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Hooksett ZBA approves wetlands crossing for three-home subdivision at 269 West River Road
Summary
The Hooksett Zoning Board voted 5-0 to grant a special exception allowing a wetlands crossing and access to upland for a three‑lot subdivision at 269 West River Road (Z25‑11). The applicant said modern culverts and stormwater measures will limit impacts; neighbors raised drainage and sight‑distance concerns.
The Hooksett Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 9 approved a special exception that allows an accessway across wetlands to reach buildable upland at 269 West River Road. The vote was 5‑0 after the applicant described a three‑lot subdivision that requires widening an existing crossing to access the back of a roughly 5.72‑acre parcel.
Attorney Eli Lano, representing the applicant, told the board the crossing is necessary to reach the dry upland and to add housing supply. "You know, as a board that we're in a, a housing crunch in New Hampshire where we are far below the necessary levels in terms of a housing stock," Lano said as he framed the project's public‑interest case. Engineer Joe Piccreli of Granite Engineering described the technical work: "That shared driveway will result in approximately 6,444 square feet of wetlands disturbance," he said, and added the design includes detention basins, treatment swales and a culvert to maintain hydraulic connectivity and flood storage.
Board members pressed for details on alternatives, wellhead/aquifer protections, and whether moving the access would reduce wetland impacts. The applicant said other alignments would require more new wetland fill and that the proposed route uses an already disturbed crossing. Conservation and the planning board submitted written comments in support; the board said prime wetlands will not be dredged or filled and that required state and local permits — including peer review of stormwater controls — will be conditions of any later approvals. The board adopted findings of fact that the proposed construction is permissible in the medium‑density residential district and is the least‑impactful option to reach the upland, and then approved the special exception.
The applicant must complete required engineering and permitting steps, including planning‑board review of the full design and any required stormwater peer review, before building permits are issued.
