Planning board grants preliminary approval for Borden Farm Estates comprehensive permit with conditions

The Portsmouth Planning Board granted preliminary plan approval for a comprehensive-permit major land development, Borden Farm Estates, proposing 20 residential units on approximately 2.84 acres along East Main Road. The applicant, Borden Farm Estates LLC, proposed 15 market-rate units and five units designated as affordable under state low- and moderate-income (LMI) rules (25% of the total), and sought adjustments to multiple zoning and site standards.

The board heard testimony from a multi-disciplinary team: attorney Michael Monti (applicant counsel), developer Garrett DeCastro (owner/developer), Professor Ronald Onorado (architectural historian), Karen Beck (site engineer, Principi Company), James Houle (land-use/appraisal expert), traffic reviewer Beth Lavoie, and architect Brian Schull. The project preserves the main house and the barn on the site, renovates the barn to house four two-bedroom units, and adds four new townhome buildings (each with four two-bedroom units) behind the historic frontage. One affordable unit will be included in each of the four new townhomes and one in the barn, for a total of five LMI units spread throughout the development.

Adjustments requested and granted: the applicant asked for relief including the south side setback (existing 21 feet where 25 feet is the ordinance standard), a rear setback of 20 feet where 30 feet is required for the proposed townhomes, density interpretation tied to the LMI density bonus, and phased stormwater/septic sequencing rather than installing all retention before constructing any building. The board treated these as permissible adjustments under the comprehensive-permit statute and granted the relief after hearing site design testimony.

Technical and environmental review: engineer Karen Beck described site grading, retention and treatment systems. The proposal uses bottomless sand filters for wastewater for the existing house, the barn, and the new building groups; those OWTS applications have been submitted to DEM/OWTS; the stormwater (RIPDES) permit was reported as submitted and the applicant said the stormwater permit has been received. Beck explained staged site work and said roof areas will be directed to shallow underground infiltration systems while pavement will be treated in a small above-ground infiltration basin at the rear of the lot. She noted the unusually steep change in elevation between East Main Road and the rear of the property and said the new buildings were sited to preserve the East Main Road frontage view of the historic house and barn.

Historic preservation: Professor Ronald Onorado, an architectural historian and former URI faculty member, reviewed the National Register nomination and told the board that although the property has lost much of its original agricultural acreage and therefore some aspects of its historic integrity, the principal historic resources — the mid-19th-century main house, the English-style barn and features such as stone walls and ramp — remain. He concluded the proposal preserves the most important historic elements from the road view and that adaptive reuse of the barn will preserve its character.

Public comment: abutters raised concerns chiefly about density and interior screening. A nearby resident, Marissa Bassett, asked the board to consider whether the prior zoning variance for the adjacent commercial lot should have discouraged further subdivision/development; the applicant explained the proposal is structured as condominium units on merged lots and does not further subdivide record lots. Another abutter asked that the fence and screening be installed before construction begins; developer Garrett DeCastro and his team confirmed they will provide a six-foot fence and a row of evergreen arborvitae screening along the eastern property line and said they would install the fence prior to construction.

Conditions attached by the board: the board made approval conditional on a set of applicant commitments and administrative items, including (summary): 1) installation of a six-foot privacy fence on the eastern property line prior to construction; 2) consolidation/merger of the two subject lots prior to final plan approval; 3) condominium documents that ban short-term rentals (defined as under 30 days) and that require replacement of any dead or dying screening trees; 4) a construction/noise restriction (no construction or maintenance noise before 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on weekends); 5) submittal to and review by the town’s design review board before final building permit issuance; and 6) standard permitting dependencies (final OWTS permit from DEM, DOT physical alteration permitting and any state historic review tied to the DOT permit).

Action: Member Mr. Tibbets moved and Mr. Harding seconded a motion to grant preliminary plan approval, finding that the project meets the statutory standards for a comprehensive permit (consistency with local needs for affordable housing, integration and comparability of affordable units, no significant negative health and safety impacts, and preservation of historic features to the extent practical). The motion carried.

What happens next: The applicant will pursue required state and local permits (final OWTS approval, DOT physical alteration permit including state historic review inputs, design-review board signoff) and administrative final-plan approval per town procedures. The board’s conditions will be referenced in final plans and condominium documents.

Ending note: The board and applicant described the proposal as a compact infill project intended to preserve the East Main Road streetscape while adding LMI units to help address Portsmouth’s shortfall of affordable housing.