Accountability posts
Drafts ready to share. Click to copy, then post. Zoning Board of Adjustments · Sunapee · August 12, 2025.
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Board dismissal of a serious legal challenge from a credible community member without addressing the substance
At Sunapee's 8/12 ZBA meeting, a former building commissioner called a board decision 'corrupt.' The board's response: shut down debate, call it 'emotionally charged,' and move on. No engagement with the legal argument. Resident... https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-bo...
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Lack of public transparency in legal reasoning that shaped a precedent-setting lakefront zoning decision
Sunapee ZBA (8/12): The board approved a rooftop deck at 46 Burma Road — reversing the Select Board — after a sealed legal session residents couldn't hear. Neighbors raised privacy and precedent concerns. The board's answer: tha... https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-bo...
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Inter-board accountability failure; Select Board deflecting responsibility to ZBA without documented basis
Sunapee's own attorney called out the Select Board on 8/12: they denied a zoning certificate without identifying a single specific violation — apparently to avoid accountability. The ZBA then reversed the denial and signed the c... https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-bo...
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Precedent-setting lakefront development decision made without addressing broader community impact
Sunapee ZBA approved a rooftop deck at a lakefront property on 8/12. Abutters say it sets a precedent for every shoreline lot in town. The board said precedent isn't its concern — only dimensions are. Someone's concern should in... https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-bo...
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🧵 Sunapee Zoning Board of Adjustments met 8/12/25. It was contentious. A corruption allegation was made, a sealed legal session was held, and a precedent-setting lakefront decision was reached — unanimously, every time. Here's w... #MeetingWatch
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A former Sunapee building commissioner, John McMahon, told the board its prior use of 'municipal estoppel' to accept a foundation certification at 46 Burma Road was legally wrong — citing a 2019 NH Supreme Court ruling. The boar...
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Before ruling on that same property, the board went into a sealed non-public session to consult legal counsel on whether rooftop deck railings count as part of a structure's height. The minutes from that session were sealed by r...
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The board ultimately reversed the Select Board's denial of a zoning compliance certificate for 46 Burma Road — with a condition on railing transparency. The applicant's own attorney said the Select Board 'just wanted to kick it...
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Abutters Tracy Appleby Cole and Suzanne Graves warned the rooftop deck approval sets a precedent for lakefront properties across Sunapee. Chair Jeff Claus responded that the board only reviews dimensional compliance — not aesthe...
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All votes on 8/12 were unanimous. But unanimity after a sealed session, with corruption allegations dismissed and precedent concerns waved off, isn't the same as consensus. If you own or live near lakefront property in Sunapee,... https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-board/2025-08-12/ #SunapeeNH
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Longer-form draft.
At the August 12, 2025 Zoning Board of Adjustments meeting in Sunapee, the board reversed the Select Board's denial of a zoning compliance certificate for a reconstruction project at 46 Burma Road — a lakefront property that has been the subject of ongoing community dispute. Before voting, the board held a sealed non-public session with legal counsel to resolve a key question: do rooftop deck railings count as part of a structure's height under the town's zoning ordinance? The minutes from that session were sealed by roll call vote. Neighbors who had raised the height question — and attended specifically to speak to it — had no access to the legal reasoning that shaped the board's final conditioned approval. The meeting also included a serious allegation that went unaddressed on the merits. John McMahon, a former Sunapee building commissioner, told the board that its prior use of 'municipal estoppel' to accept a foundation certification for the same property was legally incorrect, citing a 2019 New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling. Chair Jeff Claus shut down the discussion, characterizing it as settled and 'emotionally charged.' No public legal rebuttal was offered. Whether McMahon's argument is right or wrong, a former building official citing a specific court ruling deserves a substantive response — not a procedural dismissal. The applicant's attorney added another wrinkle: he characterized the Select Board's original denial as an act of responsibility-avoidance, saying the Select Board 'just wanted to kick it back' to the ZBA without identifying any specific zoning deficiency. The ZBA agreed, reversed the denial, and authorized its own chair to sign the compliance certificate directly. That's a significant inter-board accountability question that received no public scrutiny. Finally, abutters raised a concern that the approval of a rooftop deck within a lakefront shoreline setback sets a precedent for similar structures across Sunapee's waterfront properties. The board's response was that precedent, privacy, and aesthetics are outside its purview — it only reviews dimensional compliance. That may be legally accurate, but it means no body in this process formally considered the broader community impact. If you own or live near lakefront property in Sunapee, the August 12 ZBA minutes are worth reading carefully. Official minutes have been published. https://meetingwatch.org/nh/sunapee/zoning-board/2025-08-12/ #MeetingWatch #SunapeeNH