Planning Board

The Planning Board meeting covered multiple public hearings and project presentations. The Board approved the site plan for 9 Alenclair Drive with two modifications: adding a condition requiring the building and equipment be ANSI gray and clarifying that Condition 10 is a landscape performance bond tied to the final landscape plan. Staff had circulated a draft decision addressing landscaping implementation and monitoring, fencing and gate materials/color, preservation of two on-site trees, dark-sky compliant lighting, DPW-required off-street improvements, and an erosion-control bond; the applicant had requested to avoid a performance bond but the Board required a reasonable landscaping surety and added the ANSI gray paint condition. Discussions included gate color (black preferred for durability) and biannual landscape monitoring/reporting to the Board with potential environmental monitor review and mitigation recommendations.

The Board also conducted preliminary reviews of three larger proposals. For 27.5–29 Clarks Road (an approximately 11-acre site with a proposed 146-unit multifamily building and smaller street-front residential buildings, trails, and open space conveyance), the applicant team presented site layout, stormwater and traffic studies, and landscape/trail plans; neighbors raised strong concerns about cumulative traffic impacts and sightlines. In response, the Board voted to hire VHB to perform a traffic and stormwater peer review and general civil-design conformance review. For 45 Main Street, the applicant seeks a Historic Preservation Permit, roof-raising by 4 feet, four new residential units above commercial space, and waivers (including onsite parking and affordable-unit requirements); the Board and staff noted additional required reviews (Historical Commission, Design Review Committee, TRC) and flagged parking/affordability waiver issues. For 29 Lake Attitash Road (a proposed single-family home in the Water Resource Protection District on a pre-existing nonconforming parcel), the Board and the public focused on wetland/stream buffers, stormwater/impervious-area assessment, and legal clarifications about the lot’s zoning/nonconforming status; the Board requested Conservation Commission review, a KP Law memo be provided, and appropriate stormwater analysis before further action.

Public comment highlighted traffic and cumulative development concerns on Clarks Road, objections and flood/drainage concerns related to the Lake Attitash proposal, and potential loss of light, parking pressure, and construction disturbance for the 45 Main Street project. The meeting also included an informational presentation about a temporary substation at 0 and 14 Mill Street (no vote), and several recusals were recorded where board members stepped aside from specific applications.