Planning board allows Max Apples to begin interior and exterior work at 230 Mammoth Road

The Londonderry Planning Board on Aug. 5 approved a waiver permitting the owner of 230 Mammoth Road to undertake limited interior and exterior building work before final site-plan signatures are in place.

Attorney Laura Gandy, representing MHO Acquisition LLC and the restaurant applicant Max Apples, told the board that the requested work would be limited to maintenance and building improvements such as "putting a new roof on or doing some painting" and that the applicant understood and accepted the risk that the certificate of occupancy cannot be issued until all conditions are met. "We are asking this board to allow us to do work limited to the interior and exterior of the building," Gandy said on the record.

Board members and staff discussed sequencing and the scope of the waiver, clarifying that building permits and related inspections would be handled by the building department and that no site or earth-moving work would occur under the waiver. Staff noted the waiver should be narrowly written to preserve the requirement for a preconstruction meeting, permits and a site-restoration financial guarantee before any site work begins.

After discussion, the board voted to grant the waiver and the earlier one-year extension to Aug. 6, 2027. The vote was recorded as unanimous in favor. The board emphasized that any interior fit-out or equipment investments are undertaken at the applicant's risk: the certificate of occupancy cannot be issued until the full set of prior conditions has been satisfied and the plan is signed by the board.

The applicant was directed to coordinate directly with the building department and return if any scope changes are proposed.