Planning board approves five waivers for K & M Tire addition, tables stormwater waiver until April 1

MERRIMACK, N.H. — The Merrimack Planning Board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept as complete an amended site plan for a 15,500-square-foot addition to a tire storage facility at 4 Webb Drive, granted five of six waiver requests from the applicant and continued a disputed stormwater-treatment waiver until the board’s April 1 meeting.

The applicant, represented by Alex Jafrita, civil engineer with Hainer Swanson, said the addition is to provide extra storage for agricultural tires at the existing 143,000-square-foot K and M Tire warehouse. Jafrita told the board, “we're seeking an amended site plan approval for a proposed 1 story 15500 square foot building addition with associated site improvements.”

Board members granted waivers for parking, a full site survey, an exterior lighting plan, a landscape plan and a traffic-impact analysis. Each waiver passed 5-0-0. The board stopped short of granting a waiver of the stormwater-treatment requirement and asked for a written response from the town’s peer reviewer, Fuss & O'Neil, before final action; the board continued the application to April 1, 2025, without further notice to abutters.

Why it matters: The stormwater-treatment waiver raised technical and regulatory questions because the site lies within an area the meeting referred to as the Saint-Gobain consent-decree area and because the town’s site-plan regulations require stormwater practices to meet New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) standards. Planning board members said they wanted Fuss & O'Neil’s assessment of whether granting the waiver would create adverse downstream impacts.

Details of the proposal and waivers - Proposal: One-story, 15,500-square-foot building addition to an existing 143,000-square-foot distribution/warehouse building at 4 Webb Drive. The applicant said K and M Tire is a regional tire distributor headquartered in Delphos, Ohio. - Parking: The application lists roughly 80 existing parking spaces (including spaces on an adjacent lot historically intended to be merged). The applicant said the addition will remove about 10 spaces, leaving approximately 70; the town’s calculation for the new building footprint produces a requirement of about 106 spaces. The applicant told the board the site employs about 30 people and does not expect an increase in employees. - Stormwater: The applicant proposed an underground detention system and deep-sump catch basins. Project engineers said test pits showed soils and groundwater conditions that limit infiltration; they also cited the Saint-Gobain consent-decree area as reason to avoid infiltration that could mobilize PFAS in soil. The underground detention was described as reducing peak flows but not meeting DES’s defined “treatment practice” standards.

What the board decided - Application completeness: The board voted to accept the application as complete (vote recorded as unanimous). - Waivers granted (each 5-0-0): parking (reduced to ~70 spaces), full site survey, exterior lighting plan, landscape plan, and traffic-impact analysis. - Stormwater-treatment waiver: The board did not grant the waiver. Board members said Fuss & O'Neil should weigh in on whether the proposed underground detention and related measures are sufficient before the board grants relief. The applicant agreed to wait; the item was continued to the April 1 meeting without further notice to abutters (motion to continue passed 5-0-0).

Public comment and peer review - James Stratton of Webb Drive Associates addressed the board in support of the proposal and said, “I support the effort to approve the addition,” noting he observed adequate parking and that the site topography made infiltration unlikely in his view. - Staff and peer-review comments: Town staff and the Fuss & O'Neil peer-review letter raised concerns that the proposed underground detention system does not meet DES treatment-practice criteria. Fuss & O'Neil recommended revising the design to provide treatment that meets DES standards; the applicant submitted the waiver request in response and requested the board consider a waiver.

Next steps - The board requested a written comment from Fuss & O'Neil addressing the waiver request and the applicant’s proposed stormwater approach. The applicant and staff agreed to return on April 1, 2025, with the peer-review response and any design revisions.

Votes at a glance - Application acceptance as complete — unanimous approval (5-0-0). - Waiver 1 (parking to ~70 spaces): approved, motion passed 5-0-0 (mover identified in discussion as Nelson). - Waiver 3 (waive full site survey): approved 5-0-0. - Waiver 4 (waive exterior lighting plan): approved 5-0-0. - Waiver 5 (waive landscape plan): approved 5-0-0. - Waiver 6 (waive traffic-impact analysis): approved 5-0-0. - Waiver 2 (stormwater treatment): not approved tonight; continued pending Fuss & O'Neil review. - Continuation of entire application to 04/01/2025 without further notice to abutters: approved 5-0-0.

Ending note: The board said it was generally supportive of the business expansion but stressed the need for peer-review confirmation that the proposed stormwater approach would not create adverse downstream or groundwater impacts under DES standards.