Board of Adjustment Meeting Minutes

Minutes of 3/10/2022

March 17th, 2022

Town of Carroll
Zoning Board of Adjustment
92 School Street
Twin Mountain, NH 03595

Meeting Minutes
March 10, 2022
6:30 P.M.

A meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment was held at the Town of Carroll Town Hall.
Members Present: Chairman Aaron Foti, Karen Moran, Diane Rombalski

Public Present: Ken Mills, as Board of Selectmen representative; Dave Scalley, as Building Inspector;
Public: Rob Gauthier, Anita Greer who is an elected ZBA member not yet sworn into
office.

Minutes Taken by: Karen Moran

Agenda Item #1 Meeting Called to Order at 6:46 P.M. by Chairman Foti

Agenda Item #2 Pledge of Allegiance

Agenda Item #3 Roll Call- Aaron Foti, Karen Moran, Diane Rombalski

Chairman Foti thanked the Board of Selectmen members for attending. Ken Mills noted
that he was attending as the Board of Selectmen representative to the ZBA, Dave Scalley
as the Building Inspector and Rob Gauthier as a member of the public.

Agenda Item #4 Approval of minutes of January 13, 2022 tabled until April meeting, when elected
members (from the March 8, 2022 election) and alternates will be available. There was not a meeting in February.

Agenda Item #5 Unfinished Business- Chairman Foti reviewed the timeline and outcome of the legal case brought against the ZBA by the Board of Selectmen. This is the first ZBA meeting since the lawsuit was decided. Chairman referenced minutes from a Board of Selectmen’s meeting saying that they did not agree with the outcomes of the case but
accept it. Chairman discussed the timeframe of the application to the Planning Board (December 2020); discussion and vote on recusal of certain Planning Board members (January 2021); Appeal by Board of Selectmen to ZBA (January 2021); ZBA discussion of recusal of Chair, with all voting to support Chair’s participation, ZBA denied appeal 5-0 including K. Mills as ZBA member (February 2021); Board of Selectmen requested rehearing at the ZBA (March 9, 2021); rehearing held, elements discussed, recusal requests discussed and upheld, unanimous vote denied request for rehearing (March
18, 2021).

April 19, 2021-Board of Selectmen through Town Counsel sued the ZBA in Superior Court for alleged unlawful and unreasonable actions:
1. Planning Board overlooked road frontage requirements
2. ZBA Chair declined to recuse himself
3. ZBA concluded that the non-conforming lot added to the subdivision was exempt from road frontage requirements.

A hearing on the merits was held on December 10, 2021 (Docket No. 214-2021-CV-32) with a decree on the merits issued January 19, 2022 denying the Board of Selectmen’s
request that the court declare the ZBA’s decision to be unlawful or unreasonable and reverse that decision. All three counts were denied.

Chairman asked for any questions or changes to the record of events. Ken Mills asked to discuss his perspective. Chairman asked him to share those at the Board of
Selectmen’s meeting March 15, 2022.

Legal fees incurred were:
Board of Selectmen $12,474.75
Zoning $ 4,641.43
Total $17,116.18

Chairman noted the costs paid by taxpayers could have been avoided had the Board of Selectmen worked together with the Zoning Board.

Chairman asked the Board of Selectmen to state the actual reason why the desire to overturn the ZBA decision was pushed so hard, resulting in the lawsuit.

Chairman requested an explanation of the Board of Selectmen’s disagreement with the Court’s decree on all counts to avoid disagreement on these points in the future.

While all Board of Selectmen members were present at the ZBA meeting, at the invitation of the Chairman, they had not had an opportunity to confer. Ken Mills noted
the information would be provided at the Board of Selectmen’s next meeting.

Chairman shared some personal comments on the outcome. He spoke of inability to understand why the lawsuit was filed, the lack of respect of the work of the Planning
and Zoning Boards. The lawsuit has damaged relationships and eroded trust and credibility among the town boards, and the public. It was a flagrant waste of taxpayer
money and was detrimental to the town. He said he wants to work with the Board of Selectmen and will wait for outcome of upcoming meeting.

Agenda Item #6 Public Hearing-there were no applications to review.

Agenda Item #7 New Business related to procedural questions from Dave Scalley, in his role as Building
Inspector, regarding authority under ZBA Ordinance sections 302, 801, and 802. He asked what the process is to confirm a non-conforming lot. After discussion and review of Sections 302 (non-conforming lot), 801 (Board of Selectmen), and 802.1A-2:1 (Zoning and Building Permit), it was determined that the Building Inspector has the authority to issue building permits that, in his opinion, comply with ZBA ordinance. Any dispute of said permit would come before the ZBA for resolution. Dave offered to compile a list of all lots existing prior to 1979 for the ZBA to confirm. Discussion took place regarding a
no-fee building permit for structures under 200 feet (802.1 A-2:1). Such a change would require a warrant article amending the ordinance.

Agenda Item #8 ZBA Rules of Procedure
The request to have the Checklist reviewed by legal counsel was denied by the Board of Selectmen as there are resources available. ZBA may request again if needed.

Discussion also took place regarding NH Municipal Association website that has a checklist, per Ken Mills. The checklist being contemplated by ZBA was compared to that previously, and the internal list was understood to be more beneficial to the town.
Crystal Bailey informed Chairman that legal review of the checklist had been done by prior secretary. Discussion took place regarding positives of using a checklist vs.
hesitation of implementing it without input from legal counsel.

Further discussion was tabled until the April meeting.

Agenda Item #9 Karen Moran motioned to adjourn the meeting, Aaron Foti seconded the motion. All in
favor. The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 7:35 P.M.