Court Updates

Housing Appeals Board Requires Planning Board to Revisit Decision on “Good Cause” to Extend Project Commencement and Completion Deadlines under RSA 674:39, IV

Proving Disproportionality Requires a Taxpayer to Establish its Aggregate Valuation is a Higher Percentage of Fair Market Value than Property in the Municipality Generally

Equalization Ratios May be Applied to Fair Market Value Assessments of Electric Utility Property to Determine Appropriate Abatement

Notice to Abutter is Required when Abutter is “Directly” not “Diagonally” Across a Street; and Planning Board Condition that Approvals be Obtained from all Necessary Approving Bodies Validates Conditional Approval

Owner-Occupation Requirements in Local Zoning Ordinance Can Limit Impact of Short-Term Rentals on Local Real Estate Market

Select Board Decision Denying Reclassification of a Class VI Road as Class V Vacated and Remanded due to Improper Consideration of the Impact of a Residential Project

A Notice of Violation can Serve as the Initiation of an Enforcement Action and Also as the Basis for an Administrative Appeal

Planning Board Decisions Based on Zoning Regulations Must be Founded on Objectively Clear Zoning Non-Conformities

Written Legal Advice can be Subject to Disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law

Sullyville, LLC v. Town of Carroll

30-day Time Period for Appealing a Planning Board Decision is Calculated Starting with the Day after the Date of the Decision

A Late Filed Claim for a Charitable Exemption under RSA 72:23-c Not Supported by a Contemporaneous Claim of Accident, Mistake or Misfortune Properly Denied by Town

An Easement Exists Over a Discontinued Highway When the Easement is Reasonably Necessary for Access

Police Department Internal Affairs Reports Required to be Disclosed Under the Right-to-Know Law Even When the Underlying Allegations of Police Officer Misconduct are Unfounded.

The Exculpatory Evidence Schedule (a/k/a Laurie List) is Not Exempt from Disclosure as Police Personnel File under RSA 105:13-b, Nor is it Exempt Internal Personnel Practice, but Might be Exempt Since Disclosure Would Constitute Invasion of Privacy

Secretary of State Shall Forward Absentee Voter Registrations Forms Directly to Applicants and Can No Longer Refer Voters to City or Town Clerks

New Hampshire Supreme Court Affirms Discontinuance of a Road by a Town Pursuant to RSA 231:43.

City Mask Ordinance Legal Under New Hampshire Law

An Unspent Annual Appropriation Will Lapse Unless Those Funds are Encumbered by a Legally Enforceable Obligation that Attaches to the Funds Before the End of the Fiscal Year

An Employer Who Fires an Individual Merely for Being Gay or Transgender Violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A Committee of City Employees that Provides Advice to Planning Board Applicants is Not a Public Body under the Right-to-Know Law; 50 Cents Per Page for Copying is Permissible Under 91-A.

Objective Testimony from Residents, Combined with Personal Knowledge of Observable Facts by Board Members Can Refute Expert Opinions

“Internal Personnel Practices” are Not Per Se Exempt from Disclosure, but Exempt if Disclosure is an Invasion of Privacy. “Internal Personnel Practices” are Defined as Internal Rules and Practices Governing Agency’s Operations and Employee Relations

The “Internal Personnel Practices” Exemption Under RSA 91-A:5, IV Only Applies to Records of the Internal Rules and Practices Governing an Agency’s Operations and Employee Relations, and Not Information Concerning the Performance of a Particular Employee.

Three-year Limitation on the Duty of a Municipality to Pay Excess Proceeds from the Sale of Tax Deeded Property is Unconstitutional