A familiar banking branch on Nashua Road is looking to undergo several alterations. Before they go to the Planning Board for approval of the plan, the Heritage Commission needed to overview the plan as well during their latest meeting on May 24.
Representatives Karl Dubay with The Dubay Group and engineer Dennis Myers elaborated on the changes that the owners of the Citizens Bank on 42 Nashua Road have been looking to put together. The builder went to the Zoning Board of Adjustments back in January 17; seeking out variances that revolved around encroachment of right-of-ways, encroachment of perimeter green space, signage, and setbacks. Above all else, however, are the two major purposes of this build. First of all, Dubay spoke of the difficult that many have come across when navigating through the property, as well as the issues pertaining to the positioning of the parking that only exacerbates this problem. “It is very, very frustrating to get in and out of that facility”, Myers noted.
To remedy this problem, the building would see a major overhaul in two ways. First, the facility will be expanded into three offices, including not only the renovated Citizens Bank, but also a Convenient MD, and another space for a retail store. Secondly, the layout of the pavement will be altered drastically by this change, primarily focusing on two-way traffic lanes, increased parking, driveway entrances away from Michels Way, and eliminating teller windows from the new Citizens Bank, only allowing for an ATM drive thru.
Although the commission does not really have any say on the final decision of whether or not the project is approved, Dubay and Myers still came before commission members to seek out a letter of approval that shows that the commission feels that the design of the project would not be a disservice to the history or overall appearance of Londonderry.
Myers went on to expand upon several diagrams that showed a basic idea of what the finished buildings would look like, including their colors and what kind of materials they would be using. There were some concerns over the project from commission members, including the locations of new trees that are set to be planted on the property which may block views of traffic. Another issue was whether or not the expansion of the lot would be accommodating Michels Way. The discussion still went along rather smoothly, leading the commission to give their approval of the project when the Planning Board finally looks at it sometime in the future.