Planning board supports ZBA special‑exception request for 269 West River Road wetland crossing

The Hooksett Planning Board voted June 16 to forward a developer’s request for a wetlands special‑exception to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, recommending the applicant receive a wetland special‑exception to permit a driveway crossing and associated buffer disturbance for a planned three‑lot residential subdivision at 269 West River Road.

Grant Engineering engineers Kim Harrington and Brent Cole said the 5.72‑acre riverside parcel in the Medium Density Residential (MDR) zone contains existing disturbed wetland areas and that access from West River Road would cross a portion of wetland that has been previously impacted. "The driveway construction will disturb approximately 6,447 square feet of wetlands and an additional 21,061 square feet of wetland buffer disturbance," Harrington told the board, adding the design incorporates detention basins and treatment swales to manage stormwater before discharge to the wetlands.

The applicants said each future dwelling will be served by private septic systems sited beyond a 75‑foot wetland buffer and by municipal water. Because part of the site is in FEMA flood zone AE, the engineers said they will regrade to provide compensatory flood storage and set finished floor elevations two feet above the 100‑year flood elevation.

Harrington said the design aims to concentrate new disturbance in areas that already show previous impacts, and that state wetland permitting (NH DES) and a DOT driveway permit will be required as the project advances. Board members asked whether stormwater BMP maintenance would be the town’s responsibility; the engineers said maintenance would be the duty of a homeowners association established for the three lots.

Conservation Commission comments asking the applicant to consider alternative driveway alignments were noted and discussed; the applicant said the current alignment is the least‑impacting alternative because it works with an existing disturbed corridor and avoids larger new impacts elsewhere on the site.

After discussion, the planning board voted to send a recommendation of support to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the wetland special‑exception; the motion passed with one member opposed. The board’s recommendation does not grant state permits; the applicant must still apply to NH Department of Environmental Services and secure any required state approvals and local permits.

The applicant told the board it will submit to the ZBA later in the week and will address conservation commission comments as part of that process.