The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved two variances for Unitil’s West Concord Substation project at 1–7 McGuire Street, allowing an electrical control enclosure to be placed within a bluff buffer and permitting limited regrading to install modern stormwater management. Earlier in the hearing the board determined the application did not meet criteria to be declared a Development of Regional Impact (DRI).

Unitil representatives, including licensed engineers Nicholas Golan and Nate Sherwood, told the board the existing substation dates to the 1940s, the current yard is about 4,000 square feet, and the proposed facility and adjacent yard would total roughly 22,000 square feet to accommodate modern equipment, laydown space and maintenance. They said the relocation and rebuild will improve redundancy and reliability for the local distribution system and described a small, triangular recontouring to create a stormwater basin that will collect and treat runoff before it reaches the river.

Engineers explained the proposed work is not a generation project and will not change system voltages; power is being stepped down for local distribution, and remote monitoring and protective systems have improved since the original facility was built. Unitil said existing pole storage and other heavy equipment already occupy portions of the bluff buffer area; the company does not plan to clear additional bluff vegetation beyond removing invasive species in a previously disturbed fill area and expects to reduce impervious area in the buffer.

Members of the public, including representatives of the Smokestack Center (Cheryl Gochez and Carlos Coches), expressed concern about how the project would affect their nearby commercial property, asked about fencing and the amount of power transmitted across an old easement, and said efforts to update licensing with Unitil had not been answered. Board members identified those easement and licensing questions as private contractual matters outside the ZBA’s zoning jurisdiction but noted planning board/site-plan review would address fencing and some site-development details.

Unitil confirmed it would pursue state-level reviews, including an Alteration of Terrain (AOT) permit, and would consult US Fish and Wildlife and New Hampshire Fish and Game as part of environmental review required by state permitting. The board said those dual reviews provide redundancy in environmental oversight. After deliberations that weighed neighborhood character, existing industrial use, and environmental protections, the board voted to grant both requested variances by unanimous voice votes and adopted the applicant’s proposed findings of fact.

The board’s packet and discussions cited the bluff buffer provisions in Article 28 (Article 28–4–49(c)) and referenced RSA 674:33 as the statutory basis for variance findings.