
NASHUA, NH – Based on concerns from neighbors the Zoning Board on Tuesday approved an appeal of a previous administrative decision that issued a building permit for 16 Archery Lane – a single-family residential home– purchased by New Life NH to function as a sober living home.
RELATED STORY: Recovery home on Archery Lane prompts discussion on city ordinances and stigma surrounding mental health
The administrative decision was made by planning manager Sam Durfee on March 15, 2024. It was appealed by Nashua resident Timothy Bosch on behalf of himself and those living in the neighborhood surrounding 16 Archery Lane.
Bosch had gone before the Board of Aldermen on March 26 to express how the recovery home does not fit with the R9 ordinance, which designates that area to have single-family homes.
“A rooming house with a dozen or 18 people is not appropriate on Archery Lane,” he said. “It’s not appropriate with little children in the area. It is going to damage it. It is a safe, wonderful, suburban residential neighborhood.”
The Personnel Administration Planning and Economic Development Committee had a discussion with Community Development Director Matt Sullivan about recovery homes in April.
Sullivan explained that there isn’t a clear definition of “family” under city ordinances, and that the city classifies recovery homes as residential as they function as a household under the ordinance.

At the Zoning Board meeting, Bosch’s attorney Chris Swiniarski said it’s hard to believe and “really ridiculous” that they couldn’t find a definition of the word “family.”
He added that ‘family’ is defined in the zoning ordinance as, “an individual or two or more persons related within the second-degree of kinship or by marriage or adoption living together as a single housekeeping unit including necessary domestic help such as nurses or servants not to exceed three in number.”
He says the intended use of 16 Archery Lane classifies as a halfway house, which is defined as “any residence where two or more people reside for the purpose of their rehabilitation, behavioral modification or therapeutic counseling,” under city ordinance.
Durfee disagreed, saying that it would not classify as a halfway house because there would not be treatment on site.
About 20 people spoke in support of the appeal, with concerns regarding property values, traffic, parking and safety.
On the other hand, attorney Andrew Tine – representing the owners of 16 Archery Lane – said that much of these concerns are speculation and conjecture to a problem that does not exist. He said the real issue at hand is not occupancy, but whether the building permit should have been legally issued, which he says it was.
Kim Bock, director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Recovery Residencies, and Kailah Carroll, owner of Lotus House Sober Living, said that a lot of the opposition to a recovery house on Archery Lane is due to misinformation and the stigma surrounding addiction and recovery homes.
Ultimately, the board – Chairman Robert Shaw, Vice Chairman Steven Lionel, members Jay Minkarah, Josh Nehiley and alternate member Andrew Sylvia – unanimously voted in favor of the appeal.
A copy of Bosch’s appeal to the ZBA is below: