Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/06/2017

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Zoning Bulletin June 10, 2017 I Volume 11 I Issue 11 of the zoning ordinance Citation: Dartmouth Corporation of Alpha Delta v. Town of Hanover, 2017 WL 1346944 (N.H. 2017) NEW HAMPSHIRE (04/11/17)—This case addressed the issue of whether, upon the derecognition of a fraternity as a student organization, the use of the fraternity's property as as a student residence violated a zon- ing ordinance that required that student residences in a particular zoning district operate "in conjunction with another institutional use." The Background/Facts: Dartmouth Corporation of Alpha Delta ("Alpha Delta" or the "fraternity") had been a fraternity for students at Dartmouth College ("College") since the 1840s. In 1911, Alpha Delta began housing students who were members of the fraternity. In 1920, Alpha Delta built its current housing structure (the "Fraternity House"). Since then, Alpha Delta had used the Fraternity House to house ap- proximately 18-22 College undergraduate students who were members of the fraternity. In 1976, the Town of Hanover (the "Town") enacted its current zoning ordinance (the "Ordinance"). Under the Ordinance, the Fraternity House was located within the "Institution" zoning district. A student residence in the Institution district is allowed only by special exception. The Ordinance defines a "student residence" in the Institution district as "[a] building designed for and occupied by students and operated in conjunction with another institutional use, which may include individual living units with social rooms and kitchen facilities for any number of students." Alpha Delta had never sought a special exception for the use of the Fraternity House. On April 13, 2015, the College notified Alpha Delta that, "due to the fraternity's violation of the school's standards of conduct, it had revoked recognition of the fraternity as a student organization." The College had discovered that Alpha Delta had a practice of branding new fraternity members with the Alpha Delta fraternity letters. Among other things, the College's "derecognition" of Alpha Delta as a student organization revoked from Alpha Delta certain privileges including: "recognition as a `college approved' residential facility; use of College facilities or re- sources; . . . and provision of insurance coverage." The College also noti- fied Alpha Delta that it "would no longer be under the jurisdiction or protection of the College's department of safety and security." Ten days later, the Town's zoning administrator notified Alpha Delta that, because the College had derecognized Alpha Delta, Alpha Delta's use of the property violated the zoning Ordinance. The zoning administrator cited the fact that the Ordinance required that student residences in the Institution zoning district be operated in conjunction with another institutional use. Here, because Alpha Delta had been derecognized by the College, the zoning administrator determined that the Fraternity House was "no longer operated in conjunction with an institutional use," and that ©2017 Thomson Reuters 3