Planning Board approves NH Scott headquarters at former Camp Spaulding with restrictions on large outdoor events

The Concord City Planning Board voted April 21 to approve New Hampshire Scott’s proposal to convert the former Camp Spaulding property at 210 Bog Road into the nonprofit’s year-round headquarters and cultural center, while placing limits on the group’s large outdoor events.

The board approved architectural design and major site plan applications, several waivers and conditional-use permits required for parking surfacing, wetland buffer disturbance and the privately owned outdoor recreational facility. The board set conditions intended to limit neighborhood impacts: no more than six large outdoor events per year, amplified or outdoor music to stop by 8 p.m. (site activities may wind down until 9 p.m.), and that NH Scott post an annual events schedule by March 1 and notify neighbors through its channels. The board also required a landscape buffer along a narrow western property pinch-point and agreed the applicant should work with staff on details such as emergency access and parking control during events.

The planning staff had recommended approving most permits but flagged the outdoor recreational permit for further discussion because the RO district rules require a 100-foot buffer around outdoor recreation facilities. Staff said that buffer was not shown on the plans and would need to be addressed if the board approved the CUP.

John Arnold, the project attorney, described the site and use to the board and emphasized the group’s intent. “The Highland Games are not coming to this property,” Arnold told the board, saying the organization seeks a year-round cultural hub for small classes, offices and occasional larger family events. Josh Hosier, president of New Hampshire Scott, told the board the organization operates with a small staff and aims to house offices and year-round educational programming on-site.

Project engineer Morgan Dunson and architect Stuart Anderson walked the board through the site layout, which preserves the lodge and outbuildings and proposes gravel and overflow grass parking, a widened 24-foot primary driveway, and a gated, 12-foot emergency egress to River Road held closed to the public. Dunson said parking for large events would be managed with traffic volunteers and that stormwater would be handled via infiltration basins tied into new on-site drainage.

Neighbors and other residents spoke at public hearing. Edward W. Smith, who lives on River Road, opposed the CUP citing concerns that large events would change neighborhood character and reduce property values. He asked the board to deny permission for large gatherings. Leon Lafrénie, a longtime area resident and former planning director, urged the board to follow the ordinance’s explicit compatibility tests for noise, lighting and buffer requirements; he said the board should deem the proposed use incompatible unless specific protections are guaranteed. Several other neighbors expressed concern about noise, lighting and traffic in public comments.

The applicant offered a professional sound study by Boston Soundworks measuring bagpipe music and recordings at multiple points on the property. Consultant Jerry Dwyer told the board that even a heavily amplified sample played at more than 100 decibels at source registered in the 40–50 dB range at nearby property lines in winter conditions with snow cover. Dwyer said foliage and summer vegetation would further damp sound levels.

Board members and staff negotiated conditions intended to balance the organization’s proposed programming with neighborhood protection. Those conditions included limiting the number of large events to six per year, setting a 10 a.m. start time for events, requiring music to stop at 8 p.m. with site closure tasks allowed until 9 p.m., a requirement for event parking control (volunteer traffic attendants), detailed stormwater and wetland buffer measures, and a perimeter landscape buffer or plantings in a western pinch point to reduce visibility and sound toward adjacent properties. The board also required the applicant to work with the fire marshal on emergency access and to install signage for the emergency access route.

Planning Board Chair announced the motion to approve the conditional-use permit as revised; the board voted in favor with one member opposed. The board later approved the remaining associated waivers and the site plan subject to the precedent and subsequent conditions discussed and recorded in the meeting packet.

The approvals allow New Hampshire Scott to proceed with renovations of the existing lodge and outbuildings and with the limited site work and parking changes described in the plans; the approvals do not permit new large permanent amphitheaters or other unshown features. The project will still require final technical sign-offs and recorded agreements (including a buffer/lease-line memorandum as required by staff) before construction permits are issued.

Why it matters: The project repurposes a large, long-vacant property in Concord for nonprofit cultural use, which supporters say will bring year-round programming, preserve open space, and support the organization’s operations. Neighbors, however, pressed the board for concrete limits on noise, lighting and traffic. The board’s conditions attempt to balance those interests while leaving the nonprofit room to operate its programs on the property.

What’s next: The applicant must meet the board’s precedent conditions (technical plan revisions, buffer delineation and documentation, final emergency access measures and parking/traffic control plans) before the city will sign final site plan documents and issue building permits. The board kept the record open only for required submittals; no additional public hearing on the CUP was scheduled at the meeting.