Walpole Zoning Board of Adjustment

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Town Hall

7 pm

These minutes are unapproved and will be reviewed at the February 2026 meeting for corrections.

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

Call to Order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. He asked Alternate Sellarole to sit in for one of the missing Board members. Mr. Sellarole agreed. 

Mr. Murray announced to the Board that he had added the words Zoning Board of Adjustment to the two permanent notices for our monthly meetings and that he had written the yearly town report and sent it to Sarah Downing. 

Review of Minutes of December 2025: Ms Barnes made one correction. On page 2 after No. 8 in the paragraph about New Business, Ms. Barnes added the word “about” to be placed before the word ”having.” The sentence now reads “The next step is to talk to the staff in the Town Offices about having the menu changed after definitions have been written and applications copied.”

It’s at that point In the meeting that Mr. O’Keefe came to the meeting and passed out the following paper to each person.

“I move to amend the draft minutes of the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting of December 17, 2025, by deleting in its entirety the paragraph on page two under the title RSA91-A, and replacing it with the following: 

“Mr. O”Keefe handed out a few copies of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s March 14, 2024 memorandum examining and analyzing New Hampshire Right;-to-Know Law, also known as RSA 91-A. He noted that the memorandum states the “While not required under the Right-to-Know law, it is generally appropriate that the notice include a brief agenda and that other matters Within the public body’s jurisdiction may be considered.” As, Mr O’Keefe suggested that in addition to the two annual posted notices of when and where the ZBA meet, which were noted earlier by Chairman Murray, The Board should continue to post a complete agenda to ensure that the community is made fully aware of what matters the Board intends to discuss so that residents can participate in matter of interest. He mentioned seeing a Select board agenda that noted a matter involving the road on which he lives, which led him to attend the meeting and become involved in the matter. Had the issue not been noted on an agenda he wouldn’t have know about it being discussed and would have had no reason to attend the meeting.”

Discussion followed. Two or three Board members kept repeating that what Mr. O’Keefe was proposing was what was already printed in the December minutes. After about ten minutes of back and forth, Mr. O’Keefe said “Call the question,” which mean call for a vote. Mr. Murray called for a vote on Mr. O’Keefe’s motion. The vote to approve was 3 to 2. Voting for the motion was Mr. O’Keefe, Chair Murray, and Mr. Sellarole. Mr. Sommers and Ms. Barnes voted no.

Web Site

The rest of the meeting was about working on the Web Site. The entire purpose of this exercise is to make the Web Site more user friendly. Ms. Barnes’ vision is to have the two most used ZBA applications that the board usually deals with shown first. These applications are Variances and Special Exceptions. The point of this exercise is to get the best definition for each application so it is apparent to the applicant what the application means. 

Regarding Variances, Ms. Barnes said she liked the one that was currently on the Web Site. It says “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 rules 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 FIVE of the following conditions.”

Mr. Murray read one definition that used the word “relaxation” regarding the rules in the Zoning Ordinance and a couple of board member said they didn’t like that word. Mr. Barnes read the definition in “The Zoning Board of Adjustment in New Hampshire” Handbook. It says “A variance is a waiver of any provision of the ordinance authorizing the landowner to use his or her land in a manner that would otherwise violate the ordinance and may be granted by the board of adjustment on appeal.” There are five criteria the applicant must fulfill. Mr. Murray said a variance goes with the land. In the end, the Board went with the definition currently on the Web Site.

Special Exception got the same treatment. Several definitions were read and it came down to two that were in competition for best. Mr. Murray has one and Ms. Barnes has one and those two definitions will be discussed at the February meeting. There are several applications for Special Exceptions and they are dependent on the zone in which the property is. For example, there is an application form for a Special Exception for residents in Residential A and a slightly different application for residents in Residential B, Rural/ag, Commercial and Industrial Zones.

In 2022, a few members of the Board wrote articles for The Walpole Clarion. Those members included Ms. Barnes, Ernie Vose, Myra Mansouri and Dave Edkins. The article on non-conforming property says “Any non-conforming lot, dwelling, or business may continue in its present use.

“Non-conforming Use means the use of any building, structure or land which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

“When any existing non-conforming use of land or building has been discontinued for one year the land building shall thereafter be used only in conformity to this Ordinance.

“A non-conforming use may be expanded or enlarged or changed to another non-conforming use after the Zoning 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 non-conformity.”

The article says “Any non-conforming lot, dwelling, or business may continue in its present use.

The articles were written starting in April and continued for about five months.

Web Site lay out

Ms. Barnes envisions the layout of a page on the web site would include the definition at the top of the web page and below that the application. 

Mr. O’Keefe had been working on applications. He marked up several copies regarding what he thought should be eliminated and added a few of his own ideas of what should be included. For example, one idea he added was “A copy of the Board’s Rules of Procedure is available to the Town website.” Ms. Barnes explained that the ZBA has a Bylaws document, not a Rules of Procedure document.

He also wrote a Certification at the end of the Variance document. It says, “By signing below both the owner and applicant hereby affirm that the information presented in this application, and all supporting forms, plans and documents are true, accurate and complete and agree that, if any such information is found by the Town to be false or misleading, any permit or other approval granted on the basis of such information shall be deemed null and void. Permission is hereby granted by the property owner for the Zoning Board of Adjustment and/or its representatives to inspect the property at mutually acceptable time to verify information provided in this application.”

The Board like this addition.

Adjournment

Mr. Sommers made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried. The time was 8:31 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

ZBA Secretary