This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Zoning Ordinance of the City of Concord, New Hampshire", referred to herein as "this ordinance".

This ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority conferred by Title LXIV, Planning and Zoning, New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, as most recently amended. Authority for this ordinance includes the power to adopt innovative land use controls pursuant to RSA 674:16, II, Grant of Power, including but not limited to the specific methods of innovative land use controls contained in RSA 674:21, Innovative Land Use Controls.

This ordinance shall be effective within the corporate boundaries of the City of Concord, New Hampshire.

(a)

General Applicability. A person shall not use or occupy any land or buildings, or authorize or permit the use or occupancy of land or buildings under their control except in accordance with all of the applicable provisions of this ordinance. For the purposes of this Section, the "use" or "occupancy" of a building or land relates to anything and everything that is done in, on, or to that building or land.

(b)

Relationship to the Prior Zoning Ordinance. To the extent that the provisions of this ordinance are the same in substance as the previously adopted provisions that they replace in the Zoning Ordinance, they shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments.

(c)

Relationship to Other Ordinances and Regulations. Wherever the provisions of this ordinance come in conflict with any other ordinance, statute, law, or duly promulgated rule or regulation, the most restrictive or the higher standards shall apply.

(d)

Relationship to the Master Plan. This ordinance implements the planning policies as reflected in the Master Plan of the City of Concord, New Hampshire, inclusive of all officially adopted supplements and amendments.

(e)

Relationship to Private Covenants and Restrictions. The provisions of this ordinance shall not be construed to impair, interfere with, abrogate, annul, or enforce the provisions of private restrictions placed on property by covenant, easement, deed, or agreement, provided that where this ordinance imposes a greater restriction or a higher standard, the provisions of this ordinance shall govern.

(f)

Relationship to Public Covenants, Easements, and Restrictions. The provisions of this ordinance shall not be construed to impair, interfere with, abrogate, or annul the provisions of restrictions placed on property by covenant, easement, deed, or agreement, as properly recorded by the federal, state, or City government or a public utility company; provided that where this ordinance imposes a greater restriction or a higher standard, the provisions of this ordinance shall govern.

In accordance with RSA 674:17, Purposes of Zoning Ordinances, this ordinance is designed and adopted for the following purposes:

(a)

To protect and promote the public safety, convenience, comfort, aesthetics, prosperity, health, general welfare, and quality of life of the inhabitants of the City of Concord, New Hampshire;

(b)

To secure safety from fire, panic, explosion, noxious fumes, and other such hazards and dangers, and to control nuisance-producing uses of land;

(c)

To promote adequate light, air, privacy, and convenience of access to property;

(d)

To avoid undue concentration of population, to prevent the overcrowding of land, and to lessen congestion in the streets;

(e)

To facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, solid waste facilities, water, sewerage, schools, parks, child day care, and other public facilities and services;

(f)

To assure the proper use of natural resources, to prevent pollution of air and water, to protect property from flooding and accelerated erosion, to protect historic and archeological resources, to protect wetlands, and to conserve natural beauty and open space;

(g)

To conserve property values and protect neighborhoods by preventing the harmful encroachment of incompatible uses, and by providing for the elimination of those uses which adversely affect the character, development, and value of property;

(h)

To encourage the most appropriate use of land, and to allow for planned, orderly, and beneficial growth as envisioned by the Master Plan; and

(i)

To promote sustainable economic development and tax base expansion.

Rules of interpretation shall be in accordance with Section 1-1-1, Construction of Ordinances, of the Code of Ordinances. Certain terms and words used in this ordinance shall be interpreted in accordance with the definitions contained in the Glossary appended hereto.

This ordinance shall be subject to the provisions of Section 1-1-10, Separability, of the Code of Ordinances.