This story was originally produced by the Portsmouth Herald. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
The 78-year-old owner of a now closed bookstore on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth says he has done nothing wrong and is being “persecuted” by city officials.
Walter Wakefield acknowledges he is violating the city’s zoning ordinance by keeping 21 unregistered/uninspected vehicles — most that he uses for storing books — on his commercial rental property at 1070 Lafayette Road.
Asked if he could work with the city to find a solution and have the cars removed from the site, he said “the only real practical solution is by extermination, exterminating my life.”
“This is my life. They’re being a threat to my whole life,” Wakefield said during a phone interview Tuesday. “All these vehicles contain valuable things.”
Continue reading at SeacoastOnline.
More New Hampshire news:
- Federal judge hears arguments over NH's proof of citizenship voting law
- At Dartmouth, some focus on building 'network of care' as risks to campus activists mount
- With its funding in peril, NH's Child Advocate faces pressure to stay quiet on LGBTQ issues
