Portsmouth — Developers previewed plans for a four-building, eight-unit condominium development off Bristol Ferry Road that would place four duplex-style buildings on about 2.5 acres in the town’s R-20 district. The planning-board members heard architectural, landscape and engineering overviews and asked for clarifications on drainage, screening and sequencing of plantings.

A petitioner’s representative described the project as four identical two-unit buildings (eight units total) designed as single-story primary living with a garage and a “bonus” bedroom over the garage. The project team emphasized that the buildings “are modeled a little bit just for a high end condominium,” and the design intent is to preserve mature perimeter trees and to concentrate development on the interior so the front of the road presents a winding, shaded drive.

Designer Joe Fenton described the units as two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath homes with an open plan and a first-floor primary suite. “I was given [a] program to design a high-end … property with the exterior form trying to draw from the vernacular design of the area using local materials,” Fenton said. He said the intent was to keep garage doors away from the front elevation and to use cedar shingles, black windows, metal accent roofs and architectural shingles for the main roof.

Ashley, the landscape architect who designed the planting plan but was not present at the hearing, recommended four street trees (red maples) at the Bristol Ferry edge, perimeter buffer plantings (arborvitae/juniper species) and foundation plantings. Board members and neighbors raised specific requests for plantings to screen views and for removal of invasive bamboo on or near the site. The petitioner’s team agreed to coordinate plantings with neighbors and said they would consider evergreen screening to reduce view impacts during construction.

Engineering and stormwater: the team said there will be a subsurface infiltration gallery and porous pavement in some circulation areas; roofs and gutters will be piped into underground drainage. The petitioner noted the development is over one acre and will require state stormwater review in addition to local technical-review committee scrutiny. The project team also confirmed all utilities are planned to be underground and that the private road would be built to town specs to meet fire-department requirements.

Neighbor concerns and sequencing: abutters asked that border plantings be installed early in the construction sequence so screening is in place while building proceeds. The petitioner agreed to discuss phasing and said they would be willing to place perimeter plantings early so residents see a screening sooner rather than later.

No vote or recommendation was recorded at the forum. Planning staff said they expected to issue the planning-board advisory opinion in time for the project’s planning-board hearing (scheduled for the board’s upcoming Thursday meeting).