KEENE, N.H. (AP) – A proposed condominium development at the base of Mount Monadnock has been dealt a serious blow in court.

Developers of the 36-unit project must apply anew because planners didn’t sufficiently consider its regional impact, Cheshire County Superior Court Judge John Arnold ruled.

Jaffrey and three other towns had created a “mountain zone” specifically to help preserve the area’s scenic beauty, showing that they recognized the regional impact of development within the zone, Arnold wrote in a decision released late last week in Keene.

Arnold vacated the 2005 approval of developer Robert Van Dyke’s project by the Jaffrey zoning and planning boards.

Tuesday afternoon, Van Dyke said he will press ahead with the development.

“The judge felt that there were procedural errors, but we will go back to both boards to get the same approvals again,” he said.

Charles and Ann Royce sued.

“People who live in the area and can view Mount Monadnock feel strongly that this is a unique place in New Hampshire and the world,” said Charles Royce, the retired superintendent of Monadnock State Park and a former state representative.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the towns of Dublin and Marlborough and some Jaffrey landowners also sued.

They claimed the project “egregiously violates the spirit and intent of the mountain zone” and that Jaffrey failed to notify Dublin, Marlborough and Troy early enough for them to be heard fully.

“We’re pleased that the principle of regional impact was upheld,” said Will Abbott, a Forest Society vice president.

“Equally important, this decision recognizes the legitimacy of the mountain zone. Mount Monadnock is only one of the many places of special scenic beauty in New Hampshire, and we believe that this will encourage other towns that share areas of natural significance to collaborate on similar regional zones to preserve their collective character,” Abbott said.

Van Dyke said Jaffrey approved contruction of 47 housing units on the site in 1991, but they weren’t built because of a sewer moratorium. He said sewer and water lines are in place and he expects his smaller project to win approval again.

He said the homes won’t be visible from the mountaintop and the development, three miles from the center of Jaffrey, will have little impact on that town, much less the region.

Housing is a legal use in the mountain zone, he said, and, “environmentally, this is absolutely the best type of development there.”

The rejected plan called for homes – sold as condominiums – 30 feet apart on either side of a road on lots averaging less than half an acre. Rural lots served by town water typically are 1.5 acres, the Forest Society said.

AP-ES-08-29-06 1706EDT