Alton ZBA grants contractor's yard for Lundy on Miramichi Hill Road over abutter objections

The Alton Board of Adjustment voted 3–2 Oct. 2 to grant a special exception allowing a contractor’s yard and construction of a four-bay garage on Map 15, Lot 9‑3‑1 at the corner of Route 28 and Miramichi Hill Road. The decision followed lengthy public comment, with several abutters urging denial and others voicing support.

The application, filed by Changing Seasons Engineering as agent for owner Richard Lundy, would allow Lundy’s excavating/contracting business to consolidate equipment and limited stockpiles on a 12‑acre parcel addressed in the record as near Route 28 and Miramichi Hill Road. The plan shown to the board indicated a proposed 50‑by‑100‑foot building with garage doors facing the interior of the lot, parking and screened stockpile areas; erosion-control and stormwater measures were designed along the Route 28 frontage; and berms and vegetated buffers were proposed along residential lot lines.

Lundy and his agent told the board the site would be used to park equipment and keep materials for the business’s own use, not for retail sales. Lundy described his operation to the board: "we go to work every day. . . . we're off doing jobs all over town," and said most trucks leave the site each morning for jobs and return at the end of the day. He also said he is not proposing crushing or selling gravel on site; occasional screening and stockpiling for his own jobs was described.

Several abutters opposed the proposal, citing safety at the Miramichi‑to‑Route‑28 intersection, increased heavy-vehicle traffic on narrow town roads (including seasonal 6‑ton spring limits on some nearby roads), noise, dust and loss of tree buffers. Kathy Fairman, an abutter, said the intersection with Route 28 is banked and at highway speeds and that "it is not a safe entrance or exit for a large vehicle." Other opponents supplied letters arguing that property values and the rural character of Miramichi Hill Road would be harmed.

Supporters who live nearby said the parcel is a reasonable location for small‑scale contractor storage and would capture tax revenue without adding school impact; one nearby resident told the board he saw little daytime disturbance from similar operations.

During the worksheet and deliberations board members split on some criteria but concluded the proposed mitigation (tree buffers, engineered berms and stormwater controls) and the site’s location near Route 28 made the use allowable with conditions. The approvals shown to the board included limits on hours of operation (applicant said proposed hours are 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday and 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Saturday), a prohibition on retail sales and crushing on site, and a requirement that stockpiles be placed and vegetated behind the proposed roadside buffer/basin. The board’s vote to approve the special exception was 3 in favor, 2 opposed.

Case and clarifying details: the applicant described the building as approximately 50 by 100 feet and about 26 feet high; the lot area referenced in the hearing was about 12 acres; the proposed driveway off Miramichi Hill Road would be roughly 400 feet from the Route 28 intersection along the Miramichi frontage; the applicant said materials stored on site would be for his own use and not for public sale. The planning board will still review any required site-plan conditions following ZBA approval.