Socha v. City of Manchester

The Superior Court (Flynn, J.) transferred to us the questions whether the defendant City of Manchester violated the constitutional prohibition against retrospective laws, N.H. CONST, pt. I, art. 23, or the public hearing requirement of RSA 31:63 (Supp. 1983) (current version at RSA 675:2 (Supp. 1983)), when the city adopted the provisions of RSA 156:3-a (Supp. 1983). We find the city’s adoption of the statute constitutionally and statutorily valid, and therefore answer each question in the negative.

The plaintiff, Edward J. Socha, Jr., owns 1.17 acres on the northwest corner of North River…