Planning board approves major site plan for 11,150 sq ft urgent care at 161 North State Street

The Concord City Planning Board on Oct. 15 granted architectural design review approval and major site plan approval for a proposed 11,150-square-foot urgent care facility at 161 North State Street, a redevelopment of the former Santander Bank site. The applicant — HCA through Manchester Health Services and an affiliate — will construct the clinic, reconfigure parking and landscaping, and install stormwater improvements, subject to several precedent and subsequent conditions adopted by the board.

Planning staff told the board the application had been determined complete (it was previously determined complete at the Sept. 17 meeting) and noted a negotiated precedent condition to preserve potential future intersection improvements for the Pentacook/Bouton/North State/Horseshoe Pond Lane area. Attorney Ari Pollock of Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell and John Skevington, CEO of Catholic Medical Center (HCA), presented the application along with engineering and traffic consultants. Pollock explained the site is a corner lot with frontage on North State and Penacook streets and that the applicant had obtained a zoning board variance in July to permit part of the off-street parking closer to North State Street.

Board members questioned ambulance and emergency vehicle access, turning templates, the location of the ambulance portico on the North State Street façade, vehicle circulation for patient drop-off, and sidewalk and curb restoration at a stairwell that currently adjoins the existing sidewalk. The applicant agreed to provide additional turning templates to demonstrate emergency-vehicle circulation, and staff recommended conditions requiring updated plan sheets showing removal and restoration of an existing stairwell and the limits/details for any curb or sidewalk work.

On landscaping and site details the Architectural Design Review Committee recommended approval and requested additional planting, including a more prominent tree (for the northeast corner). Staff included those plantings among the conditions. Staff also recommended denying one waiver request for utility profiles (the applicant agreed to provide those profiles) and recommended other waivers for depiction and plan notation be granted. Board motions granted ADR approval and major site plan approval with the staff-recommended precedent and subsequent conditions; the motions carried.

Why this matters: The project converts an underused commercial parcel into a medical facility that will provide urgent care and ambulance access in a corridor with significant traffic and pedestrian considerations. Conditions adopted by the board require the applicant to resolve pre-construction details — notably ADA-compliant sidewalk restoration, turning templates for emergency vehicles, detailed drainage spot grades, and landscaping adjustments — before permits are finalized.

The board's approval included the following highlights: the ambulance portico will be located on the North State Street side; turning templates must be provided to show ambulance and fire apparatus movements (including entries from Penacook and exits onto North State as required); the applicant must show restoration or replacement of existing back curb and damaged sidewalk adjacent to the former building footprint; lighting and snow-storage plans must be finalized; and a notation preserving the possibility of future intersection improvements will be added to the plan. The applicant and staff also agreed to expand the existing bus-stop easement on North State Street, as requested by staff.