After agreeing to multiple conditions, the Temple Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a special exception to allow hoop house-style structures to be built to house a collection of antique construction equipment at 32 West Road.
The property and the equipment collection have been at the center of a longstanding legal dispute between owners Alan Marsh and John Jackson-Marsh and the town over whether the collection creates junkyard conditions.
In July 2023, Hillsborough County Superior Court ordered the property owners to bring the site into compliance with state law and local zoning by either removing materials deemed a junkyard or applying for the necessary approvals within 30 days. Those approvals include a special exception, site plan approval and a license. Marsh and Jackson-Marsh appealed the decision, which was upheld by the New Hampshire Supreme Court in December 2024.
The application before the ZBA last week is an attempt to bring the property into compliance with state junkyard statutes by storing most of the equipment in hoop houses.
The board discussed at length whether the hoop houses — which would be secured with concrete blocks — constitute a “permanent structure” as required by the statute. An opinion from the board’s counsel advised that hoop houses could be considered permanent, and taxed as such, if there is a foundation such as concrete pillars or footings for the hoops to attach to.
The board also weighed whether the hoop houses, with their planned dirt floors, would address concerns from neighbors and the Conservation Commission about possible leaks from the equipment affecting groundwater.
“That’s not accommodating our concerns,” said Temple Conservation Commission member Sean Radcliffe. “We want concrete. If it’s on soil, that’s not protecting our aquifers.”
A concrete floor would be “completely irrelevant,” Marsh said, adding that the roof would be sufficient to prevent leaks from washing downslope to the town’s aquifer protection zone.
“It doesn’t rain inside the building,” Marsh said.
The board asked Marsh how many vehicles contained fluids, and what types. Marsh said about 40% of the collection is in operating condition, and many do not contain hydraulic fluid, gasoline or oil.
ZBA Vice Chair Allan Pickman said those concerns, and several others the board had heard from the public, are more appropriately addressed by the town’s Planning Board at site plan review. He noted that the ZBA had the authority to require an impermeable floor, as did the Planning Board, though ultimately the ZBA did not place that condition on the approval.
The board also determined the two planned hoop houses were not enough to store the entire collection currently on the property, and flagged the issue for the Planning Board to address at site plan review.
The board agreed on multiple items to recommend to the Planning Board, as well as three conditions for finding that the proposal met the town’s special exception standards.
The conditions include maintaining a buffer area to shield structures and trailers storing equipment and parts from abutters and from West Road. The property must also comply with the state’s junkyard statute, which allows only five vehicles, or their equivalent in parts, to be outside of a structure.
The board also set a project timeline, requiring construction of the hoop houses to be completed within 36 months of a building permit being issued. The Select Board will retain the right to inspect the property annually for compliance.
The board’s recommendations to the Planning Board for site plan review include stormwater and drainage management.