NARRAGANSETT — Residents who think the zoning and planning boards should be seeking expert help as controversial applications come their way got some sobering advice last month as the boards discussed the pros and cons of hiring consultants.

While outside help may sometimes be appropriate, the responsibility more often lies with the residents who oppose a project, Town Solicitor Mark A. McSally told the boards during a special joint meeting.

“It’s difficult. It’s expensive,” he said. “An objector, in order to present credible opposition, can’t just stand up and say ‘I don’t like it.’ They need, in most cases, to retain counsel and to hire experts.”

The scenario is familiar to board members and frustrating, at times, for residents. Applicants come to hearings armed with experts and consultants to bolster their cases, while neighbors or objectors bring nothing but their opinions or observations.

If a case goes to court, expert testimony is far more likely to carry weight with a judge than that of residents who simply oppose the applicant’s proposal, McSally said. The Zoning Board saw that firsthand in November, when a Superior Court judge reversed a board decision that stopped a couple from building a house on Glenwood Avenue.

The house, which still needs approval from the state Coastal Resources Management Council, would be built on an oceanfront lot that the applicant says contains about 4,760 square feet. Zoning in the area calls for a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet.

According to the court decision, the Zoning Board ignored expert testimony and evidence that showed the house would not be a hazard to public health or welfare or present a danger to surrounding properties.

But the reversal prompted residents to ask why the town did not hire its own experts. That, in turn, prompted Zoning Board Chairman Donald L. Goodrich to call the joint meeting.

McSally said the Planning Board generally has more leeway in seeking advice because it must weigh a wide range of developmental issues, while the Zoning Board has the more judicial role of weighing evidence and making a decision.

He cautioned that the boards should not seek expert help in routine cases in which there is no opposition, causing applicants to spend unnecessary time and money to get their projects approved. But he said expert help can be an option in some cases, and added that boards can also seek input from the town staff and call on staff members from departments to testify.

“Sworn testimony has more credence than just a memo,” he said.

While residents’ opinions generally carry no weight, McSally, responding to a question from Robinson Street resident Sue Bush, said photographs can be submitted by residents to bolster their case.

Goodrich said yesterday he would prefer to have the Planning Board seek advice on cases that go to the Planning Board for an advisory opinion before coming to the Zoning Board. That way, the town could research the matter and then let the Zoning Board weigh the evidence and make a decision, he said.

Planning Board Chairman Terry Fleming said he was not sure that approach would always work, because the Planning Board might be giving advisory opinions before residents know about a case and have a chance to voice their concerns.

But he said the meeting showed that the boards need to consider the possibility of seeking advice if they believe they need it.

redgar@projo.com