The Walpolean

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

Zoning Board of Adjustment

December 17, 2025

Town Hall

7 pm

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

Role Call: Present board members: Chair Tom Murray, Vice-Chair Dave Edkins, Clerk Pauline Barnes, Shane O’Keefe, William Sommers. Alternate Don Sellarole. Absent: Myra Mansouri.

Call to order: Mr. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.

Minutes: Review of minutes of  November 2025.

Mr. Murray made two additions. He said under old business he said he would discuss more about ADUs. He reminded the secretary to put the unapproved minutes notice at the beginning of all minutes. Ms. Barnes made a motion to approved the amended minutes. Mr. Sommers seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

Permanent Posted Meeting Time.

Mr. Murray talked with the staff at Town Offices and offered two laminated signs that would permanently be posted on the outside bulletin board at the Town Hall and on the bulletin board outside of the Post Office. It said Zoning Board meeting third Wednesday of every month at the Town Hall at 7 pm. Mr. Edkins suggested it say Zoning Board of Adjustment and Ms. Barnes thought (ZBA) should also be included. Mr. Murray will add these to the permanent laminated signs.

Old Business: 

In regard to a joint meeting with the Planning Board, Mr. Murray and Ms. Barnes attended a meeting in November about ADUs. At that meeting new state mandates for ADU ordinances were the topic of discussion.

Mr. Murray distributed a copy of a letter written by Town Counsel Jeremy Hockensmith. It was sent after the Planning Board Chair emailed him about a list of new state mandates regarding ordinances about RSA 674:71 to 73, ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units. The Chair wanted to know if Walpole’s Zoning Ordinances required the Planning Board to comply with some changes. Mr. Hockensmith replied with 16 suggested revisions to the Ordinance. For example, one of them was “Per the new statute, definitions of “attached unit” and “detached unit” should be added. I would add another definition of “existing structure” to read as follows: “a structure existing before 2025.”

Mr. Murray talked about following up with the Planning Board. Mr. Edkins didn’t think it should be Zoning Board of Adjustment participation as it’s the Planning Board’s job to write ordinances not the ZBA. But since the Planning Board is planning to work on a new ordinance. Mr. Murray and Ms. Barnes offered to be part of the group as “knowledgeable citizens,” not as Zoning Board of Adjustment members. 

New Business:

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

Ms. Barnes prepared a suggested menu to put on the left-hand side of the initial page on the web site. The purpose of doing this, Ms. Barnes said, was to make it easier for townspeople to navigate the web site and better understand how to fill out the applications.

1. Zoning Ordinances

2. Variances

• Definition
• Application

3. Special Exceptions

• Definition
• Application

4. Expansion of a Non-Conforming Use

• Definition
• Application

5. Appeal of Administrative Decision

• Definition
• Application

6. Fees

7. Meeting Minutes

8. Board Bylaws

The rest of the Board liked what Ms. Barnes has done however they thought the last three, fees, meeting minutes and Board Bylaws should be in another order. Mr. Sellarole thought fees should be last. Mr. O’Keefe thought Bylaws were important and showed procedure so it should be number 6. That made Meeting Minutes between the two, so it remained as 7. The final three entries would now be: 6. Board Bylaws, 7. Meeting Minutes, 8. Fees. The next step is to talk to the staff in the Town Offices and having the menu changed after definitions have been written and applications copied. Also applications should be checked for updated information such as fees.

RSA 91-A

Mr. O’Keefe handed out a couple of copies of RSA 91-A. It was the NH Attorney General’s analysis of the Right to Know law. Mr. O’Keefe said he wanted a Zoning Board of Adjustment agenda posted every month. However, posting an agenda is not a requirement of the Right-to-Know Law. He said he wouldn’t attend a meeting if he didn’t know what was on the agenda of a meeting. If there were a meeting about something happening on the road where he lives, he be interested in attending. But if there is no agenda, he wouldn’t bother to attend a meeting. 

Adjournment

Mr. Edkins made a motion to adjourn. Mr. O’Keefe seconded the motion and the motion carried. It was 7:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilou Blaine

Recording Secretary

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

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