The Conservation Commission met on August 12 to hear a presentation from George Chadwick of Bedford Design, who spoke on behalf of applicant Gino Bernard, seeking to build a project called The Village at Londonderry. The project would be located at 196 and 198 Rockingham Road, currently the site of S&S Metals. “It’s the old metal recycling facility right there on Rockingham Road,” said Chadwick. “There are two parcels of land that will be consolidated together, and we do have a wetland on the left-hand side of the site. That wetland is not associated with Cohas Brook.” Being further away from Cohas Brook allowed the applicant to avoid a larger buffer associated with named streams, although it could not avoid impacting the smaller wetland buffer. “It’s a 60-unit residential project,” said Chadwick. “There are a total of 597-square-feet of new buffer impact.” As the project would be located at the old S&S Metals facility and would impact the wetland buffer zone, several significant environmental concerns were raised by the Conservation Commission.
“Have you conducted a Phase One environmental investigation of the property?” asked Alternate Commissioner Mike Spletz. “Where does that stand?”
Chadwick stated that ongoing Phase One and Phase Two studies have been conducted for the past five to seven years. “The elements that were found had to do with MTBEs,” he said, referring to Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, a former gasoline additive and drinking water contaminant. “Those are slowly decreasing over time. It’s expected that within the next year or so, that will totally dissipate to acceptable state levels. I think there’s only one nearby well that has traces above the limit.” Spletz noted that the construction and landscaping plan would inevitably disturb a large volume of soil. “How do we assure ourselves that soil disturbance doesn’t result in releasing aerosols or something?” he asked. “There’s going to be a lot of dirt moving around.” Chadwick did not see himself as qualified enough to give an answer but added that they were working with the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) and a contractor called the Turner Group to monitor the situation.
Commissioner Deb Lievens noticed that the application included a “complex” landscaping plan, which seemed to involve vegetating much of the preexisting gravel on the property. “Outside of the edge of pavement, we’ll remove whatever gravel is there and add loam,” said Chadwick, who added that the plan would allow previously disturbed areas in the buffer to naturalize. “We’ll loam it and plant vegetation.” The applicant had been in contact with the Planning Board, who were reportedly “excited” to see the old S&S facility replaced.
There was also concern from at least one member of the public. “Personally, I would have a lot of concerns,” said resident Ray Breslin, reflecting on the possible environmental impact of the project. “All of the things we are dealing with in this town, like the impact from contamination, from growth, from traffic, all of this is difficult.” In the end, the Commission agreed to recommend approval of a conditional use permit for the plan, thanks in part to the oversight from the DES.