CLAREMONT — A Superior Court judge has cleared a path for Granite State Packing to move forward with plans for a proposed slaughterhouse.
In his 10-page ruling issued last month, Hillsborough Superior Court Judge Michael Klass dismissed an appeal by a property owner who sought a rehearing on a variance the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved for the project earlier this year.
The court’s decision allows Granite State Packing to move forward with seeking a site plan approval from the Planning Board, though a site plan application has not yet been filed.
Granite State opened a pork processing plant in the former home of North Country Smokehouse in 2023 and seeks to add an indoor slaughterhouse for 250 pigs a week.
The zoning board approved the variance for a slaughterhouse, which is not a permitted use in the industrial district, in January after two previous hearings.
It unanimously denied Brian Gobin’s request for a rehearing without discussion in early March. Gobin, acting as his own attorney, then appealed to Superior Court later that month.
Gobin, who lives on Maple Avenue and owns residential rental property abutting Granite State Packing on Sullivan Street, had argued in his appeal that the board failed to satisfy the five criteria required in the city’s ordinance for a variance and further claimed one board member had a conflict of interest because she raises birds for slaughter.
He also said the board did not consider evidence that slaughterhouses bring an increase in violent crimes and diminish surrounding property values. Finally a statement allegedly made by the former city manager that the slaughterhouse was “already a done deal,” shows the board had predetermined the variance would be granted, Gobin said in his appeal.
“The city objects, asserting that the plaintiff failed to preserve certain arguments and that the record is sufficient to demonstrate that the ZBA acted reasonably in granting the variance,” court documents state.
Klass reviewed each of Gobin’s arguments beginning with the criteria to issue a variance listed in the city’s zoning ordinance, such as not being contrary to public benefit, will do substantial justice and won’t diminish property values.
In Gobin’s request to the zoning board for a rehearing, he did not address the five criteria, including unnecessary hardship to the owner if denied and public interest in a “meaningful way,” and cannot do so on appeal, Klass said.
“The court will not consider objections to the Facility that are made for the first time on appeal,” Klass wrote.
While Gobin alluded to the criteria in his motion for a rehearing he did not include any supporting evidence even though such evidence was readily available, Klass said.
On the issues of whether the presence of a slaughterhouse increases violent crime, Klass noted that competing evidence was presented by residents opposed to the slaughterhouse and Granite State Packing. The court’s role, he said, is limited and it is the zoning board that is tasked with resolving conflicts in evidence and determining the credibility of the proof presented.
“Whether the ZBA could have found differently is immaterial, and the Court will not step into the shoes of the ZBA and act as a super zoning board,” Klass wrote. “With those principles in mind, the court must conclude that the plaintiff has failed to establish that the ZBA acted unreasonably.”
Similarly, with a claim of diminishing property values, Klass said with “competing evidence presented” the court will defer to the ZBA’s finding on this issue, which said property values are not diminished.
On the question of a conflict of interest of one board member, Aran Lafontaine, who raises birds for slaughter, Klass cited state law disqualifying anyone with a “pecuniary (financial) interest” in the outcome that differs from the interest of other citizens, and called Gobin’s claim on a conflict “speculative.”
The ruling says it is not enough that the board member could have personal relationships with farmers and producers who will benefit financially from a slaughterhouse.
“The mere fact Ms. Lafontaine raises birds does not mean she cannot be impartial in deciding whether to allow a pork slaughterhouse where a current meat processing plant operates,” Klass wrote.
He agreed with the city and concluded that Gobin failed to demonstrate that an “impermissible conflict of interest exists in this case.”
Finally, on the question of a statement about the variance being a “done deal” attributed to former City Manager Yoshi Manale, which he denied, Klass said even if the statement were true, the court cannot conclude the board acted in error.
He said there is no evidence of a predetermined outcome of the variance request, that Manale was not a member of the board and Gobin did not establish that the statement had any influence on the board.
“The allegation, by itself, is insufficient to serve as the basis to reverse the ZBA’s decision in this case,” Klass wrote.
Attempts to reach Gobin for comment were unsuccessful.
