The state’s brand-new Housing Appeals Board has overturned a local planning board’s decision in its first case.

The board, created last year to speed up the resolution of inevitable appeals of local land use decisions by locals and housing developers, must hear cases within 90 days of receiving notice of an appeal, which must be filed within 30 days of a local board’s decision. The Appeals Board must make a decision within 60 days of concluding its hearing. The process, at most six months long, is a sharp contrast to the traditional Superior Court appeals process, which can drag on for years and add significant costs to housing developments.

The board’s first case, an appeal of the Francestown Planning Board’s January 2020 denial of a four-lot subdivision by Ronald J. Shattuck Jr. and Melissa Shattuck. The duo sought to subdivide a pair of lots totaling 38 acres into four residential lots and a fifth, containing an equestrian arena they had previously built. The Planning Board denied the application saying it didn’t comply with local subdivision regulations and wasn’t in line with town efforts to protect the neighborhood’s character. Melissa and Ronald Shattuck argued that the board did not cite any objective zoning violations in their decision.

The Appeals Board ruled May 7, agreeing with Melissa and Ronald Shattuck, according to the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Francestown officials can chose to appeal the ruling.

The speed of the new board’s decision-making process could put pressure on local officials to be more rigorous in their rulings, officials say.