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Appeals and motions for rehearing

After a board decides, the people it affects have a short time to ask for a rehearing or to go to court. This page is for the board secretary and planning and zoning staff, who record those steps so the application shows what is still open and when each period ends. Recording needs the permission to record board business.

Where the appeals are​

Open the decision from the application, under Hearings and decisions. The Appeals section on the decision page shows every step recorded so far as a list, with each step nested under the one it follows. For each step it shows:

  • the kind of step and its date, and the result when it has one, such as Denied or Rehearing granted;
  • the period that now runs, with the date it ends and what an appeal filed after that date means, for example "Motion for rehearing of a ZBA decision, due November 19, 2026. An appeal filed after this date is untimely";
  • a Filed late chip when the step was recorded after its period ended.

The board's own decision is the first entry. Chiban adds it when you record the decision. On the application, the progress line shows Appeal period after Decision while the periods are running.

Record a step​

Open Record an appeal step under Appeals and fill in:

  • Follows. Choose the earlier step this one comes after. The list holds the steps already recorded.
  • Step. Choose Motion for rehearing, Rehearing decision, Court petition, Appeal to the Zoning Board or Zoning Board decision.
  • Date. The date it happened. It cannot be before the step it follows or in the future.
  • Result, for a rehearing decision or a decision after appeal. Choose Rehearing granted, Denied or Approved, or leave it as Not applicable.
  • Is this the Zoning Board part of a Planning Board decision? Answer Yes only for a zoning question sent to the Zoning Board from a Planning Board decision. Otherwise leave it as No.

Select Record.

Chiban only accepts a step that can follow the one you chose. Otherwise it says, "That step does not follow from the one you chose." A rehearing decision must say whether the rehearing was granted or denied. A second court petition after the same step is refused as already recorded.

How the steps follow each other​

For a Zoning Board of Adjustment decision:

  1. After the decision, the period for a Motion for rehearing runs. Record the motion when it is filed.
  2. Record the Rehearing decision when the board votes on it, with the result Rehearing granted or Denied.
  3. If the rehearing was denied, a Court petition can follow, and the period for it starts from the vote on the rehearing.
  4. If the rehearing was granted, the board decides again. Record that as a Zoning Board decision following the rehearing decision, with its Result, and the periods start over from the new vote.

For a Planning Board decision, a Court petition can follow the decision directly. A Planning Board decision that also raises a zoning question can instead be followed by an Appeal to the Zoning Board with the last question set to Yes. That appeal is followed by a Zoning Board decision, and from there the Zoning Board steps above apply. A court petition after a denied rehearing on that linked zoning question has its own period.

The length of each period, how Chiban counts it and what happens when it is missed are in New Hampshire deadlines and holidays, under appeals.

Holding a rehearing​

A granted rehearing is held like any other hearing. Open the application, go to Hearings and decisions, choose Schedule a hearing and pick Rehearing as the Kind. Notice, proof and the hearing itself follow hearings and notice.

What the decision page cannot hold​

The decision page only holds the steps that follow a board's vote. There is no screen for recording an appeal of an administrative decision, such as a building official's decision, so that kind of appeal has no starting step to follow.