Neighbors press for water testing, taller fences as Hooksett planning board continues Londonderry Turnpike warehouse hearing to Oct. 20

The Hooksett Planning Board continued the public hearing on a proposed commercial warehouse at 267 Londonderry Turnpike after neighbors raised questions about sight lines, water, and the scale of the building.

Applicant representative Katie Weiss of Bedford Design Consultants reviewed a packet of revisions from a site walk and an Aug. 18 hearing, including an extended privacy fence, additional plantings, an architectural change that adds a false roof and peaked showroom area, and operational limits listed on the cover sheet (hours of operation 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday). Weiss told the board that “the outdoor lights at the back of the building shall dim to 50% at 10PM” and that the project’s drainage design captures on-site impervious runoff in detention and infiltration systems intended to hold and release post-development flows at predevelopment rates.

Neighbors at the microphone said the plans have not fully addressed the impacts they fear. Claudette Brown, an abutter at 21 Farmer Road, said she felt misled about setbacks and closeness to her home and appealed for protections: “I feel like I’ve been duped. I’ve been lied to,” she said, asking for copies of materials and for stronger mitigation. Other residents asked for pre-blast surveys and baseline well tests for the five homes immediately downslope.

Board members pressed the applicant for more visuals and concrete commitments. Several members said they would prefer an 8-foot fence (and asked the applicant to investigate whether 10-foot or berm-plus-fence options were feasible), color renderings of the updated elevations, a clearer notation of the 150-foot and 280-foot building-to-building distances shown on the plans, and an explicit site-plan note restricting deliveries and activities to the posted hours.

With those items requested of the applicant, board member Jared Williams moved to continue the public hearing to the regularly scheduled Oct. 20, 2025 Planning Board meeting. The board voted in favor. The hearing remains open; the board asked the applicant to provide a sight-line rendering showing the neighbor view with an 8-foot fence (or berm + 8-foot fence), written responses to neighbors’ questions, and confirmation of how blasting, if required, would be handled.

What’s next: The public hearing will reopen at the Oct. 20 Planning Board meeting. Neighbors may submit additional material to the planning office; the town staff and applicant will coordinate copies of the applicant’s written responses and updated plan sets for abutters.