Developers present concept for seven cottage-style condominiums at 35 Edgewater Drive in Hooksett

Brent Cole of Granite Engineering presented a conceptual site plan for 35 Edgewater Drive to the Hooksett Planning Board proposing seven cottage-style condominium units clustered along the Merrimack River.

The board heard that each unit would be roughly a 1,000–1,200 square-foot, two-story, two-bedroom dwelling with a one-car garage; parking, boat storage and a shared accessory parking area would be located on the parcels across the street. Cole said two wells would be drilled on site, and each unit would be served by its own septic system with tanks located near the condos and leach fields across the street. He described the product as "a cottage style" intended to offer a lower-price river option compared with larger riverfront homes.

The project team told the board the property already holds a shoreland permit tied to an earlier wedding-venue approval and that amendments to that shoreland permit may be possible "as long as we don't encroach further on the river, and as long as we don't increase the impervious than what was allowed before." Cole said shoreland permitting, alteration-of-terrain permits, septic approvals and site-plan review would be required, and that the first formal hurdle is zoning relief for use and dimensional variances.

Board members and the applicant discussed flood elevation, river access and stormwater. Cole said the site has roughly two to three feet of vertical separation above the 100-year flood elevation in the study area and that utilities and living areas would be elevated. He told the board each unit would have rights to a single, central river access and to the existing boat ramp rather than individual riverfront access points. On stormwater he said the design team may use porous pavement or porous pavers to encourage infiltration in lieu of large detention basins.

On ownership and long-term management, Cole said the seven dwellings would be condominiums with a homeowners association responsible for lawn maintenance, boat-launch upkeep and enforcing rules for boat/vehicle storage across the street. He described the intended architectural approach as a consistent craftsman/cottage vernacular and said one architect would produce several complementary models.

Board members asked about accessibility and unit layout. The applicant reiterated that the two-bedroom plan places primary living spaces on the first floor and bedrooms on the second floor to make the small footprint functionally workable; the applicant said buyers could request interior adaptations on a case-by-case basis.

Planning staff and board members emphasized the regulatory path: the Planning Board can review the site-plan elements at concept, but any residential use on commercially zoned land requires zoning-board relief (a use variance or similar). Several board members said they would encourage a rezoning if the property ultimately becomes residential after zoning relief and permitting are complete.

Next steps described in the meeting: the applicant will pursue zoning relief from the Zoning Board of Adjustment and then return for formal site-plan review and state permitting (shoreland, alteration-of-terrain, septic). The board offered general support for the concept but noted multiple approvals remain before any building permits could be issued.

Ending: The board thanked the applicants for the concept presentation and noted that the applicant must first secure zoning relief and state permits before the Planning Board will schedule formal site-plan review.