Planning board approves PUD amendment for 13,612‑sq‑ft daycare, delays site plan acceptance pending traffic study

The Merrimack Planning Board on Jan. 20 approved an amendment to a Planned Unit Development to allow a proposed 13,612‑square‑foot daycare at 729 Daniel Webster Highway but delayed formal acceptance of the site plan until the traffic analysis is complete.

The board voted to approve the PUD amendment, with the motion citing staff conditions in the Jan. 16 memo, by a 7–0 vote. The separate site plan application — which includes the building design, parking layout, drainage and utilities — will remain under review; staff recommended the board delay acceptance while it awaits a traffic study that the applicant said will analyze both the daycare and the nearby proposed Heavenly Donuts as a combined trip generator.

Applicant Samantha Shabuck, who identified herself as the daycare operator, told the board the facility would serve about 215 children and operate Monday–Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with designated drop‑off between 7 and 9 a.m. “It would hold 215 children,” Shabuck said. She described staggered pickups in the afternoon and said parents typically remain only minutes for drop‑off and pickup at the existing location.

Neighbors at the meeting described multiple concerns. Tara Wasserstein asked whether the site’s play area would face residences and urged greater attention to crosswalks and traffic patterns. Regina Sullivan, a Society Hill resident, pressed for noise buffers and asked how runoff and the proposed fill would affect adjacent buildings. Ryan Donovan, a Society Hill board director, and other residents urged the board to consider the effect on the neighborhood’s single entrance on Brunswick Road; Donovan said the association estimates roughly 600 vehicles tied to Society Hill residents and asked that the applicant coordinate with the association on traffic and management.

Peterson said the daycare’s outdoor play area is proposed at the rear of the building and that the design includes a white privacy fence to buffer neighbors; he also said the drainage design relies on infiltration and that Fuss & O’Neil would review stormwater calculations. Because the traffic study will analyze both projects together, staff recommended delaying acceptance of the site plan until that work is submitted; the board agreed and continued the plan’s acceptance and public hearing to March 3, 2026.

Next steps: the applicant will submit the traffic study and any revised plans before March 3; staff and the town’s review engineer will circulate comments and the board will reconvene to consider acceptance, remaining waivers, and final conditions.