Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting – September 10, 2026: Two Variance Approvals and Recode Presentation
Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting – September 10, 2026
Note: The meeting transcript refers to this as the September 9th meeting, but the provided date for the summary is September 10, 2026. This discrepancy is noted.
The Nashua Zoning Board of Adjustment met on September 10, 2026, with Vice Chair Josh Neely presiding (Chair absent). Board members present: JP Boucher, Steve Lionel, and Joe Petrie. City representative Sam Durfee also attended. The board heard two variance applications, both approved unanimously, and received a detailed presentation on the proposed recode of the city’s land use regulations. The meeting adjourned at 8:07 PM.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Case 1 – 22 Skyline Drive: Two letters of support were read from neighbors (Linda Pichay at 20 Skyline and Robin & Joe Mulvey at 24 Skyline). The Mulveys expressed frustration over selective enforcement but strongly supported the variance. No opposition was voiced.
- Case 2 – 3 Suffolk Park: No public comments were offered; no correspondence was received.
Discussion Items
- Variance 1 – 22 Skyline Drive: Applicant Paul Gaffney (representing owner Ryan Dillon) requested a variance from Land Use Code §190-16, Table 16-3 for a five-foot front setback encroachment (15 ft proposed vs. 20 ft required) to construct an 8 ft by 42 ft covered farmer’s porch in the R9 zone, Ward 5. The board noted the encroachment was only about six inches. Mr. Boucher and Mr. Lionel expressed support, citing consistency with neighboring porches and minimal impact. The board found the variance met all five criteria.
- Variance 2 – 3 Suffolk Park: Applicant Eric Herb (representing owner Oleg Pedrobny) requested a variance from §190-26 to allow an 8 ft by 22 ft deck to encroach 8 ft into the required 30-ft setback from internal traffic routes in the R9/PRD zone, Ward 2. The deck would provide a covered entry for an elderly couple and improve accessibility. The condo association had approved the plan. Board members noted similar porches exist in the neighborhood and supported approval.
- Recode Presentation: Sam Durfee presented an overview of the proposed new land use code, developed over nearly three years. Major changes include: introduction of form standards (building types, massing components, architectural standards), a new density factor system (units per square feet of building rather than per acre), simplified use categories (reducing from 293 uses to 11 categories with supplemental standards), accessory structure size increases (up to 50% of primary footprint or 600 sq ft in rural districts), and a mobility management manual for parking relief. The presentation also discussed inclusionary zoning tiers, sustainable development incentives, and enforcement challenges. Board members commented on the need for consistent enforcement, particularly regarding electronic messaging signs, and expressed support for reducing unnecessary variance requests. Mr. Lionel noted frustration when unpermitted development goes unenforced, while Mr. Petrie and Mr. Neely appreciated flexibility that would eliminate many minor variance cases.
- Approval of Minutes: The board reviewed minutes from the previous meeting (date not specified). Mr. Petrie suggested minor corrections: adding page numbers, adjusting a description of a wall from “to construct” to “for an existing portion of a wall,” and including the adjournment time. The board approved the minutes with those changes.
Key Outcomes
- Variance 1 approved (4-0): A variance was granted to Ryan Dillon/Paul Gaffney for a five-foot front setback encroachment to build a farmer’s porch at 22 Skyline Drive. The board found the request met all five variance criteria.
- Variance 2 approved (4-0): A variance was granted to Oleg Pedrobny/Black Phoenix Builds for an eight-foot deck encroachment into the setback at 3 Suffolk Park. The board cited consistency with neighborhood character and the condo association’s approval.
- Minutes approved: The minutes from the previous meeting were approved with amendments for formatting and a wording clarification.
- Next meeting: The board scheduled its next meeting for September 22, 2026, with seven cases on the agenda, including two large developments at Air Road and East Hollis Street (48 units). No regional impacts were identified.
All variance approvals carry a 30-day appeal window. Applicants were advised to proceed with their projects.
Meeting Transcript
Everybody's all set. All right. All right. Good evening, everybody. I'd like to bring to order the September 9th meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. One quick note minutes and the audio visual recordings will be available on Nashua New Hampshire.gov within three days. Usually a little quicker than that. I'm Josh Neely. I'm the vice uh chair of the board. Unfortunately, the chair could not be with us tonight. Joining me on stage tonight is Mr. JP Boucher, Mr. Steve Lionel, Mr. Joe Petrie. Yes. I just had a senior moment there. And joining me to my left representing the city is Mr. Sam Durfee. I'm sure that you all have worked with Sam or his staff going through the process. Tonight we are going to be uh hearing two cases, it looks like, uh, both of which are variances. And uh if you remember from your applications, there are uh five criteria that must be met for the variances to pass the board's vote here tonight. The criteria are that the variance will not be contrary to public interest. The spirit of the ordinance is uh is observed, substantial justice is done, the value of surrounding property is not diminished, and literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship. So tonight what we're gonna do is when I call uh the the um each one of these into order, uh the applicant has up to 15 minutes to come up to the microphone here. Uh that microphone is adjustable and you also can take it off. The reason we ask you to use the microphone is that this is recorded and put on YouTube. We want to make sure that they capture all of your statements. You have up to 15 minutes to present. Uh please keep in mind or or know that we have thoroughly read your applications, and if there's any letters in support or uh in opposition, we have read those as well. So you don't need to come up and read your whole application. It's certainly your right to do so if you'd like to. Uh but that being said, please know that we are very aware of what your application says. After the applicant has uh finished their testimony, uh I will ask if there's anybody in favor who wants to come up and make a statement. Uh each one of those folks who comes up uh has up to five minutes to state why they are in favor. I will then ask if there's anybody opposed or has any questions about the application. Those folks then also have five minutes each to respond. Uh if we do have any folks that are in opposition or we have any letters in opposition, the applicant uh can come back up and has five minutes to respond to uh the questions or the opposition. In the event we get to that point, anybody who is in uh opposition, one and only one person of the folks who are in opposition can come up again for five minutes and respond to what the applicant said the second time when they came up. We do have a pretty small group tonight, so I don't think we're gonna get to that, but that is the order of how this will flow. Uh once we are done with the testimony, uh we will close the public hearing and we'll open the public meeting. What that means is myself and the board will deliberate on uh the merits of the case. Uh any of the board members may speak, they may not uh offer an opinion. Um board here, normally it's five. Um so in a case, uh any case needs to have a majority. So a two to two vote will not be seen as a positive vote for the applicant, so you need to get three positive votes unless one of the members of the board has to recuse themselves. Is there any questions from the audience on how that's gonna flow? Okay. So the way we have the agenda set up tonight is uh the first case that we're gonna call up is gonna be at 22 Skyline Drive, and the second case we're gonna call up is three Suffolk Park. If you are here for three Air Road or 30 Edwards Street, uh both of those cases have been pushed back to looks like September 22nd, which is our next meeting. So uh that would be our next meeting for those two.
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