Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Site Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board approves Manheim site plan amendment to remove interior islands, expand perimeter pavement
Summary
The Somersworth Planning Board approved Manheim New Hampshire’s site plan amendment to remove interior parking islands and add perimeter pavement at 221 Route 108, granting a waiver for vehicular circulation and adopting conditions including landscaping, stormwater and maintenance requirements.
The Somersworth Planning Board on Aug. 20 approved Manheim New Hampshire’s site plan amendment to remove interior landscape islands and install additional perimeter pavement at 221 Route 108 in the Commercial-Industrial district. The board granted a waiver for vehicular circulation and parking and approved the site plan with conditions set by the director of planning and community development.
The board’s action follows the applicant’s submission of photos documenting newly installed irrigation, hydroseeded areas along Blackwater Road and Route 108, and replacement of previously disputed cherry trees. Director Michelle Mears told the board that third-party review had been completed and listed required conditions for final approval, including a revised plan note clarifying parking-space counts, compliance with third-party drainage comments, replacement of a Kwanzan cherry with an approved species, federal and state permits (including a New Hampshire DOT driveway permit), a recorded stormwater maintenance certificate, and a landscaping surety covering two growing seasons.
Board members and the applicant discussed how the new pavement would be located largely behind the former maintenance garage and would not extend closer to Blackwater Road. The applicant said the gray-shaded areas on the plan were existing disturbed areas now proposed to be expanded to “double depth” to increase inventory storage and improve circulation for auction vehicles; the new pavement area is about 8,000 square feet and triggered third-party drainage review because it exceeds 5,000 square feet. The applicant also described replacing eight interior island trees with roughly 20 new plantings around the site perimeter and said additional landscaping had been installed along Route 108 to mitigate the island removals.
Resident Elizabeth Sarno Hill, 124 Blackwater Road, told the board she appreciated the hydroseeding and mulch strip but asked whether the perimeter between her house and the site would remain green or be converted to parking; board members and the applicant clarified the expanded pavement would be behind the maintenance garage and would not move closer to Blackwater Road. Several board members said the perimeter plantings on Blackwater Road (cedar, fir, bayberry and inkberry) should provide screening once established; one board member noted some existing shrubs would need replacement but that a maintenance bond is in place.
Formal motions: the board voted that the project did not have regional impact; it granted a waiver for vehicular circulation and parking (motion by George Gilmatt, second by Mark Richardson) and approved the site plan amendment (motion by Jason Berry, second by Jeremy Rhodes) subject to the conditions enumerated by Director Mears. Conditions include as-built plans, downlit shielded lighting, on-site repairs limited to enclosed buildings, required signage for directional circulation, tiger-teeth (anti-exit devices) training and equipment for the fire department to disable them in emergencies, and maintenance and replacement of landscaping.
The approval also requires that applicants address outstanding items from the third-party drainage review to the satisfaction of the director of planning and community development and that all federal and state permits be in place before final plan signing and recording. The board recorded that any additional impacts to wetlands or buffers require a conditional use permit and that stormwater inspection and maintenance logs be submitted annually on or before July 1.
Board discussion included concern about how many islands/trees were being removed (the applicant said six island trees would be removed in one comment and later discussions counted eight islands) and whether the perimeter plantings proposed would provide equal or better screening once established. The applicant and board agreed replacement plantings would grow over time to increase screening. The board noted the applicant had corrected a broken light fixture remarked on at the previous hearing.
The site plan approval concluded with the board directing staff and the applicant to complete the listed conditions before issuance of final approvals.
