Appeal of Administrative Decision or Equitable Waiver Application Instructions

This application shall be used for an application for an Appeal of Administrative Decision (per NH RSA 674:33 and 676:5) or Equitable Waiver (per NH RSA 674:33-a).

1.   A complete application including the online land use application form, the required application fee, and one (1) original copy of all supporting documents, plans, and exhibits must be received by the Planning Department in order for the request to be considered for the next scheduled meeting.

2.   View Point Cloud is the software that powers the City of Portsmouth's online application center. In order to complete an online land use application, you must create an account for the site. When you register for the first time, you’ll need to access your email account in order to activate your View Point account.

3.   The person completing the online application should be the primary point of contact for the request.  All automatic notifications from View Point on the application’s status, approvals, and staff comments will be sent to this person’s email address.  Only this person can add additional information to the application once it’s been submitted.

4.  All applications shall include a statement explaining the request as well as any plans and/or exhibits related to the request. Hard copies of plans/exhibits should be 8 ½” x 11” in size, 11" x 17” plans may be used only if the document would otherwise be unreadable.

5.   All Appeals from an Administrative Decision shall be filed no later than 30 days from the date of the action which is being appealed.

6.   The Planning Department reserves the right to refuse applications which do not meet the minimum requirements. 

The Applicant is encouraged to consider the following when completing the application:

  • Provide neat and clearly legible plans and copies
  • Applicants are encouraged to review the application with a member of the Planning Department staff prior to submittal

For additional information on application requirements and the Zoning Board of Adjustment review and approval process, please refer to the City of Portsmouth Zoning Ordinance (see Article 2, Section 10.230) and the Zoning Board of Adjustment Rules and Regulations or contact the Planning Department directly at (603) 610-7216.