To me, "Planning Board" is a bit of a misnomer. A lot of what they do is land use compliance, based on proposed plans for development as restricted by zoning, RSA's and related codes, not planning. ZBA can grant exceptions or variances and is quasi-judicial. Again, operating under very specific RSA's and local zoning. The chair of each board should have contact info listed on the town website and the related, detailed, explanation of what they do may be better understood by calling them directly. These boards may also be guided by the town master plan which is required to be updated every 10 years. If you don't like the overall sense of direction you may want to read that plan and perhaps volunteer to be on the committee that updates the report.
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