HANOVER — Neighbors who oppose the construction of a church on Greensboro Road have filed an appeal to the town’s Zoning Board over drainage work that took place in the summer.
This June and July, Christ Redeemer Church had a trench dug and drainage pipe laid on the property it owns at 34 Greensboro Road. Hanover Zoning Administrator Bruce Simpson approved the work and determined it did not require a permit.
However, Jeff and Lara Acker, who live across from the Greensboro Road site, filed an appeal in July arguing that town officials erroneously permitted the church to dig the trench.
The appeal centers on three arguments: A new wetland study should have been required; the property is not exempt from zoning regulations under state law because it currently isn’t used primarily for religious purposes; and a floodplain permit should have been required.
On the wetlands study, the appeal contended that the 2016 study that Simpson used to permit the drainage work is too old, as New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services states that the wetlands delineations must not be more than 5 years old.
Additionally, there has been a dispute over the scale of the wetlands on the property. An expert for the church found total wetlands were under 1,000 square feet, which means a permit for construction is not required. But a report commissioned by the Ackers found the wetlands in question to be at least 2,700 square feet, according to the appeal.
The Ackers also argue in their appeal that the drainage pipe sends water to another wetland across the road and eventually into Mink Brook, which might “adversely affect the functioning of another water resource,” as per Hanover zoning ordinance section 1103.4(B).
They argue that the property owners need to contract a wetlands scientist to study whether or not neighboring water resources are affected.
The argument over the primary use of the property relates to a 2022 state law that limits zoning regulations on land and facilities primarily used for religious purposes.
Town officials have cited the law in allowing the church to move forward with its construction project, Acker said.
Acker contends that because 34 Greensboro Road currently contains an occupied single-family home it should not be considered to have a primarily religious purpose at this time.
Simpson chalks this up to a “misunderstanding,” he said in a Friday phone interview. “I don’t think the (2022) law applies to the 34 (Greensboro Road) property.”
The appeal further argues the drainage work decreases floodwater retention on 34 Greensboro Road and increases stormwater runoff into surrounding areas.
“Wetlands protection and stormwater runoff have been a huge part of the reason the neighbors have been contesting the church project,” Acker said.
The appeal said that “the owner has an affirmative obligation to provide all of this information (elevations, floodplain certification, calculation of cumulative effect of this and future development), prepared by a licensed engineer.”
However, Simpson said that this goes beyond what is called for in town ordinances.
“I don’t think it was a floodplain issue,” he said on Friday. “And I think that even if it was, the small trench they were digging to put the drain in isn’t really the type of activity that’s prohibited in the floodplain.”
In the end, the Ackers’ appeal requested that the Zoning Board “reverse the decisions of Mr. Simpson and require the owner of 34 Greensboro Road to comply with” wetland and floodplain regulations.
Jeff Acker presented the appeal to the Zoning Board last Thursday, at which time, Zoning Board Vice Chairman Richard Green said, “There’s merit to the appeal.”
The Zoning Board was expected to make a decision about the appeal at its meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday.
“We can’t short-circuit the following of the rules because the church thinks they can get away with whatever they want to get away with,” Acker said at Thursday’s meeting.
Jeff has lived on Greensboro Road since 2001, and his wife, Lara, has lived there since 1973, one year after she was born. Her mother currently lives in a house two doors down from them.
Christ Redeemer Church as been working toward building a permanent home in Hanover for two decades. The congregation has been holding services in the Hanover High gymnasium for years. The town denied the church a zoning variance as early as 2006.
In 2017, the Baptist church of around 400 members purchased four adjacent properties — 28, 32, 34 and 36 Greensboro Road — forming a nearly 8-acre parcel on the corner of Greensboro Road and Velvet Rocks on which it has aimed to build a church.
In December 2018, the Zoning Board rejected plans for the church, finding the new building would be too large and have “an adverse impact on the character of the area.”
The board reversed its decision a year later and accepted the church’s plans with conditions in 2019.
Then, the church argued that it was unconstitutional that the town was requiring a special exception for a house of worship not required for other buildings in town serving large numbers of the public.
The case eventually ended up in the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the church in April 2023, tossing out conditions such as hours of operation and occupancy limits.
In December 2023, the Planning Board approved CRC’s site plan based “solely on RSA 674:76,” the 2022 law that aimed to reduce restrictions on religious land use.
In January 2024, the Ackers filed an appeal to Hillsborough County North Superior Court’s Land Use Docket, attempting to challenge the approval and block the construction of the approximately 20,000-square-foot, $5 million church.
In January of this year, the court dismissed most of the Ackers’ claims, except one that was based on the 2022 law in relation to the Equal Protection clause, which is meant to guarantee the same legal protections to all citizens.
Following a bench trial on Aug. 28, the Ackers are currently awaiting a decision from the Superior Court.
“There’s no amount of money or time that will stop us from being determined to protect our neighborhood,” Acker said. “That doesn’t mean that a church can’t be built.”
Church officials did not reply to an interview request.
While the Planning Board conditionally approved the church’s site plan in 2023, the church has not yet applied for a building permit, Simpson said on Friday.
“I believe we probably would grant it,” he added.