Robert Blechl Staff Writer
Following a rehearing mandated by superior court in June, the closest abutters to a gravel pit in Littleton are requesting another rehearing on the argument that the Littleton Planning Board again failed to comply with the New Hampshire statute on earth excavations.
In 2023, the board granted an excavation permit for Chris Crowe, who operates what had been an abandoned 2.2-acre gravel pit on his property off Alder Brook Road.
In June, Judge Michael Klass, of Hillsborough Superior Court, reversed the Littleton board’s previous approval for an excavation permit after concluding that planners failed to follow the statutory requirements under RSA 155-E when they approved the permit for Crowe. . .
The planning board record, concluded the judge, does not support a finding that Crowe’s submitted reclamation plan, which is supposed to include minimizing environmental impacts and site restoration measures once excavations are complete, satisfies 155-E requirements. The board also did not consider whether a reclamation bond was necessary, he said. . .
The issue went to a rehearing on Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, when the board again approved the excavation permit.
On Friday, Sheridan Brown, the Polaskis’ attorney, filed a motion for a rehearing on the grounds that “the Board’s decision is unlawful and unreasonable because the Board lacked jurisdiction to reopen a prior hearing in which a final decision was issued; the Board failed again to comply with the requirements of RSA 155-E; the Board reached a decision unsupported by evidence sufficient to find absence of harm to the public welfare; the Board failed to impose reasonable conditions to protect abutters from the proposed excavation’s impacts; and the Board deprived Petitioners of due process and equal protection by limiting the scope of its unlawfully reopened hearing.” . . .
The planning board is expected to consider whether or not to grant another rehearing during its next meeting on Tuesday.
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