Zoning board approves Waste Management's excavation and wetland-buffer variance at 14 Taylor Avenue

The zoning board voted to grant Waste Management of New Hampshire both a special exception to allow earth excavation at 14 Taylor Avenue and a variance to permit work inside the 75-foot wetland buffer.

A company representative said the project will not remove trees or affect wetlands and that any material removed would be reused on Waste Management's properties rather than sold commercially. "We're not proposing cutting any trees. We're not proposing to impact any wetlands," the representative said.

The applicant noted it had presented the project to the conservation commission, which provided a letter in the board packet and voted favorably on the proposal. City planning staff reviewed the special-exception criteria and explained the excavation would operate with access across an adjacent Waste Management-owned parcel.

During the hearing, board members examined mapped wetland buffers and asked whether the proposed work would fall 50 feet from the wetlands, the limit requested. After closing the public hearing on the special-exception portion, the board recorded a roll-call vote granting the special exception. The board then considered a separate variance request (D26-5) to allow excavation within the 75-foot buffer and approved that variance on motion and roll-call vote.

Board members emphasized the approvals were tied to the materials presented and the site-specific conditions; no tree removal or third-party sale of material was authorized by statements the applicant made at the hearing. The approvals include the applicant's representations and any conditions the planning staff may have placed in their memo; the board did not add further conditions on the record at the meeting.

The applicant and staff closed the matter with procedural direction to follow any permitting steps required by other agencies before work begins.