The Concord Planning Board granted a conditional‑use permit to allow a reduced separation between driveways on Penacook Street, authorizing a new gravel residential driveway 30.1 feet from an adjacent driveway rather than the ordinance‑required 40 feet. The board attached conditions requiring slope stabilization where loggers had cleared the bank and recorded limits tied to one single‑family residence.

Mark Sargent of Richard D. Bartlett & Associates represented the applicant and explained the parcel’s multiple narrow frontages and topography. Board members and staff reviewed three potential access options and concluded the proposed location best balanced grades, minimized wetland disturbance and avoided a very long driveway that would conflict with fire department limits on driveway length.

Neighbors raised concerns at the public hearing about long‑term development, future subdivision potential and immediate site disturbance. Several neighbors asked the board to limit the approval to a single‑family driveway and to require the cleared western slope adjacent to 18 Little Pond Road be restored and stabilized to address erosion and runoff; neighbors also noted localized spring flow and periodic road undermining at that segment of Penacook Street.

The planning board discussed constraints: a driveway meeting the 40‑foot separation would have required a longer access route, more wetland impacts or steeper grades; staff noted that an approval for driveway‑separation relief for a single-family driveway is distinct from approvals that would permit larger subdivision access, and that any future subdivision or additional access would require separate applications and additional public hearings. The board approved the conditional‑use permit with precedent conditions that include restoring the western side grade adjacent to 18 Little Pond Road to the plan profile, installing erosion/stabilization measures and providing a standard driveway permit inspection process. The motion carried with one abstention recorded (per meeting record).