Reference Library

Nonconforming Uses

• "The ‘Merger’ Problem -- When Do 2 Lots in Common Ownership Become One?" from ‘Grandfathered’ The Law of Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights by H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., NHMA Lecture Series - Fall, 2002
• Excerpts from "‘Grandfathered’ The Law of Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights" by H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., NHMA Law Lecture Series - Fall, 2002
  • 4. CHANGES AND EXPANSIONS OF "GRANDFATHERED" USES [or: "Old Man, New Tricks"]
    • 4-A. THE NEW LONDON LAND USE CASE 
    • 4-B.  OTHER CASE EXAMPLES OF CHANGES OR EXPANSIONS 
  • 5. THE NUISANCE EXCEPTION TO “GRANDFATHERING.” [Or: “Keeping Out Polluted Progenitors”] 
• "Pigs in the Parlor or Diamonds in the Rough? A New Vision for Nonconformity Regulation", Arthur Ientilucci, Zoning News, APA, April 2003
• Law lectures presented by the Local Government Center
  • "Grandfathered" The Law of Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights - A Guide for New Hampshire Officials by H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., Esq. - Fall, 1989
  • "Grandfathered" The Law of Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights by H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., Esq. - Fall, 1994
  • Vested Property Rights and Changes in Use, John J. Ratigan, Esq., Douglass P. Hill, Esq., Clay Mitchell, Esq. - Fall 1997
  • Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights, H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., Esq. - Fall 2002
• "But, It’s Grandfathered! Six Common Myths about Nonconforming Uses" by By Christine Fillmore, Esq., NH Local Government Center, May 2008
• "GRANDFATHERED – The Law of Nonconforming Uses and Vested Rights (2009 Ed)"., H. Bernard Waugh, Jr., Gardner Fulton & Waugh, P.L.L.C. from the Fall 2009 OEP Planning and Zoning Conference
• "If a house has a "grandfathered" setback (less than the zone normally permits) should an applicant have to ask for a variance if they want to expand within that grandfathered setback?" [Plan-link question posted on March 31, 2010]
  • See the replies
• PIKE INDUSTRIES, INC. & a. v. BRIAN WOODWARD & a. Argued: January 13, 2010 Opinion Issued: May 7, 2010
  • Subjective intent of landowner not relevant when zoning ordinance defines abandonment of a nonconforming use as discontinuance for more than a year. No abandonment when a business owner keeps its plant ready to produce and deliver a product, even if such products are not actually produced. (LGC summary)

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