The Francestown Zoning Board of Adjustments granted a request that will allow the owner of Lakehouse Recovery to appeal the decision handed down by the board in February.
It denied the appeal after owner Mark Hatfield, of Salem, did not attend the hearing to defend the appeal he made regarding a non-conformance decision issued by select board members. They issued the notice after they became aware of the recovery home in an article published in the Ledger-Transcript.
The home, located at 345 Scoby Road, is currently zoned residential, although town officials say he may need a special exception or a variance to operate.
“Mr. Hatfield did not appear,” meeting minutes from February 10 read. “No person spoke in support of the appeal. The appeal itself contained no explanation on any point of error in the selectmen’s decision.”
During the meeting, the select board voted 5-0 to deny the appeal on the grounds that no error on the part of the select board was identified or explained.
Hatfield was given 30 days to file an appeal to the decision, which he did within the allotted amount of time. Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustments Silas Little said the rehearing will take place of the second Thursday in April at 7 p.m.
“He (Hatfield) has the burden to demonstrate any error the select board made in its decision,” Little said.