Wabanaki “Hutnicks” Are Again the Focus of Questions

Freedom—June 30, 2026—When Horizons Engineering introduced Freedom’s Planning Board to the term “hutnicks,” it described them as “Wooden tent, sinks are outside. Not insulated or heated…not currently connected to septic.”

That was on March 21, 2024, when remodeling and expanding the rustic-sounding structures was the focus of a Wabanaki Campground Site Plan Application to make improvements.

By the end of the Planning Board hearings on the application, the term “hutnick” was well-known to the public. So too was the fact that the structures had already been improved, expanded and connected to the septic system without approvals.

The Planning Board said the Site Plan needed to be scrapped and the process started over. Instead, Wabanaki withdrew its plans. Now the hutnicks are making news again.

In April the Zoning Officer granted permits to improve the cabins just weeks after the town prohibited such approvals. The prohibition was part of an agreement to suspend $716,000 in potential fines for violations if campground owner Mark Salvati cooperated with a Planning Board review of the property.

In a letter to Salvati, Town Counsel Matthew Serge said a Planning Board review was needed because the property had been “altered” from the subdivision plan approved by DES in 2001. The alterations include the unapproved hutnick expansions.

The town has declined to respond to requests to comment on the hutnick permits. In the meantime, questions about the structures have continued to grow.

After a joint State and Town site inspection In January, the Zoning Officer determined that the hutnicks were “unsafe for occupancy” because of electrical hazards and structural and septic system deficiencies.

The town required Salvati to hire a licensed structural engineer to “evaluate each Hutnick for salvageability or removal.” The property owner complied by retaining Martel Engineering of Windham, N.H.

But Martel’s report, dated March 28, has raised new questions about the hutnicks. That includes why its inspection was “visual” and “not intended to be a definitive investigation of all structural components,” as the company stated in the preamble to its inspection report.

Moreover, where the joint State-Town inspection team found structural deficiencies, Martel found either no issues, or appeared to downplay what was found.

Regarding Hutnick #3, the State-Town inspection found “Structural deficiencies,” evidence of “neglect and disrepair” and “missing rafter ties.” Martel wrote that Hutnick #3 was in “sound condition with all the rafter ties in place.”

“No repairs are required for this unit,” Martel concluded about Hutnick #3.

Martel’s findings about Hutnick #1 are also at odds with the State-Town inspection. While both agree there was “improper framing,” Martel concluded the cabin was in overall “good condition.” The joint State-Town inspection documented “extensive rot.”

Regarding Hutnick #6, Martel wrote that the structure was “in excellent condition and needs no repairs at this time.” Weeks before, the State-Town inspection found “structural issues” and  “neglect and disrepair.”

The State-Town inspection report included pictures of violations. The picture of Hutnick #6, for example, was captioned “No rafter ties on porch.” Martel’s report did not include pictures of any of the cabins it inspected.

Where the two inspections found common ground was with Hutnick #4. The State-Town team found “structural issues throughout,” and Martel wrote that the structure was in “poor condition.”

Both inspections revealed that a second floor had impermissibly been added to Hutnick#4 and it was potentially dangerous. One of the building permits the town issued in April authorized its removal.

The permit for Hutnick #4 is one of three building permits authorizing structural repairs to the cabins. In addition to being contrary to Town Counsel’s January prohibition against issuing permits, the permits may also be contrary to a State regulation.

TND Engineering of Portsmouth, representing one of the campground’s residential abutters, wrote a critical review of Wabanaki’s Site Plan Application for the Planning Board in February, 2025.

Among TND’s findings was that N.H. RSA 674:41 prohibits buildings to be erected, or permits for buildings to be issued, for buildings that are not on streets as defined by the statute.

TND said that Wabanaki’s Site Plan showed that five of the hutnicks, #2-6, “do not front on any street or even any designed access.”

“The provisions of this statute in my opinion make clear that the town is prohibited from issuing the otherwise required building permits for these huts.”

TND concluded that Wabanaki would need to seek relief from the Zoning Board of Adjustment in order to make changes to the hutnicks.

The town declined to answer questions about the discrepancies between the two inspections, including whether it had accepted Martel’s report as accurate and sufficiently responsive.