Robbins Auto Parts, Inc. v. City of Laconia

The issue in this case is whether the Laconia Planning Board may legally require plaintiff to grant the city an easement for highway purposes as a condition for the approval of a site plan. We hold that it may not.

Plaintiff applied to the Laconia Planning Board for approval of a site plan to construct a building for the retail sale of auto parts on a lot on Union Avenue in Laconia upon which were the remains of a service station which had been destroyed by fire. The site plan was approved under certain conditions not relevant here, and to which no objection is raised but also on the condition…