When Does Zoning Apply to Governmental Use of Land?
New Hampshire Town and City, May 2007 By C. Christine Fillmore, Esq. A zoning ordinance is a comprehensive system to regulate the timing and manner of development in a municipality. Ordinarily, all land use within a town or city is subject to the local zoning ordinance and land use regulations. However, it may be surprising to learn that the law provides an exception for “governmental uses” of land. Q. Does a town or city have to follow its own zoning ordinance? A. No, as long as it is performing a governmental function. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has held that New Hampshire municipalities are not bound by their own zoning ordinances when performing governmental functions unless there is a regulation requiring municipal compliance. McGrath v. City of Manchester, 113 N.H. 355 (1973). In that case, the city wanted to locate a garage in a single-family residential zone for the maintenance of trucks used by the city’s fire and recreation departments. Since the control of fires and the
