The Nashua Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) met on October 15, 2025, to hear five applications. The primary item was a request by the Nashua Fire Department for a special exception to construct a gated driveway through a wetland buffer to access a proposed fire training facility. After extensive public testimony, the board voted to deny the application. The board also approved four other variance requests for a front porch, a tattoo studio, a shed replacement, and a deck, as well as a sign variance.
Once again, if everybody wouldn't mind please taking their seats and uh keeping the noise volume down so that we can start the meeting. I would appreciate it. All right. Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the October 14th meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Once again, if I could ask everybody to please quiet down so that we can begin the meeting. Thank you. My name is Jay Menkara, and I am ZBA chair. To my right is Josh Neely, Vice Chair, and to his right, JP Boucher, member. Going across the stage, Robert Shaw member, Steve Lionel, member, and alternate Joseph Potri. We do have a full compliment of five ZBA members this evening, so all five will be uh voting and participating, unless a member has to recuse himself for some reason. Uh Mr. Potri is an alternate uh will participate though in all of our discussions and will vote in the event of a recusal. Um just going through the the order of business a little bit. So we have two different types of cases before us this evening. Um we have uh requests for variances. Uh a request for a variance is a request to deviate from the requirements of the zoning ordinance. And in order to grant a variance, the zoning board has to find that five criteria are met. We have to find that the variance, granting the variance would be with the public interest, that it would be within the spirit and the intent of the ordinance, that grant by granting the variance, substantial justice would be done, that there'd be no diminution of surrounding property values, and that owing to some special condition in the property, uh, failure to grant the variance would result in an unnecessary hardship to the owner seeking it. We also have a request for special exception uh this evening. A special exception is a use that is allowed in the zoning ordinance so long as certain criteria is met. Uh so each of these obviously are handled by the board somewhat differently. So, in terms of the order of business, um uh for each case, I'll read the case into the record, and the applicant will be invited to come up to the podium and will have 15 minutes to present his or her case. Following that, we'll ask if there's anybody in the audience who wishes to speak in favor of the application. And any individual who wishes to speak in favor uh can come up to the podium, uh state his or her uh name and address, and we'll have five minutes uh to address the board in any way you wish. Um following that, we will ask if there is anybody in the audience who has questions, concerns, or opposition. Very similarly, you'll be um able to come up to the microphone, give your name and address, and you will have up to five minutes. Following that, um we will allow the applicant to come forward, and the applicant will have five minutes to uh provide any rebuttal uh that the applicant wishes to provide. Um again, that's not required, but uh they may. And then following that, we will open up the floor to one person who spoke in opposition to the application to come forward and have uh final words. Um happens when there's a fair number of people is it will give you a moment to talk amongst yourselves and figure out who might be the best person to come forward uh to speak uh for the opposition. Uh so that's kind of the order of business. Obviously, we have a lot of people here this evening. Um so we will ask that if you when you are coming forward to speak, uh, to try not to repeat what other people have said. So if somebody has said something you agree with, you can just say so. You could state your overall position. Uh but obviously we want to have a chance to hear from everyone. Um we did get several communications for the board this evening, so we do have a number of emails. Um the board members have all received everybody's communications, and we have them with us, and they will be part of the record. So if you did submit um uh a letter to us and you had a lot of points to make, um, you know, feel free to reference your letter again. You can summarize, you don't need to state everything that you said. Trust that that we do have it, that we have read these materials. Um with that, hopefully that's clear to everybody, but we'll give you reminders um uh as as we go along. So with that, oh, and I should also add that to my left is Deputy Planning Manager Carter Falk. Um with that, I am going to call the role unless there's something anybody believes I forgot to mention. Mr. Shaw. Um, the one change in the agenda. Oh my goodness, you're right. There is a change on the agenda. Thank you, Mr.