Piper v. Meredith

Although the police power of the State may be “broad,” “flexible” and “expanding” tire police power of towns is confined to that which has been granted by statute. *301The rule of construction favoring the validity of statutes does not apply to town ordinances. The existence of authority must be found in the statutes by normal rules of statutory construction and we are not called upon to uphold an ordinance “ if it possibly may be ” or “ by a rule stretching a statute to a strained meaning.” State v. Paille, 90 N.H. 347, 352, 9 A.2d 663, 666.

The legislature under its police power has provided in…