with the minutes – Lil

Email from Peggy Pschirrer to Tom Murray, Jeff Miller, Steve Dalessio, Sarah Downing

Sunday two residents of Elm Street came to ask me about the legality of Airbnbs in Walpole.

A small house on Elm which shares a driveway is about to become an Airbnb as is the house under renovation on Main St. and Roger St.

We have no ordinances which speak to Airbnbs although Hockensmith has in the past told us it would be wise to write such an ordinance.

We have a zoning ordinance for B and Bs. Article IV L which requires a site plan approval by planning etc and RSA definitions/requirements. Our ordinance is a permissive ordinance. If it doesn’t specifically allow airbnbs, then they are illegal.

There are several airbnbs in Walpole which, to my knowledge, have not caused problems but parking could be an issue on both these new places. Also, I doubt that any existing Airbnb had a site plan review. Both houses are owned by out of town owners.

The NH Supreme Court issued a decision in 2023, Town of Conway v. Scott Kudrick, which ruled against the Town in an airbnb case. It had an interesting dissent. Obviously language is important in any ordinance.

I call this to your attention because while the current airbnbs seem not to bother anybody, these two new places are in tight neighborhoods with limited parking which may provoke objections. 

Best

Peggy

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. He asked Mr. Sellarole to fill in for the absent board member and Mr. Sellarole agreed.

Minutes: Review minutes of May 2024.  Page 1, paragraph 5 Mr. Murray changed May to April and on page 3, last paragraph May to June 19. In the paragraph about alternates Ms. Barnes removed the word “and.” Mr. Murray made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Sellarole seconded the motion and the board voted 4 yeas and Mr. Winmill abstained.

New Business:

Request for a Public Hearing in July for a Variance: Cathy Robinson, 105 North Road, Tax Map 22, Lot 14, Residential A district, is proposing to build a 12-foot-by-50-foot front porch. Article V, D-1 and 2 Yard Requirements. No building may be erected closer than sixty-five (65) feet to the center line of the abutting right-of-way nor closer than twenty feet (20) to any side or rear property line.

The board received a copy of Ms. Robinson’s application for a variance and had a chance to look it over. Mr. O’Keefe called it complete and made a motion to hold a public hearing in July. Mr. Murray seconded the motion and rest of the board voted in favor of holding a public hearing at the July meeting. 

Signage at Tractor Supply, 8 Red Barn Lane, Tax Map 12, Lot 13-2 Commercial District. The company intends to keep same size as now but reface it with additional information about the Garden Center. It’s the sign out by the road. Ernie Vose, zoning coordinator, said Tractor Supply does not need to have a variance or special exception. 

The secretary explained that the garden center would be on the north side of the building. There is a Tractor Supply sign on the building. Tractor Supply wanted to put another sign above the entrance to the garden center. It was 45 square feet. The maximum size for any signage in the commercial district is 32 square feet and signs must be 100 feet from another sign so a sign is not allowed at the entrance to the garden center unless the applicant gets a variance or special exception. The secretary said that Mr. Vose said that no one from the company needed to be present. It is located in North Carolina. The applicant decided to reface the sign on the road. Mr. Winmill objected to the secretary presenting any information on the signage saying her job was to take minutes of the meeting.

Board members received three pictures regarding Tractor Supply’s signage for its new Garden Center.  

Picture No. 1 shows what the new sign will say. Picture number 2 gives the dimensions of the sign as 10 feet by 29 1/2 feet or 30.33 square feet and details its construction, support structure and illumination. The third picture shows the sign with the building in the background.

Mr. Winmill said it’s too large. It is 32 square feet on one side and 32 square feet on the other side. Ms. Mansouri said free-standing signs are double sided and advertising on both sides is permitted. Mr. Murray read Zoning Ordinance Article IV D-1 and 2. “Free Standing Sign – is defined as any sign not attached to a building. Structural dimension of a free-standing sign shall not be used in calculating the area of such sign. A free-standing sign may have two sides exhibiting advertising matter, and only one side shall be used in calculating the area of such sign.”

Mr. O’Keefe asked if there are any other signs (besides the two mentioned) that are on the property. Ms. Mansouri said that Tractor Supply came to the ZBA when it opened and received permission for the two signs that are there now. That’s all there are now, she said.

Mr. Murray made a motion to approve the sign at Tractor Supply. Ms. Barnes seconded the motion with four board members voting yea and Mr. Winmill voting nay.  

The board also received copies of the sign form, signed by both a member of the sign company,  Laurie Bisnko of the Sign Source in Denver, NC, and the owner of the property, Martin Wasserstein of New Preston, CT. All parties in the matter of signage at Tractor Supply will get letters of approval of the sign and a copy of the form.

Joint Meeting

There is a joint meeting of the Planning and Zoning Boards on the fourth Tuesday of July, July 23. The purpose is to go over the suggested organization of the Town of Walpole’s Zoning Ordinances with Todd Horner and Carol Ogilvie. Mr. Horner is the executive director of Southwest Region Planning Commission and Ms. Ogilvie is a planner with the organization. They have been working on the Walpole Ordinance since a joint meeting earlier this year. Ms. Barnes mentioned that the secretary’s email from the Planning Board chair indicated that everyone would get a copy of the Ordinance before the meeting. She wanted to be sure it happened. Chair Murray said he would contact Jeff Miller about this matter. The secretary will do the same.

Article IX

The secretary read Article IX from the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s Bylaws approved in March 2023. She read it in response to Mr. Windmill’s request that the secretary keep minutes for a year. 

“RSA 91 Raw Materials: Tapes and notes used to compile meeting minutes are governmental records as long as they are retained: policy to discard/reuse after minutes are approved is acceptable.”

Other 

Chair Murray reported he went to a meeting of the Select Board and discussed indemnity for board members. The issued was raised at the May meeting by Mr. Winmill. Mr. Murray reported that the Select Board said members of Walpole Board needn’t worry as they are covered by indemnity insurance. However, they should be vigilant as Mr. Murray said Mr. Dalessio warned that the legislature had been looking at the matter. Mr. Winmill said he had read the Select Board minutes on the matter.

Recording Minutes

Mr. Winmill again brought up the topic of requiring the secretary to record minutes and keep them for a year. Mr. Murray said we brought this topic up before at the last meeting and the vote was 3 nays to 2 nays for requiring the secretary to do this.

Mr. Winmill made a motion to require the secretary to record minutes. No one seconded the motion. 

Ms. Barnes then read from a JUSTIA brief that related to a 2023 NH Revised Statutes regarding electronic records. Section RSA 33-A:-a.

II “Electronic municipal records listed on the disposition and retention schedule of RSA 33-A:3-a that are to be retained for 10 years of less may be retained solely electronically in their original format if so approved by the municipal committee responsible for the records. 

“Electronic municipal records listed in an approved format, the records shall be transferred to paper, microfilmed, or stored in portable document format/archival (PDF/A) or another approved file format on a medium from which it is readily retrievable.” Mr. O’Keefe said having to transcribe minutes would be onerous on the secretary. He suggested looking into this matter and discussing it next month.

Adjournment

Mr. Murray asked for a motion. Mr. O’Keefe made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 pm. The motion was seconded by Mr. Winmill and agreed to by all board members.

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the ZBA’s July meeting for corrections.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

ZBA Recording Secretary