Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/02/2009

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February 25, 20091 Volume 31 No.4 Zoning Bulletin what restriction on the size of signs in a zoning ordinance could be deemed de facto exclusionary of billboards. While the 25-square- foot size limitation was clearly a de facto exclusion because such a sized sign could not fulfill a billboard's purpose, a 300-square-fobt industry minimum size was a matter of industry standardization and not necessarily the absolute minimum size necessary to make a billboard effective in serving its communication purpose. Nonconforming Uses-Owner proposes conversion from apartments to condominiums and from seasonal to year-round use \ . Town argues changes eliminate protected status of preexisting nonconforming use Citation: Dovaro12 Atlantic, LLC v. Town of Hampton, 2009 WL 48219 (N.H. 2009) NEW HAMPSHIRE (01/09/09)-Dovaro 12 Atlantic, LLC ("Do- varo") owned a lot in the town. The lot had two buildings on it. The first was a three-story structure with six apartments; the second was a three-bedroom cottage. Use of the lot for dwelling was a nonconform- ing use. Such use of the lot did not meet parking requirements set out in the town's zoning ordinance (the "Ordinance") because: (1) the lot had too few parking spaces in that it did not have the required two parking spaces for each dwelling unit; (2) any onsite parking spaces were not "connected with a street or immediately by a surfaced drive- way which affords satisfactory ingress and egress;" and (3) any park- ing spaces off-site were not "assured perpetual existence by easement." However, because the lot had been used for dwelling units since before the Ordinance was enacted, the dwelling use was a permitted preexist- ing nonconforming use. Dovaro sought to convert the apartments and cottage into a condo- minium project with seven units. In October 2005, Dovaro filed an ap- plication with the town's planning board (the "Board"). Dovaro pro- posed changing the use of the units from seasonal to year-round. It also proposed that each condominium would have its own parking space, one of which would abut the street while the remaining six would con- sist of two rows of cars stacked three deep. The Board initially denied Dovaro's application for the condomin- ium conversion project, finding the conversion would perpetuate "a public nuisance with respect to parking ingress and egress." 6 @ 2009 Thomson Reuters 96