HAMPTON -- The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a measure allowing guests attending large functions at the Victoria Inn to park off site and be shuttled to and from the inn.

The move comes a month after the board passed an ordinance requiring all parking for events at the inn be located on site.

The inn can accommodate parking for up to 99 guests with the 33 parking spaces it has on its property, Steve Ells, the lawyer representing inn owners John and Pamela Nyhan, told the ZBA at a hearing Thursday night.

However, if the inn expects more than 99 guests, it would have to provide parking elsewhere. The inn has been given a permit by the Hampton Fire Department to host functions with up to 148 people.

"Although this is a fairly large lot ... the 33 on-site spaces is the extent of our ability to provide on-site parking," Ells said. "Off-site parking with shuttle service is only way to accommodate more than 99 guests."

In the past, a neighbor allowed guests to park on the property next door, but that property was since sold and guests are no longer allowed to park.

Under the plan approved by the ZBA, the inn will be allowed to let guests park at municipal parking lots and other locations such as hotels where the guests may be staying. They will then be shuttled to the inn.

John Nyhan said the inn would hold no more than five events a year that exceed 100 guests.

The inn planned to host a wedding for 140 guests last Saturday, and the bride and groom, realizing the parking problem, booked most of their guests at a Best Western Hotel and hired a bus to bring them to and from the Victoria Inn for the wedding.

"It is our desire to limit the larger functions at our inn," Nyhan said.

The inn is a popular spot for second marriages, which usually draw fewer guests, Nyhan said.

The only opposition to the parking plan came from neighbor Ken Sakurai, who lives at 426 High St. Sakurai, who has complained about the inn in the past, said he doesn't feel it's suited to host large functions.

"I'm 40 feet from that pavilion. It's a nightmare," Sakurai said.

Sakurai also said the inn owners were proposing the parking change even though the inn is for sale. Nyhan confirmed the inn is on the market.

Despite Sakurai's opposition, the board voiced no concerns over the plan and granted a variance allowing the off-site parking.

"I think it's a good thing for the town of Hampton," said ZBA member Jack Lessard.

The century-old Victoria Inn has served as a bed and breakfast and place for wedding and other receptions since 1988. But in all those years it never once received Planning Board approval. The new owner of the Victoria Inn, Aaron Brown, came before the board last week to clear up the issue for the property at 433 High St.

Attorney Peter Saari said for some unexplained reason the Planning Board never reviewed the site plan for the project. "It turns out site plans were never approved for any of this stuff," Saari said.

Saari said the issue arose following a spat between the previous owner John Nyhan and an abutter to the property. Nyhan received after-the-fact variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to allow its current use but an abutter appealed the decision to Rockingham County Superior Court.

"Since then the new owner and the abutter have reached an agreement," Saari said. "But the town attorney feels there should be a site plan on file based on what is there now."

The new owner would like to be allowed to use the property as it has been previously used. The Planning Board continued the site plan review to March 17.