City Commission upholds site plan for 15-row-house development at 700 New Hampshire Street

The Lawrence City Commission on Sept. 2 affirmed the planning director's administrative approval of site plan SP-25-0003, a proposal for 15 row houses at 700 New Hampshire Street, voting 5-0 to approve the plan.

The commission's action came after staff described the application as an administrative, ministerial site-plan review under the land development code and after attorneys and planners warned the body to limit its review to the code criteria. "This is a quasi-judicial hearing," Deputy City Attorney Randy Larkin told commissioners. "Your review of the decision by the director of planning is de novo. You step into the shoes of the planning director."

Neighbors and preservation advocates urged the commission to deny the plan or to send it back for changes, calling the project too large and insufficiently compatible with the adjacent North Rhode Island Street historic district. Tony Peterson, a neighbor at 702‑724 Rhode Island Street, said the block has been preserved over decades and that the project would be "out of scale and inappropriate for the block." Multiple speakers said they had not received timely notice of the project and expressed frustration with the Historic Resources Commission (HRC) review, which approved the project 3-2 after several meetings.

The applicant and project design team defended the development as infill that meets the zoning in the CD district. Architect Paul Warner said the project is "15 homes that we plan to sell" and emphasized that multifamily dwelling is a permitted use in the CD zone. Warner described design changes made to respond to HRC and ARC review and said the team is providing two parking spaces per unit even though the CD district does not require off-street parking under the 2006 code that governed the application.

City planning staff described the procedural record to the commission: the proposal was submitted in January under the 2006 land development code, went through design review at the Historic Resources Commission and the Architectural Review Committee, and received a planning director determination on July 22 finding it met the site-plan criteria. "Site plan review is really an assessment of a project: does it meet code or does it not?" Planning staff said. The staff report acknowledged an incorrect code citation in one paragraph (staff said it should have cited section 20‑308(f) rather than 20‑707(f]) but said the substantive language in the report was correct.

Commission discussion emphasized the limited legal standard for this appeal: whether the plan meets the code. Commissioners noted neighborhood concerns but repeatedly returned to the legal role before them. Commissioner Larson made the motion to approve the site plan; Commissioner Finkelstein seconded it. On roll call, Commissioner Larson, Commissioner Finkelstein, Mayor Deborah, Commissioner Littlejohn and Commissioner Sellers voted yes.

The vote concludes the appeal of the planning director's administrative determination. The HRC's certificate of approval was not itself on appeal; the commission's authority in this hearing was to apply the same site-plan criteria used by staff. The commission did not adopt additional conditions beyond those included in staff's report.

Residents who spoke said they will continue to monitor implementation. "We are not opposed to the idea of row houses, but some respect should be shown to the existing neighborhood," Tony Peterson told the commission during public comment.

What's next: The commission's approval affirms the administrative site-plan decision; any further changes or follow-up (permits, building review, or code compliance checks) will proceed through the city's standard development-review process.