Concord Zoning Board continues one case, denies two variances and approves several site requests at September meeting

CONCORD — The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment met in September and issued a mix of continuances, denials and approvals across more than a half-dozen property cases. The board continued one multi-part application to the November meeting, denied two variance requests for 27 Monroe Street, granted several modest setback and accessory-structure variances, approved a special exception to allow one commercial vehicle at a residence, and denied a proposal to build a duplex at 32 Federal Street.

The board front-loaded its action on a range of agenda items and took votes on each case after public testimony and staff comments. Below are the actions taken, brief context and vote outcomes drawn from the meeting record.

Votes at a glance

- Case 4.1 / 4.2 / 4.3 — 181 Village Street (Walter Dratner): Continued to November 2025. The applicant asked for three variances (front setbacks for decks, reduced lot area from 7,500 to 6,534 sq ft, and zero required off-street parking for conversion to a triplex). The board concluded it did not have adequate information on parking design and maneuvering and unanimously reopened and then continued the case to the November meeting to allow the applicant time to work with staff and submit a full site plan. Motion to continue passed unanimously.

- Case 4.4 / 4.5 — 27 Monroe Street (William Shepherd): Denied. The board denied two variance requests: (1) reduce required off-street parking to five spaces where eight are required for a conversion from a triplex to a fourplex, and (2) reduce minimum lot area to 5,662.8 sq ft where 10,000 sq ft is required. The motions to deny cited failure to meet the five-part RSA 674:33 variance criteria and the applicant’s failure to provide evidence that the criteria were met. Both denials passed on recorded votes of 3–0.

- Case 4.6 — 303 South Main Street (John McGrath): Granted. A variance to permit…