PRESS RELEASE

July 24, 2006

Nation's Building News Quotes Attorney Pollack on State's Passage of Planning Board Application Law

CONCORD, NH -- Attorney Ari B. Pollack of law firm Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, is quoted in the July 24th edition of the Nation's Building News regarding the passage of New Hampshire's HB 1508, an important new law that promises to protect builders from unfair application processes that have allowed local governments to derail projects by delaying them until zoning changes could be enacted.

The law, which goes into effect August 15, protects planning board applicants from changes in subdivision review, site plan review, zoning ordinances or amendments when applications are made, as long as there has been no legal notice of a proposed change.

In the article Pollack states that the law is the "single most meaningful change to land use law and procedure" that he has seen in his 10 years as a land use lawyer. The article also cites Pollack in support of the law adding, "This law was necessary, because in far too many instances neighborhoods that did not participate in the process pushed the local government to stop or alter a project after a developer had relied on the existing rules, designed a project and incurred substantial costs, or worse yet, purchased the land."

To read the entire article in the Nation's Building News, click on the article headline: Law Improves New Hampshire Application Process

Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell is a multidisciplinary law firm with offices in Augusta, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts and Concord, New Hampshire.

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