Brentwood planning board continues review of site plan for 1 Smith Road after neighbors raise enforcement and buffer concerns

The Brentwood Planning Board on Tuesday continued a site-plan hearing for 1 Smith Road after residents and board members pressed for clarifications about an existing, unpermitted use and for conditions to limit visual, noise and traffic impacts.

Surveyor Ryan Lavelle of Lavelle Associates told the board the parcel, Tax Map 216 Lot 35, is about 2.82 acres and currently contains no permanent structures. “The intent of the proposed use is to lease or rent the property as a storage and work yard for building materials,” Lavelle said, adding the lessee operates as Western Sales Company Incorporated and that activity on the site has included product deliveries and limited in-person customer visits.

The applicant’s plan notes up to about five in-person customers per week, three to four deliveries onto the site weekly and as many as 15 outgoing shipments per week, according to figures Lavelle attributed to the business owner. The application proposes a 12-by-12-foot prefab office (no plumbing; a portable toilet on-site), solar motion lights about 10 feet high directed downward, and a note that a wetland scientist, Bruce Gilday, identified a small non-prime wetland on one corner and concluded the proposed use would not negatively affect it.

Why it matters: Neighbors and some board members said the site has been active without an approved plan and urged enforceable conditions because approvals run with the property and could allow more intensive future operators if left unrestricted.

Board discussion and concerns focused on hours of operation, buffering, signage and deliveries. The applicant requested hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week; board members described that as flexible but asked whether activity would occur throughout those hours and suggested limiting weekend or late-night activity to reduce impacts on abutters.

Abutter David Flagg, who said he lives at 240 Route 125 and owns Brentwood Power Equipment Center, told the board he supports local business but raised process and setback concerns, saying material was placed within a 50-foot abutting-use setback and that sales and deliveries began before an approved plan. “What’s good for all of us ought to be good for all of us,” Flagg said, urging consistent enforcement.

The application includes additional items the board flagged for follow-up: a pending New Hampshire Department of Transportation District 6 permit for change of use and truck turning movements on Smith Road; stormwater management and a maintenance agreement required by TEC Engineering’s review; and a site plan revision to show the proposed front-yard evergreen plantings that would screen storage and display areas.

Several board members recommended a site visit to review buffering, snow storage and vehicle placement; the board scheduled a site walk for 9 a.m. on Sept. 6 and continued the public hearing to Sept. 18 at 7 p.m., when the board will take further testimony and consider conditions.

What was decided: The board voted to continue the hearing to Sept. 18 and set the site walk for Sept. 6. No final approval or binding conditions were adopted at the meeting.

What remains to be resolved: The board asked the applicant to clarify whether the propane tanks on-site are empty (the applicant said they are empty and not refilled on-site), to show specific evergreen buffering and product-display screening on the plan, to provide a stormwater plan prepared by a licensed professional engineer, and to obtain the District 6 DOT permit for deliveries and truck maneuvers. Board members also suggested adding a note prohibiting activity or parking in the town right-of-way and defining the limits of on-lot activity.

Community context: Board members and several residents said the planning board and select board had discussed enforcement options, including a possible cease-and-desist if unpermitted sales continued before plan approval. The select-board liaison said he will bring any confirmed ongoing sales to the Select Board for potential action.

The board will reconvene on Sept. 18 for the continued hearing after the site walk; the applicant’s team said it will pursue engineering work on stormwater and DOT turning analyses before that date.