Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes

ZBA Minutes of 8-13-26

August 13th, 2026

Town of Carroll Zoning
Meeting Minutes
August 13, 2026
6:30 PM

“These minutes of the Town of Carroll Zoning Board have been recorded by its secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct, they are subject to additions, deletions, and corrections by the Zoning Board at its next meeting when the Board votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2.”
Zoning Board Members Present:

Public Present:

Minutes Taken By: Steffanie Apostle

Item 1: The meeting was called to order by Andy Smith at 6:30pm

Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance

Item 3: Attendance Taken; Quorum Met

Lisa Gemmer is unable to make tonight’s meeting

Item 4: Approval of Meeting Minutes May 14, 2026

Bill Briggeman was in attendance for the minutes of May 14, 2026. Steffanie Apostle to add his name to the May 2026 meeting minutes.

Karen Moran made a motion to approve the minutes as amended and Diane Rombalski seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion passed to approve the minutes as amended.

Item 5: Brittany Pelletier

Brittany Pelletier was invited to the Zoning Board meeting but sent a message saying she would not be able to make it. Brittany Pelletier has been on the agenda for the last couple of months in regards to her use of her home for a home business. The last communication from the Zoning Board was a letter Andy Smith sent to her saying The Board had discussed this. Brittany Pelletier’s property is in a Rural Zone and would need a special exception for a home business or a Variance for a medical health care business. The Zoning Board did not have enough information to decide, so they requested that Brittany Pelletier come speak to the Board. We received a letter after that saying she didn’t believe she needed to come. We then received another email requesting a letter to be signed and we again requested that Brittany Pelletier come into the Board. This afternoon we received a letter from her saying she is still working on the New Hampshire Licensing Agency, and she would be in touch after. There is no action for tonight.
It was brought to the Zoning Boards attention that Brittany Pelletier also reached out to David Scalley, the Building Inspector, to sign the letter. David Scalley sent her in the direction of Landuse.
Bill Briggeman asked if she was already conducting the business? None of the information needed on the application/letter was required because she is still listed on the website as running her business.
Andy Smith said from looking at the website it appears she is. The only action that we could take would be to refer this back to the Selectboard for enforcement on running a business without getting the special exception.
Steffanie Apostle to speak to the Selectboard on August 18th.
Andy Smith read some of her email she sent on August 7th.
Clients will not receive any services at my residence. There will be no client traffic or onsite appointments. These arrangements will remain in place until I obtain appropriate office space.
Andy Smith said they do not have enough information. Working from home is different than a home business.
Andy Smith suggestion is to make a note that she decided not to come tonight.
Bill Briggeman said he felt there should be some kind of timeline. Is she conducting a business or not? And if she is or is not, can she tell us how things are progressing?
Karen Moran said she thinks those are legitimate questions from this board. This could be a problem at the State level. Karen Moran said she heard that RSA 151 has legal penalties they can impose on Brittany Pelletier if she is operating outside of the law. There are consequences for doing things without the proper licenses.
Diane Rombalski said she was uneasy about not doing anything. Diane feels that things have been left very vague on purpose. With her latest action of seeking out David Scalley it doesn’t sit well.
Andy Smith said the only action they could do was to refer it to the Selectboard. Andy Smith said we will put this in the minutes and have a motion, and Steffanie Apostle will talk to the Selectboard on the 18th. Any member of Zoning can also come to the meeting on the 18th to discuss it as well.
Karen Moran made a motion that the correspondence is confusing to us, and it appears that there is a business running and we will be referring it back to the Selectmen. Bill Briggeman seconded the motion, and all were in favor and motion passed.

Item 5: Pegi-Ann & David Perry

Pegi-Ann Perry told the Zoning Board they would like to put a 16x16 deck and get rid of their rugs, but they need a variance because they will be in the setback area. Pegi-Ann brought up a map to show to the Zoning Board of the area. The deck will encroach about 4 feet into the setback area on the side and 8’ into the front set back. Pegi-Ann had a letter from an abutter and the State saying they were ok with the deck and had no issues with the encroachment.
After a little bit of discussion, it was decided she needed a front and a side variance for the deck.
There will be no stairs, just a step up. Contractor has changed and they will only have 1 step to get up to the deck.
Discussion on the possibility of moving where the deck goes but because of slopes, septic and trees the deck can’t move. Zoning Board wanted to confirm hardships because they were not very clear in the application.
House was originally built in 1846 before any zoning was in Town. The State had offered to sell Pegi-Ann & David Perry the land, but they did not buy it because market value was so high and it was not worth it.
Discussion on how the deck will be placed. Pegi-Ann showed the board pictures of her house, lot and location of proposed deck. The one step up will be on the front of the deck.
Pegi-Ann Perry said it can’t be a floating deck because it is too big.
Andy Smith confirmed with the Secretary that all notices went out to the abutters, notices were posted in public places, and an ad went in the newspaper.
Steffanie Apostle confirmed all had taken place.
Jean Whitcomb and Abutter came to the meeting to tell the Zoning Board that she has no problem with them putting the deck up in the setback area. Jean Whitcomb owns the lot next to Pegi-Ann & David Perry. Her property is 1.5 acres so she doesn’t have enough property to subdivide and sell so this will not affect her.
Zoning for this property is Residential Business. This has 30’ front line setback and a 20’ sideline setback. DOT has reviewed the plan and sent a letter saying they are ok with the deck in the setback.
Jean Whitcomb Abutter letter:

Karen Moran asked Pegi-Ann Perry if they thought about shrinking the deck to make it fit and to do that you would need to cut the deck back by more than half. There is little to no room for any size deck. There is only about 5 feet before you are into the woods of the property, and they do not want to cut all their trees down. Pegi-Ann & David Perry had to get a variance to add a kitchen about 5 years ago because of the setback issues and where the house was originally built.
Zoning Board Reviewed the application:

1.) Granting the Variance would not be contrary to the public interest because:
• It is off the side of our house and will have mesh sides for privacy. It will increase value
2.) If the Variance were granted, the spirit of the ordinance would be preserved because:
• Our neighbor can’t see us from her house and had written a letter allowing us to do this. The State has also given written permission. The other neighbor to the side is a burned down hotel that can’t see it.
3.) Granting the Variance would do substantial justice because:
• It will look pretty from the road especially after the flower beds are in bloom if this happens before the snow flies.
4.) If the Variance were granted, the values of the surrounding properties would not be diminished because:
• We now have dirt and carpet on the area. The deck will beautify the area.
5.) Ai.) Owing to special conditions of the property that distinguish it from other properties in the area, denial of the Variance would result in unnecessary hardship because:
• Our neighbor is more than happy to allow this and DOT says it’s a Town thing not a state thing. They are approvers and have offered to sell us back the land at FMV since they don’t need it.
ii.) The proposed use is a reasonable one because:
• People use decks for outdoor dining in the good weather

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 reasonable use of it:
• Its woods. We will be eating outdoors with the birds and the bees rather than inside on a nice night.
Andy Smith said that the application didn’t really discuss the hardships but with all the questions the Zoning Board asked they have uncovered the real hardships of the slopes of the land, the septic and the house being built prior to Zoning rules and that would suffice.
Diane Rombalski said it was very important to make sure the minutes reflected the true hardships of the slope of the land, the vegetation and the septic.
Setback would be 8’ from the front and 4’ from the side. Looking to add the deck from their existing kitchen sliding door, if they push back more you can’t connect to the house. Any further than that and you’re on top of the septic tank. Due to slopes of the property, they are limited to where they can add a deck. The house property is oddly shaped and prebuilt prior to any zoning in Town, so the house is very close to the road.
The Zoning Board wanted a little bit more time to discuss the application with the applicants. Brief discussion on different ways to adjust the deck. Zoning Board decided no matter where she puts the deck she will need a variance.
Anita Greer doesn’t want to just willy-nilly approve requests that don’t meet the requirements and there are other viable options. We don’t want to set the precedent.
Diane Rombalski said each situation is different and what we approve for this may not work for the next. DOT has determined they don’t want to use their land that abuts the Perry’s. A deck is a very common use, and the ask is not unusual. They can’t move the house, and the property lines don’t move.
Andy Smith said in his opinion their hardship is the existing location of the house. Zoning Board agreed with that.
Diane Rombalski made a motion to approve the deck variance request for a 4’ side setback and an 8’ front setback for Pegi-Ann & David Perry. Anita Greer seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion to grant a variance request for a deck for Pegi-Ann & David Perry was granted.
Anita Greer seconded the motion. All were in favor and variance was granted.
Andy Smith reminded the applicants there is a 30-day window for appeals so any work done within the 30-day appeal window is at their own risk.
Brief discussion amongst the Zoning Board about how the application isn’t the easiest to understand what an actual hardship is or how to fill out the application. Decision was made to have Steffanie Apostle put together a sample for the Zoning Board to review to be posted online as an example.
Steffanie Apostle to put a sample together to bring to the next Zoning Board meeting for them to review and edit as needed.

Item 7: Ordinance/Regulation Survey from North Country Council
Steffanie Apostle sent a link to the Zoning Board to complete a survey in regards to Zoning Regulations. Steffanie Apostle printed a copy of the survey to put them in the Zoning Board folders so they could review what was on the survey. Survey discusses what you think works, or does not work? What do you think needs to be stricter or relaxed? Things of that nature for Liz Emerson to get a baseline. This went to the Planning & Zoning Boards, the Police Chief and the Fire Chief, the building inspector and anyone who deals with ordinances.
Brief Discussion on surveys being anonymous
Survey is open through August 27th.
Discussion on Liz Emersons presentation for the Planning Board. Please refer back to Planning Board minutes of August 2, 2026.
Zoning Board will be lightly involved. Liz Emerson will provide things to the Zoning Board as needed. Zoning Board not too involved because they have to enforce the rules and do not want to be the judge & jury.
Liz Emerson from North Country Council has a very good handle on the RSA’s and rules and regulations.
Item 8: New Business / Other
Andy Smith spoke about the Rules & Procedures. Newest version was done in September 2021. All members have most current version. There was a set of Rules & Procedures that were updated but not sent to legal for review. Steffanie Apostle sent them to Legal for review and Attorney Bob Carey responded that he had not reviewed it at the time but would now. After his review he said it looked good to him except for a minor change on page 6 & 7 that he forwarded. Section G had an RSA number change and a new title given. Section H was added in regards to appeals.
Karen Moran made a motion to adopt the changes from the Town Attorney on pages 6 & 7 of the Rules & Procedures. Bill Briggeman seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion passed to adopt the Attorneys changes.
Steffanie Apostle to make the changes and give to the Zoning Board once complete. Steffanie Apostle to amend the footnote that these were adopted on 8/6/2026.

Item 9: Adjourn Meeting
Karen Moran made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Bill Briggeman seconded the motion. All were in favor and meeting was adjourned at 7:43pm.