(January 9, 2008. Manchester, NH.) - Sheehan Phinney partner Rob Miller and associate Lyndsee Paskalis, representing Grace Capital Church of Pembroke, prevailed on a request to the Town of Pembroke Zoning Board of Adjustment for a use variance to allow the church to more than double its size in a zoning district where churches are now prohibited.
Grace Capital Church completed its existing facility in Pembroke in 2003. The Town subsequently changed its zoning ordinance the following year to prohibit churches in the district where Grace Capital is located. Accordingly, Attorneys Miller and Paskalis pursued a complicated use variance to allow the church to expand from 14,400 square feet to 32,541 square feet over four phases to allow additional sanctuary space, as well as room for additional offices, classrooms, and multipurpose space, and a new foyer. Parking and access will also be improved as part of the plan. Attorneys Miller and Paskalis also made arguments to the Board about expansion of non-conforming and accessory uses, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
The project's site plan now moves on to the Town of Pembroke's Planning Board for approval.
Miller is the Chair of Sheehan Phinney's Land Use Litigation Group, and has litigated dozens of zoning, planning, cell tower, wetlands, conservation and development disputes before local land use boards, the New Hampshire state courts, the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Before joining Sheehan Phinney, Attorney Miller clerked for United States District Court Chief Judge Paul J. Barbadoro. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Paskalis is an associate in the firm's Real Estate Department. She is a graduate of New York University and the Franklin Pierce Law Center.
Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green is a regional business law firm with offices in Manchester, Concord and Hanover, NH, and in Boston, MA. The firm provides a broad range of sophisticated legal services to businesses and institutions in traditional and emerging areas of the law. Its diverse client base includes local and regional organizations, as well as national and international businesses with interests in the Northeast. |
