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Monadnock Ledger-Transcript - Lawrence appeals Francestown ZBA decision to state ledgertranscript.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ledgertranscript.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript - Francestown ZBA denies Davis Lane variance ledgertranscript.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ledgertranscript.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Published: 5/24/2021 2:53:13 PM A handful of former Walden Eco Village residents were awarded damages directly related to their abrupt eviction from Garland Way in Peterborough this past December, according to a court order dated May 19. It is a milestone in a lawsuit some of the site’s 25 former tenants brought forward against landlord Akhil Garland, his company, Utopia Living LLC, and landowning entity the Garland Family Trust, soon after the Town of Peterborough ordered the eviction upon discovering a number of permit and safety violations on site. The site was comprised of rental cottages as well as smaller “casitas,” or tiny houses, whose tenants accessed kitchen and bathroom facilities in a separate, communal building. Peterborough officials determined that eight of 15 total rental units were missing building permits, and other permitted structures were operating beyond their permitted use during the town’s December inspection of the site. Garland initially applied to subdivide and construct more residences on the site last summer, which prompted the inspection. The subdivision application is still in process, as the Planning Board was still waiting on requested items from the applicants as of mid-May.
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Published: 2/17/2021 5:15:26 PM Emergency relief will not be granted to the former tenants of Peterborough’s Walden Eco Village, a judge ruled last week, but the longer-term class action suit continues. Thirteen former tenants signed a class action lawsuit at the end of December against Akhil Garland, his business Utopia Living LLC, and the Garland Family Land Trust, of which Garland is a trustee. They sought emergency relief in the form of speedy returns of security deposits, costs associated with moving and emergency housing, and assistance in finding new rental housing at a hearing on Jan. 7. The suit came after the Town of Peterborough issued a cease and desist order to Garland on Dec. 11, which called for the eviction of the property’s 25 tenants by Dec. 16. Peterborough issued the order after discovering safety hazards within the property’s 15 rental units during an inspection prompted by Garland’s proposal to subdivide and sell the land. The property’s nine casitas, or tiny houses, had never been permitted, and its seven cottages were being used in excess of their permits, as previously reported.