Planning board keeps pickleball center public hearing open, seeks traffic, noise and historic-impact studies

The Wolfeboro Planning Board on April 1 accepted a formal site-plan submission for a proposed 20-court pickleball complex at the Wolfeboro Center parcel but voted to continue the public hearing to May 6 so the applicant can supply additional studies and plan revisions requested by the board and the public.

Paul Bog of Norway Plains Associates presented the Vander Heyden Family Pickleball Center application on behalf of the New Hampshire Lakes Region Pickleball Club and Wolfeboro Center LLC. The proposal calls for a 208-by-24-foot building containing eight indoor courts and 12 outdoor courts, roughly 34 acres of property, and an initial plan for 99 parking spaces that the applicant said would be reduced to about 90 spaces to comply with a 50% rule in the town’s regulations. Access is proposed via a 22-foot-wide driveway; stormwater treatment would use infiltration basins, rain gardens and porous pavement. The applicant told the board that the project will require New Hampshire Department of Transportation driveway approval, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (AOT) permitting for alteration of terrain, and an EPA construction stormwater permit.

The board accepted the submittal as complete and opened a public hearing. Dozens of residents and stakeholder groups then…