Neighbors press Hooksett planning board over proposed 38,412‑sq‑ft warehouse at 267 Londonderry Turnpike

A contentious public hearing over a proposed 38,412‑square‑foot warehouse and showroom at 267 Londonderry Turnpike drew more than a dozen abutters who pressed the developer for guarantees on groundwater protection, truck limits and aesthetics.

Katie Weiss, a planner with Bedford Design Consultants representing the applicant, told the Hooksett Planning Board that the two‑story building would include a 38,412 sq ft warehouse area with an office/showroom at the front, required alteration‑of‑terrain and DOT driveway permits, an on‑site fire cistern to serve sprinklers and buried stormwater chambers designed to capture and infiltrate roof and pavement runoff. Weiss said nine test pits in the construction zone to 72 inches did not encounter ledge and that existing wells on the lot would be decommissioned if a new well is installed.

Abutters said earlier private concessions appear to have changed and demanded written commitments. "It's so out of line with the character of our neighborhood," said Claudia Brown, who identified herself as a direct abutter and urged the board to require pre‑construction groundwater baseline testing and post‑construction monitoring. Brown said agreed setbacks offered previously (100 feet) appeared to have been reduced in the current plan to 50 feet and that promises on truck counts and hours of operation needed to be placed in the plan.

Residents described a long history of contamination in the area tied to a former service station and asked that the applicant record pre‑blast surveys, a remediation plan and a commitment to provide alternative water if wells are affected. Bill Bergeron, a nearby resident, and others described prior remediation and said contaminants may not be covered by routine well tests, urging more rigorous chemical sampling.

Weiss said the applicant would add notes to the plan committing to pre‑ and post‑construction water testing for the contaminants identified by state guidance and to perform pre‑blast surveys "and any remediation that's needed," and offered to adjust lighting and landscaping plans to reduce impacts on neighbors. She also presented elevation and aerial tree‑line measurements showing distances from the building to tree lines and houses; she said the 50‑foot buffer to the fence is on the plan but that additional tree lines extend the visual separation to nearby homes.

Board members raised concerns about truck turning radii, tractor‑trailer circulation and whether fire apparatus and school buses could be accommodated; staff told the board that some stormwater chambers would be buried beneath parking and constructed to standards intended to prevent off‑site runoff.

The board accepted jurisdiction to review the complete plan, asked the applicant to stake building corner locations and promised the applicant and abutters an opportunity to respond. The board scheduled a site walk for Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 5:30 p.m. and voted to continue the public hearing to Sept. 15 so the applicant could submit written responses to the abutters' concerns and revise architectural and landscape plans.

What happens next: The applicant will provide written responses to abutter requests, submit any required permit applications (DOT, alteration of terrain) and return to the Planning Board on Sept. 15. The board's site walk Aug. 27 will allow members and the public to view stake locations and sight lines.