[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6052021,"mediaKeyId","3418129-4ec802de1d9949e0bc85fa923cd2f793","parentId",3418129,"title","Planning board reviews Sewell open-space subdivision plan; developer seeks waivers for cul‑de‑sac length and upland percentage","audioSeconds",1310,"startMs",3452000,"endMs",4762000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3418129-4ec802de1d9949e0bc85fa923cd2f793&start=3452&end=4762","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3418129-4ec802de1d9949e0bc85fa923cd2f793/thumbnail_3452000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6052021/New-Hampshire/Planning-board-reviews-Sewell-open-space-subdivision-plan-developer-seeks-waivers-for-culdesac-length-and-upland-percentage","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6052021-511191a139d1a8e0345da30b261ca62b/orig.mp4?Expires=1776322006&Signature=N6xbD2I-FgOeQTrMjqLSzb4VswSamZhQZJ0dFedyhdDYYWoLOsd8CE9NYMwCPxSzr8UMulJTDVL3uZ-oYgYxyj0U79yT-Ppe7KtNIHOxlJ12of9HPzjTa3xqtu4hNHTBpXVAkc5vHGJVo4UD1zUrj-aAuKp1SmQnLSSZRyo1VpTQkSNVA4h-I0d2QDM2WXaauIrUau7L9rS90y2K-eKNm0tkJTPdd23o6DKl3xf~NCf4HTB-I1lvs~We23vIrkJyUpNW1~1EXhcW2QxKvunC6NriUduksOQv~78K7ZarE50kFSop7cM6v9TT7726rlPxsNUu5b1P1ScXf9yjdkWE1w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town Council of Greenland NH","date","2025-05-15T00:00:00Z","article","GREENLAND, N.H. — Developers presented a revised open-space subdivision design for the Sewell property off Breckfors Hill/Breakfast Hill Road during the May 1 Greenland Planning Board meeting, describing substantial conserved acreage, two requested waivers and plans to extend a municipal water main into the development.

Colvin Gield Associates (presenter name as given in the record) described a proposal that would protect a large contiguous block of conservation land and provide roughly 26.8 acres of proposed conservation land within the open-space tract. The design would produce roughly 16 single-family lots under the yield plan, with individual lots generally in the neighborhood of three‑quarters to one acre in size, the presenters said.

Developer requests and rationale
Project consultants asked the board for two primary waivers: to extend the permissible cul‑de‑sac length from the town’s 1,000-foot standard to 1,300 feet to produce wider, more buildable lots, and to reduce the open-space upland percentage requirement from 85 percent to 70 percent. The applicant said the property has extensive wetlands and that meeting the upland percentage by adding wetlands to private lots would put wetlands on private parcels rather than preserving them within the conserved tract.

Colvin Gield Associates said the development would still provide a substantial amount of open space — a figure the applicant described as “almost two times the requirement” for an open-space subdivision — and that the 70 percent upland figure equates to about 52.6 acres of uplands preserved under the proposed plan.

Infrastructure and intermunicipal coordination
The project team told the board it plans to extend municipal water from an existing main, coordinating with both the Rye and Portsmouth water districts; town staff noted that an N.H. Department of Transportation excavation permit will be required for work in the road right-of-way. The proposal includes at least one new fire hydrant because homes would be served by town water.

Public comment and planning board concerns
Residents asked about tree clearing, wetland locations and whether lots meet 50-foot wetland setbacks; the consultant said building envelopes and septic setbacks were shown and that all lots comply with the setback requirement. Kathleen Bevin Johnson and other residents raised environmental concerns about habitat and water‑quality impacts from lawns and fertilizers near the rail trail and wetlands.

Board members asked for detail on trail connections, deed restrictions and conservation easement drafting; the applicant said it would consider public access and potential easement arrangements but noted that the town attorney should review any proposal that creates public access or transfers easement responsibilities to the town.

The board did not take a formal vote on the waivers during the design-review session. Planning staff said the project will return to the board with formal waiver requests and supporting materials for a future public hearing, and the developer was advised to include engineering details for wetland-buffer flagging, stormwater control and water-main permitting.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Greenland NH, Planning Board May, 15 2025 ","oneSentenceSummary","GREENLAND, N.H. — Developers presented a revised open-space subdivision design for the Sewell property off Breckfors Hill/Breakfast Hill Road during the May 1 Greenland Planning Board meeting, describing conserved acreage, two requested waivers and plans to extend a municipal water main.","taxTitle","Greenland Conservation Commission, Greenland, Rockingham County, New Hampshire","taxId",72462,"location","New Hampshire","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6052026,"Planning board accepts 24 Shore Drive application as complete, sends plans to Conservation Commission",1255,445000,1700000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3418129-4ec802de1d9949e0bc85fa923cd2f793&start=445&end=1700","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3418129-4ec802de1d9949e0bc85fa923cd2f793/thumbnail_445000.jpg","/articles/6052026/New-Hampshire/Planning-board-accepts-24-Shore-Drive-application-as-complete-sends-plans-to-Conservation-Commission","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6052026-df76f0eec6adf173595d7d8192504aeb/orig.mp4?Expires=1776322006&Signature=Lq88nVM0nNY3MwGgL4Pd0GLnzfbAIuM8equzhRQvY79MV166oD9yo7yfU2OFD4KNNm-AThwy-21DD09B3p96cZd-bKne9DTDo0kODRR81gxJYlWZxpiWccIFNqSwdznKsp0hDsf1NgpTWBxuZzS68bqo43Dii4cJ0vOkjK5MDbySbGjf8ucN3pMjRKvslUvEzYbMEx7FbYdWv4BtDnRYcxjf~UepK88WG3gLJL6AABPZfT-RrR5oJoWkgv-OPGgSl4sKnBQ4KsXDGs6fhWmQXhSuKfy59ug9HY8V9ztm3jXCqM-VHTFeM9C89I-pFxX8pgolZfF6UfyCX~qw0gk2KA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","GREENLAND, N.H. — The Greenland Planning Board on May 1 accepted as complete an application for a conditional-use permit at 24 Shore Drive and voted to continue the hearing to the board’s June 19 meeting after the Conservation Commission reviews the proposal.

The application from the property owner, Gordon Sims, seeks permission to build a 25-by-40-foot detached garage partly within the town’s wetland buffers. H. Libby, an engineer with Jones & Beach Engineers, told the board the proposed buffer disturbance is “less than a thousand square feet” and that the structural footprint “is [about] 7.63” (as reported on the plan). Libby said the garage location was chosen because the leach field and multiple wetland buffers constrain other buildable areas on the just-under-5-acre lot.

The board’s decision to accept the filing as complete followed questions about whether the application should be routed to the Conservation Commission first. Planner Mark (last name not given on the transcript) and board members agreed the Conservation Commission should review the buffer impacts; the commission is expected to take up the plan on June 3 so its written recommendations can be available before the Planning Board’s next public hearing.

Why it matters: The project sits inside both town wetland buffers and the state-regulated shoreland zone, and neighbors said the site’s proximity to tidal and freshwater wetlands and to the shore raises concerns about flooding, runoff and long-term shoreline impacts. State shoreland permitting and local wetland protections were cited repeatedly during public comment.

What the plan includes and the debate
H. Libby told the board the lot contains tidal wetlands at the rear, brackish areas adjacent to the tidal wetlands and several small isolated freshwater wetland pockets that are largely fed by stormwater coming through an existing culvert under Shore Drive. Libby said the isolated pockets function primarily as drainage features and that the proposed garage would not fill or alter wetlands; instead the request seeks relief for placement of a structure within a 50-foot buffer to isolated wetlands.

Monica (last name not provided), a representative involved in the application, said the latest plan was revised to reduce the garage size and the driveway footprint from an earlier version. She said the revised layout keeps the project under local thresholds that would require a formal stormwater-management plan: “we have such a limited amount of impervious being increased on the property, we’re not required to do a stormwater management plan,” she said.

Neighbors and abutters told the board they opposed the size, appearance and location of the building. Jean (28 Shore Drive) urged the board to require a state shoreline permit (RSA 483-B) and said a shoreline application was not yet filed with the state Department of Environmental Services. Peter Kenner (25 Shore Drive) and other residents said the structure looks “commercial” and is larger than the neighborhood’s three-car garages; they also submitted a joint letter signed by multiple households opposing the project.

Board and applicant clarifications
Libby and the applicant said the garage would be a wood-frame building with metal siding and a metal roof intended to be barnlike in appearance; they also said the framing, not the siding, provides structural support. The applicant team said the builder recommended a foundation option (a cross-wall slab) but that the final foundation design was still being discussed. Libby noted that because roof runoff is treated as relatively clean under New Hampshire DES guidance, the principal impervious surface in the buffer would be the building roof rather than paved driveway area (the driveway is planned outside the buffer).

The planners and several board members emphasized the town does not control state shoreline permitting. Libby said the project will require a DES shoreline permit but asserted the design stays out of the state’s 100-foot tidal shoreline buffer and therefore would not require a separate wetland fill permit under DES; neighbors disputed whether state filings had been submitted.

Board action and next steps
The board voted to accept the application as complete (voice vote; no opposition recorded) and later voted to continue the conditional-use hearing to the June 19 Planning Board meeting after referral to the Conservation Commission. The Planning Board amended the continuation motion to require a written Conservation Commission recommendation and to ask that, if the Conservation Commission performs a site visit, the Planning Board representatives be included.

The applicant and town staff said the Conservation Commission is scheduled to meet on June 3; the applicant said that is the earliest practical date for that review. The Planning Board also advised the applicant to expect to file the state shoreline permit with DES and to be prepared to show erosion-control and best-management practices on building-permit materials if the board advances the application after conservation review.

The board did not make a final decision on the conditional-use permit on May 1; the matter is scheduled for further public hearing on June 19 with the Conservation Commission’s written input.

","The Greenland Planning Board accepted as complete an application for a detached garage at 24 Shore Drive and voted to continue the conditional-use hearing to June 19 after review by the Conservation Commission; applicants and neighbors debated wetland-buffer impacts, shoreline permitting and building materials.","actionData","errors"]

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Planning board reviews Sewell open-space subdivision plan; developer seeks waivers for cul‑de‑sac length and upland percentage

Planning board accepts 24 Shore Drive application as complete, sends plans to Conservation Commission