Planning board accepts application for 492 Endicott Street cluster subdivision; conceptual review highlights wetland impacts
March 05, 2024 | Laconia Planning Board, Laconia, Belknap County, New Hampshire
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The Laconia Planning Board on Monday accepted as complete an application for a cluster-subdivision development at 492 Endicott Street and scheduled a public hearing on April 2, 2024.
The applicant described the 22.5‑acre site as wooded except for a former gravel parking area and proposed developing the front ~12 acres with 38 single‑family, detached condominium homes while donating about 10 acres as conservation land. “This property is 492 Endicott Street … total area of the property is 22 and a half acres,” the applicant said during the conceptual presentation.
The applicant told the board that a new wetlands delineation found jurisdictional wetlands and required buffer crossings that were not evident on earlier mapping. “We are impacting wetlands in here … 2,746 square feet total,” the applicant said, and the application also identified about 16,000 square feet of wetland‑buffer encroachment. The project will include roughly 2,050 feet of new road, two detention ponds, underground utilities and a gravity sewer that will discharge to a pump station and be pumped back to Endicott Street, the applicant said.
Staff told the board the application is complete for acceptance and laid out the next procedural steps: the board accepts the application as complete, hears the conceptual presentation tonight, and will hold a formal public hearing in April when waivers (including buffer encroachments and a right‑of‑way reduction tied to the cluster‑subdivision rules) must be presented and individually approved.
The applicant listed required state and local permits that remain pending, including a DOT driveway/curb cut, New Hampshire DES shoreland and wetlands approvals, DES sewer and site‑specific permits, and local DPW sewer review. Staff said the sewer connection application is still under DPW review and that the pump station design will be finalized before submittal to Concord.
Several board members and members of the public questioned trail access, conservation easement language and whether the conservation commission would accept the donated land; the applicant said conversations are ongoing and that the conservation easement or donation arrangements had not been finalized. The applicant said the conservation commission had reviewed the project previously and supported the concept of reserving the back 10 acres for conservation.
The board’s acceptance of the application means the matter will return in April for a public hearing and for consideration of the required waiver requests. The applicant said staff will continue coordination with state permitting authorities and the DPW ahead of that hearing.
The applicant described the 22.5‑acre site as wooded except for a former gravel parking area and proposed developing the front ~12 acres with 38 single‑family, detached condominium homes while donating about 10 acres as conservation land. “This property is 492 Endicott Street … total area of the property is 22 and a half acres,” the applicant said during the conceptual presentation.
The applicant told the board that a new wetlands delineation found jurisdictional wetlands and required buffer crossings that were not evident on earlier mapping. “We are impacting wetlands in here … 2,746 square feet total,” the applicant said, and the application also identified about 16,000 square feet of wetland‑buffer encroachment. The project will include roughly 2,050 feet of new road, two detention ponds, underground utilities and a gravity sewer that will discharge to a pump station and be pumped back to Endicott Street, the applicant said.
Staff told the board the application is complete for acceptance and laid out the next procedural steps: the board accepts the application as complete, hears the conceptual presentation tonight, and will hold a formal public hearing in April when waivers (including buffer encroachments and a right‑of‑way reduction tied to the cluster‑subdivision rules) must be presented and individually approved.
The applicant listed required state and local permits that remain pending, including a DOT driveway/curb cut, New Hampshire DES shoreland and wetlands approvals, DES sewer and site‑specific permits, and local DPW sewer review. Staff said the sewer connection application is still under DPW review and that the pump station design will be finalized before submittal to Concord.
Several board members and members of the public questioned trail access, conservation easement language and whether the conservation commission would accept the donated land; the applicant said conversations are ongoing and that the conservation easement or donation arrangements had not been finalized. The applicant said the conservation commission had reviewed the project previously and supported the concept of reserving the back 10 acres for conservation.
The board’s acceptance of the application means the matter will return in April for a public hearing and for consideration of the required waiver requests. The applicant said staff will continue coordination with state permitting authorities and the DPW ahead of that hearing.
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