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Board grants waiver and conditional approval for 5 Depot Street conversion after public comment on parking and lot lines
Summary
The Planning Board granted a waiver of full site‑plan review and conditional final approval to convert the Odd Fellows building at 5 Depot Street into four one‑bedroom units, adding conditions on lighting, trees, fencing and plan language; neighbors raised concerns about a small parcel, parking safety on Pleasant Street and historic character.
The Merrimack Planning Board voted July 1 to grant a waiver of full site‑plan review and conditional final approval for Vicinity Development’s plan to convert the historic Odd Fellows building at 5 Depot Street into a four‑unit, one‑bedroom multifamily building.
Doug McGuire of the Dubay Group, representing Vicinity Development, described updates to the plan set requested by the board and staff: an added site preparation sheet that shows concrete areas to be removed, restriping and wheel stops for parking, three new red maple trees, a three‑rail fence and a detail sheet clarifying fence and planting details. DPW and staff told the board a traffic study submitted earlier that day satisfied one outstanding staff request and that the Department of Public Works was satisfied with the parking adjustments.
Multiple neighbors spoke at the public hearing, thanking the applicant for improvements but pressing the board on three issues: the project’s impact on historic neighborhood character, parking and safety along Pleasant Street, and an apparent deed/lot notation showing a small triangular parcel. Several residents said their Registry of Deeds and tax assessor records showed the triangular sliver taxed to a different owner and urged the board to verify ownership before final action.
Doug McGuire clarified that the triangular dashed line on the plan was a typographical error and that the contractor removed a shed that had prompted the dashed notation; he said the applicant’s deed and survey match the plan as a single parcel and that the owner was not contesting the abutter’s interest in that sliver. McGuire offered to remove the dotted line from the drawings to avoid future confusion and agreed to adjust one proposed tree location to maintain a neighbor’s lilac.
Board members included additional conditions in their motion — dark‑sky compliant exterior lighting, required tree plantings and maintenance, a picket fence and specifics about concrete removal and landscaping — and made those items conditions of the resolution. The board found the waiver to carry out the spirit and intent of the regulations, and then granted conditional final approval subject to the staff memo dated June 27, 2025 and the added conditions. The vote was recorded 7–0–0.
The applicant and staff will finalize plan sheet language and the small technical edits requested at the staff’s direction; the board noted that any future change in use beyond the approved purpose would require a return to the board.
