Developer asks ZBA for parking change and buffer reduction at University Vista; conservation commission tables recommendation pending DES review

Jeff Berg, project engineer with JB Engineering, asked the Hooksett Conservation Commission to endorse two changes to the University Vista townhouse master plan: move the off-site parking shown on the master plan to 15 spaces around the Campus Drive cul‑de‑sac, and to accept buffer impacts created by an enlarged beaver pond that the developer says now adds roughly 6,000 square feet of buffer disturbance. The developer also described replacing a proposed gravity sewer alignment with a sewer pump station to avoid larger wetland impacts.

The developer said the beaver activity has raised water levels and expanded wetland buffers. “We'd be impacting about 5,000 square feet of buffer impact along that stretch there,” Jeff Berg said, adding that the combined impacts on the project are about 6,000 square feet when the smaller northern buffer impact is included. He told commissioners the beaver dam has grown since the original mapping and that at least one contractor reported the beavers added about a foot‑and‑a‑half to the structure.

Commission members pressed for clarification on which areas of the site would be affected and whether mitigation or beaver control would be appropriate. Several commissioners said they were reluctant to endorse active removal of wildlife on conservation lands. “I’m not super inclined…we just keep fighting the same problem,” one commissioner said, arguing that repeatedly removing beavers would run counter to conservation goals. Others noted statutory and DES permitting constraints: the commission discussed that state RSA protections and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) permitting processes could limit any direct work on beaver dams.

Berg summarized the developer’s requests as a pair that would be part of a zoning special‑exception application: (1) permission to substitute 15 parking spaces around the Campus Drive cul‑de‑sac for the remote lot shown on the master plan; and (2) concurrence from the commission that the wetland buffer impacts tied to the beaver pond are acceptable, so the developer could present the package to the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA).

Commissioners asked for updated plans and additional information — including a current wetlands remapping and DES guidance — before issuing a formal recommendation to the ZBA. The commission agreed to request the developer provide digital plan files and to consult DES about the beaver/dam question. A motion to forward the developer’s request as a recommendation to the ZBA was tabled to the next meeting; commissioners said they would review the DES response and the updated plans before acting.

What happens next: Berg was asked to submit the updated plans and remapping to the commission and to coordinate with DES. The commission said it will take up a formal recommendation only after receiving that follow‑up material.

Votes and formal action: - Motion (text on the record): to prepare a recommendation to the ZBA supporting the proposed cul‑de‑sac parking and the requested wetland buffer allowance (total ~6,000 sq ft) — moved/second not specified in the minutes. Outcome: tabled for further information and DES review (no final recommendation acted).