New Hampshire attorney Paul R. Kfoury, Sr. of Shaheen & Gordon, P.A. is currently representing the owner of the Dunes Motor Inn in Rye in a lawsuit against the state over plans to build a new bathhouse in Jenness Beach. According to the lawsuit, the bathhouse would block her paying guests’ views of the ocean and diminish her property value while also “creating a public and private nuisance.”
The proposed $1.1 million facility would replace an existing 443-square-foot facility with a 1,482 –square-foot facility containing restrooms and showers. While the proposed bathhouse might be appropriate for other crowded New Hampshire Coastal areas, Mr. Kfoury has stated that the proposed facility is “a large and disproportionate building” that would be “the proverbial pig in the parlor when placed on Jenness Beach.”
Mr. Kfoury wrote the following to the court: “The harm the planned bathhouse would cause to the inn far outweighs the utility of the bathhouse.” According to the lawsuit, “the inn also hosts weddings and other events; its seaside location provides a desirable backdrop for photographs. Customers travel from all over the Northeast and other parts of the United States and from Canada to stay at the inn and enjoy its distinctive views of the Atlantic Ocean.” Obstructed views “[would] result in significant business losses for the inn.”
The plaintiff’s family has owned the inn since 1962. Thirty-six of the inn’s 45 rooms provide guests with an unobstructed view of the ocean – a view that would be completely blocked if the bathhouse were completed as planned. The bathhouse is said to be designed to meet the needs of beachgoers on particularly crowded days (only two percent of the year) while presenting a burden both to the inn and the public 100 percent of the year.
“People go to the beach to view the ocean, not a bathhouse,” stated Mr. Kfoury.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Kfoury has asked the court to issue temporary and permanent injunctions that would delay or bar construction of the bathhouse. A hearing has been scheduled for November 1 to hear debate from both sides.
Read more about this pending case online via SeacoastOnline.
To get in touch with Paul R. Kfoury or another attorney at Shaheen & Gordon, P.A., please fill out an online contact form or call our office.
