ZBA continues 117 Camp Sargent elderly‑housing variance after lengthy public hearing on environmental and safety concerns

Fieldstone Land Consultants and the property owner asked the Zoning Board of Adjustment to permit an elderly‑housing development at 117 Camp Sargent Road outside the town’s elderly‑housing overlay. The board opened the hearing, heard the petitioner’s presentation and lengthy public comment, and continued the application to the board’s April 30 meeting to allow additional deliberation with a full board.

Dan Borowski of Fieldstone Land Consultants told the board the parcel (tax map 3C lot 37) is about 5 acres, has municipal water and the ability to tie into municipal sewer, and could support up to 40 units; the current concept submitted seeks up to 32 units made up of single and duplex buildings served by a private road. Borowski described a 100‑foot landscaped buffer on two sides and said wetland delineations found no wetlands that would be directly disturbed; he characterized the proposal as consistent with the town’s master‑plan goal to provide housing choices for older residents.

Dozens of written objections and public commenters questioned that conclusion. Multiple residents, including Sean Smith (119 Camp Sargent Road) and neighborhood association leaders, said the planned access is near the Camp Sargent–Continental Boulevard area and would increase traffic at an already busy junction near an elementary school and community parks. Several letters, and speakers including Steve Pippenger and others, emphasized that the parcel lies in a Wellhead Protection Area and an Aquifer Conservation District and raised sodium‑chloride (road‑salt) contamination risks; one speaker cited that a Merrimack Village District production well had been inactivated because of rising sodium‑chloride levels.

Petitioner representatives said test pits encountered no ledge and that engineering and planning board review (including stormwater treatment) would address technical constraints. Borowski said sewer could tie into a 12‑inch line that already runs at the end of nearby Cambridge Drive.

After hearing public testimony and board questions, a motion to continue the case to April 30 carried. The board did not make a final determination and asked staff to include the item on the next agenda when a full board is expected to be present.

Why it matters: Residents and environmental professionals highlighted the site’s location inside the town’s wellhead/aquifer protection area and raised traffic and safety concerns near a village path, an elementary school and Veterans Memorial Park. Those issues, combined with the board’s request for full‑board consideration, mean the application’s outcome remains pending.

Ending: The ZBA continued the item to April 30; the applicant may use the interim to respond to technical and abutter concerns and to refine engineering or access plans.