Reference Library

Involuntary Merger

• Involuntary Merger of Lots Prohibited
  Chapter 345 (SB 406) prohibits any municipality, county, or village district from merging preexisting subdivided lots or parcels except upon the consent of the owner. The purpose is to invalidate provisions, common in local zoning ordinances, that require the automatic merger of contiguous substandard lots that are owned by the same person. The new law does not appear to invalidate involuntary mergers that are deemed to have occurred by operation of law prior to the effective date. It also does not appear to prevent a municipality from requiring the property owner to merge contiguous substandard lots as a condition precedent to developing the lots—it merely states that the municipality itself may not merge them. E.D. September 18, 2010. (From the LGC Final Legislative Bulletin, Summer 2010)
• Division of Involuntarily Merged Lots
  Chapter 206 (HB 316) requires a municipality, upon request of the property owner, to divide lots that were involuntarily merged prior to September, 18, 2010, subject to certain conditions. First, the request must be submitted to the governing body prior to December 31, 2016. Second, if any owner in the chain of title from the date of the involuntary merger abandoned a lot line or took any other action indicating that the owner regarded the lots as merged, the municipality is not required to divide the lots. Third, the legislation makes clear that separation of previously merged lots does not cure any non-conformity with current land use ordinances. Fourth, the amendment authorizes a municipality to adopt ordinances that provide more generous relief than the statute. Finally, municipalities must inform the public of this new law by posting a notice in a public place continuously from January 2012 until December 2016, and publish notices in the town’s annual reports for years 2011 through 2015. E.D. July 24, 2011. See also section VIII.
  (From the LGC Final Legislative Bulletin, Summer 2011)
• Involuntary Mergers Prohibited - 2010 Chapter 345 (SB 406) and Involuntary Merger Optional Retroactive Restoration - 2011 Chapter 206 (HB 316)
  From "Land Use Law Update"
  Presenters: Attorney Christopher L. Boldt, Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, PLLC
  Attorney Benjamin D. Frost, New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority
  NHMA law lecture #3, Fall 2011
  Every three or four years it's time to put recent developments in land use law in perspective. This lecture provides the latest information on legislation affecting the roles, powers and procedures of land use boards and officials and the important decisions of the courts, including the 2011 legislation on residential sprinklers, lot mergers, shoreland protection and more.