Voting “Yes” on Article 4 will
keep Walpole beautiful!
By voting “YES” on Article 4 you limit the construction of new drive-up window service joints in the Village and Route 12.
Article 4 will prevent those joints from detracting from the beauty of Walpole, and its unique and distinctive appeal. Article 4 will also halt the safety and health risks and problems of traffic and pollution caused by drive-up window service.
We can do it! The lawyer for the Town of Walpole, Jeremy Hockensmith, Esq., thinks a municipality is well-within its authority to regulate window service. Indeed, many other towns in New Hampshire have rules like Article 4, such as Barrington, Berlin, Center Harbor, Conway, Derry, Exeter, Fitzwilliam, Goffstown, Hampton, Hanover, Keene, Londonderry, Meredith, Mont Vernon, Newmarket, Newton, Portsmouth, Rochester, Sugar Hill, and Weare. Those zoning rules restricting or prohibiting new drive-up window service can be examined by clicking here.
How will voting “Yes” on Article 4 limit drive-up window service?
When approved by Walpole voters on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 the article will amend Walpole’s Zoning Ordinance by adding this:
to protect the welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Walpole with respect to traffic, pollution, health, and safety, and to preserve the unique and distinctive appeal of the Town’s character and commercial development, drive-up window service shall not be allowed.
What will be the effect of this amendment? After March 11 new drive-up window service will be allowed for shops, restaurants, and other retail buildings in the commercial districts of Walpole (think Route 12 and the Village) only after obtaining a variance from the Zoning Board. Not affected at all will be existing drive-up window service offered by, for example, Diamond Pizza and the new Dunkin Donuts on Route 12 and Mascoma Bank in the Village. Existing service is “grandfathered.” Folks with ambulatory issues will be unaffected.
