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Planning Board approves 35‑unit, mostly workforce housing project at 9 Sunset Lane, grants density waiver
Summary
The Board approved a four‑story 35‑unit apartment building with 30 workforce units at 9 Sunset Lane, granting a density waiver and related landscaping and dumpster waivers. Approval included conditions addressing permits, deed restrictions to secure 30 workforce units for 30 years, pre‑construction inspections, and several public‑safety and utility conditions.
The Bedford Planning Board voted unanimously July 13 to grant final approval for a four‑story, 35‑unit apartment building at 9 Sunset Lane — 30 of the units will be designated workforce rental units under the conditions of approval.
Applicant team members said the building will include 14 one‑bedroom, 14 two‑bedroom and 7 three‑bedroom units, connect to the town sewer stub and municipal water, be fully sprinklered and include subsurface stormwater chambers sized for infiltration. The Board granted a zoning density waiver (authorizing 35 units where a straight density calculation would allow 13) and three landscaping/dumpster waivers, finding the applicant’s financing case and site constraints supported the relief. The finance consultant explained the project relies on tax‑credit and affordable‑housing financing that requires a minimum scale: “This is primarily an affordable housing project,” Chuck Eisenberg told the Board, adding that the unit count was needed to make the pro forma feasible.
Conditions of approval include resolution of outstanding DPW/VHB technical review comments; NHDES, NHDOT and DPW permits; FAA approval for building height; a deed restriction or legal instrument restricting 30 units as workforce housing for a minimum of 30 years with a reporting mechanism acceptable to the Planning Director and town counsel review; irrigation for landscape plantings; escrow for third‑party inspections; payment of sewer accessibility and school/recreation impact fees; and specified pre‑construction and certificate‑of‑occupancy requirements. The Board also required the applicant to work with Public Works on a possible bus‑stop pad and to post a caution sign at a driveway exit.
