Court leaves dispute between Meredith neighbor, short-term rental to zoning board

MEREDITH — Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leonard denied a request by Black Cove residents to vacate a settlement between the town of Meredith and owners of a short-term rental Monday, leaving the matter under the jurisdiction of the Zoning Board of Adjustment — for now.

Earlier this year, the town settled a lawsuit it filed against Douglas and Allison Keach, who operate a short-term rental out of a house on Meredith Neck’s Black Cove. The settlement came after the town said it had received sufficient proof from the Keaches to deem the property grandfathered into its 2022 ordinance amendment regulating such rentals.

The Keaches’ neighbors, led by Frank Marino, had grounds to intervene in the case, Leonard’s ruling said, because they had been insufficiently notified of the town’s decision to settle a matter that affected them. But the court denied Marino’s request to nix the settlement, stating that “the intervenors have not presented any legal precedent that would prevent the Town from entering into the Stipulation.”

The ruling explicitly avoids determinations about whether or not the Keaches' property is eligible for grandfathering, noting that the ZBA must weigh in first.

“At this point, it is left for the ZBA to hear the appeal of the Town’s decision as set forth in the Stipulation, and to determine whether the defendants’ short-term rentals of their property constitute a ‘previous non conforming use’ and are thus grandfathered,” the ruling reads.

Marino already made such an appeal, which was denied at a meeting last week. The zoning board found that it is possible for short-term rentals to be grandfathered in the way the town did in the agreement, meaning in cases where the rental was a secondary use of the home prior to 2022. The Keaches have asserted that house is foremost their vacation home, something their neighbors have protested.

“The agreement incorrectly decided the Keach property is grandfathered to be rented on a short term basis, even though the property is offered for rent on a year-round basis," Marino wrote in a statement responding to the ruling provided to The Daily Sun. “It’s a business, not a home, and we tried to resolve this with the Keaches before complaining to the Town.”

“We are hopeful that the Zoning Board will correct the Town’s error so that peace will be restored to our single-family neighborhood and so that we will not need to appeal to the Court.”

Meredith Town Manager Troy Brown wrote in an email that he had “no comment at this time.”

An attorney for the Keaches declined comment for this story.

Though he has not yet filed one, according to the town Community Development office, Marino has 30 days to appeal the ZBA's decision, and only if the ZBA again denies him could Marino bring his appeal to court.