The Londonderry Town Council voted 3-2 at its most recent meeting to rezone 2 Litchfield Road from Commercial III (C-III) to Agricultural-Residential (AR-1).
Before the vote, property owner Richard Flier, through his attorney Laura Gandia, requested that Councilor Deb Paul recuse herself, citing a conflict of interest because she previously owned the building. Paul declined, stating she would gain nothing financially from the decision.
“I would gain nothing financially from whatever happens with the property,” Paul said.
In a memo from Deputy Town Manager Kellie Caron, it was noted that at the Sept. 15 Town Council meeting, the Council voted unanimously to remove the existing Historic Preservation Easement and authorized the Town Manager to take all necessary steps to initiate rezoning to AR-1.
However, the Planning Board voted 4-3 last week against recommending the rezoning.
During the meeting, Gandia argued that the historic overlay was improperly applied and said the 2003 Master Plan raised no concerns about spot zoning for 2 Litchfield Road.
“There are other properties in Town which are considered spot zoning,” Gandia said.
She also noted that C-III zoning allows eight use categories, while AR-1 would significantly limit property uses.
“If the Board moves forward with changing the zoning, he will be stripped of those protected property rights he now enjoys,” Gandia claimed.
Gandia further claimed her client was denied due process because he was not given formal reasons for the rezoning proposal.
“It is our opinion that Mr. Flier has been denied his due process rights. We did not receive a copy of the Town Council ordinance at all,” she said.
Ultimately, Gandia called the rezoning unreasonable.
“If this goes to court, my standard is to prove that the Board’s decision was unlawful or unreasonable. And I feel very confident that 20-plus years have passed with no concerns from the Town through two sets of master plans, a site plan approval, and now suddenly this Board wants to rezone the property. That is unlawful and unreasonable,” Gandia said.
Councilors Deb Paul, Dan Bouchard, and Chair Ron Dunn voted in favor of rezoning.
“I know for me the whole purpose of the motion was we were removing a historic district. We wanted to bring it back to AR-1. That was the whole point of the motion,” Dunn said.
The next Town Council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.