Nashua zoning board denies fire department’s request for gated driveway through wetland buffer

The Nashua Zoning Board of Adjustment on Oct. 14 denied a City of Nashua request to construct a gated driveway through wetland buffer to a proposed fire training facility at the 4 Hills landfill, concluding the proposal failed to meet zoning criteria related to neighborhood character and traffic impacts.

Chief Steve Buxton, Nashua Fire Rescue, told the board the department has trained at the landfill for more than 40 years and needs a modernized local training site so crews can train without leaving the city. Buxton said the plan would tap an existing power source near a cell tower, extend a water line roughly 1,000 feet from Teague Drive (instead of a costlier 3,000-foot route), and build a gated driveway used only for scheduled training access. "This will not be utilized as a backdoor to the landfill," Buxton said, adding he had discussed the plan with Department of Public Works staff.

Wetlands consultant Bridal Quigley of Grove Environmental Services said the driveway alignment was shifted…