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Planning board grants waivers and conditional approval for 7,000‑sq‑ft AutoZone at 515 Daniel Webster Highway
Summary
The Merrimack Planning Board on Nov. 18 accepted the AutoZone application as complete, granted multiple waivers including landscape and facade items, and voted 5‑0 to give the applicant conditional final approval pending staff conditions in the Nov. 14 memo.
The Merrimack Planning Board accepted as complete and granted conditional final approval on Nov. 18 to a proposal for a one‑story, 7,000‑square‑foot AutoZone at 515 Daniel Webster Highway.
John Ralph of Novus, the applicant’s representative, told the board the store would be “retail only and no service,” and said the project will reduce impervious area on an existing paved parking lot and add landscaping islands and ADA access. Planning staff recommended accepting the application for completeness after reviewing peer‑review comments.
Board members considered several waiver requests the applicant filed. The board granted a waiver from preparing a full landscape plan for the limited on‑site islands, voted to allow a flat roof to match the existing plaza, and granted relief on façade articulation after the applicant said a prototype building and branding constrained certain design changes. One waiver request — for exposed foundation height — was rescinded by the applicant after they confirmed they could meet the three‑foot regulation.
Staff and the applicant also addressed stormwater and drainage technical comments. Casey, planning staff, and applicant engineers discussed pipe cover and insulation and a proposed reduction from the 15‑inch drainage pipe standard to 12 inches; the board voted to grant that waiver as well. The applicant said they will provide insulation where pipe cover is less than three feet and that proposed deep‑sump catch basins will meet water‑quality requirements.
The board opened and closed the public hearing with no speakers recorded, then voted 5‑0 to grant conditional final approval subject to the precedent conditions listed in the staff memo dated Nov. 14, 2025. The approval includes direction to add a note to the plan prohibiting chemical deicers across the plaza because the site is within a wellhead protection area; the applicant agreed to use sand for winter maintenance and to include a snow‑management note on the recorded plan.
Next steps: the applicant must satisfy the staff and peer‑review comments and meet the precedent conditions before plan signing and recording. The board recorded votes and waiver rationales in the meeting minutes.
