The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that seven residents who appealed a Planning Board decision to the Zoning Board of Adjustment lacked standing to challenge the conversion of an inn into a four-unit condominium complex, because they had only a general interest in the project. The case involved the planning board’s decision to allow conversion of the building without a special exception, and the zoning board’s subsequent conclusion that a special exception permit should be required in the rural district, as nearby residents alleged.
On appeal, the Superior Court held that the residents lacked standing to challenge the planning board’s decision, thereby vacating the zoning board’s ruling. In affirming the lower court’s ruling, the high court held that the residents lacked standing because they had not demonstrated that they were “aggrieved” by the planning board’s decision to approve a major subdivision and site plan applications without a special exception.
The residents failed to demonstrate that they had a “direct, definite interest” in the outcome, and did not identify any particular injury they would face as a result of the conversion. The conversion would not dramatically alter the footprint of the building or its visual character. The residents lived 450 to 2,400 feet from the site, and only one had attended planning board hearings on the proposal.
Golf Course Investors of NH, LLC v. Town of Jaffrey, 20 A.3d 846 (N.H., 2010)
The opinion can be accessed at:
http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2011/201135golfcourse.pdf
