Somersworth City Councilors and residents discussed plans by Seton Academy, a private religious school, to occupy the former Pinewood Medical Center on Route 108 and raised concerns about neighbor outreach, traffic and tax implications.

Councilor Witham told the council the building had been for sale for months and that Seton Academy’s placement of a banner and yard signs alerted neighbors before staff or council were contacted. He said the change “seemed to be a rather dramatic reuse of the property” and said residents had expressed worries about traffic and noise.

City staff informed councilors that New Hampshire enacted legislation about 18 months earlier that, as described in the meeting, removes Planning Board oversight for religious institutions and religious schools when occupancy occurs without an increase in building footprint. City Manager Bob Belmore said that, under that description, Seton Academy does not require site-plan approval if it does not expand the building’s square footage.

Councilors said the change is lawful but criticized the approach Seton Academy used to inform neighbors. Witham, Vincent and others said the academy should have proactively contacted abutters to discuss pick-up and drop-off patterns and other neighborhood impacts. Councilor Vincent said he had spoken with a property owner who indicated the school planned to bus students to the site for morning services, but Vincent expressed concern about afternoon releases and possible on-street parking on Pinewood Drive.

Councilors also noted a fiscal concern: Seton Academy is a nonprofit religious institution and, if tax-exempt, could reduce taxable property value along a high-valued corridor (the Route 108 medical corridor), potentially lowering local property tax revenue. Witham and others tied that issue to larger state-level debates about property tax structure and the fiscal impacts of education-voucher-like programs funded at local levels.

No city action was required that evening; councilors said the law limited their authority over land-use review in this case. Witham and other councilors urged the academy to engage neighbors and staff to address traffic and parking questions. Residents in the audience also expressed mixed views, and one speaker at the end of the meeting urged a constructive approach to new institutions seeking to serve local families.

Staff flagged that if Seton Academy proposed building additions or other changes that expand the square footage, the project would then trigger Planning Board site-plan review.