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Merrimack Planning Board grants conditional approval for 23‑lot Tinker Road subdivision after sewer study
Summary
The Planning Board voted 5‑0 to grant conditional final approval to a 23‑lot cluster subdivision on Tinker Road after a town sewer study confirmed capacity and the applicant revised plans to eliminate a pump station and add a sidewalk. The board required amended plan notes and condominium/HOA documentation for review.
The Merrimack Planning Board on Oct. 21 granted conditional final approval, by a 5‑0 vote, to a 23‑lot cluster subdivision proposed by Tinker Road LLC, subject to the conditions in the staff memo dated Oct. 21, 2025, and revisions to plan note 26 addressing open‑space uses and utility maintenance.
Paige Libby, the applicant’s engineer, told the board that a town‑conducted sewer study completed in September found the sewer system has adequate capacity to serve the development and allowed the team to change the design to a gravity system that eliminates the previously proposed pump station. “The sewer has adequate capacity to service our development,” Libby said, and the revised design routes sewer by gravity to the Hampstead Road and Dunbarton Road intersection. She also said the applicant will construct a sidewalk along the west side of Tinker Road to connect to the existing sidewalk at the intersection, a change made after discussions with Public Works.
The board and staff focused on language governing the 100‑foot landscape buffer that overlaps some house lots. Planning staff asked that note 26 explicitly allow maintenance access for the new cross‑country sewer main while clarifying which accessory uses — for example, small, non‑permanent gardening features versus permanent structures requiring permits — would be allowed in the buffer. Planning staff said they will require the applicant to amend note 26 as part of final plan conditions.
Public comment from abutters raised questions about how covenants are established and enforced and whether an HOA would be required to maintain private infrastructure. Dennis Flynn, an abutter, said he was surprised that the town “has no enforcement capability of anything in covenants” and was concerned about whether an HOA would form to maintain the private sewer. Planning staff (Casey) responded that the town can require draft condominium or HOA documents for legal review and will ensure recorded documents show maintenance responsibilities, but it cannot force private property owners to form or maintain an HOA; the town’s enforcement is limited to municipal ordinances.
Before the final approval vote the board granted two waivers related to sheet scale and pedestrian‑way/sidwalk location; a board member moved to accept the waivers and the motion passed 5‑0. The board then moved to grant conditional final approval subject to the staff‑recommended conditions and the applicant’s agreed changes to note 26. The motion passed 5‑0.
What happens next: the applicant must submit the revised plan set and draft condominium/HOA documents for legal review and to satisfy the conditions in the staff memo (dated Oct. 21, 2025). The board’s recorded vote and the updated staff memo will be the controlling references for final approvals and any required administrative filings.
