During the Wednesday, Aug. 1 Londonderry Planning Board meeting, two waivers were granted to the Sanborn Crossings project, moving things along for the highly-anticipated affordable elderly housing development.
The land at 30 Sanborn Road was originally sold to developer Steven Lewis in 2015 after town manager Kevin Smith expressed the town’s need for an affordable housing community for seniors. The site plan for the two building, 102-unit, age 62-plus affordable apartment complex was then granted conditional approval by the planning board on Nov. 1, 2017.
“Since we’ve met, we’ve jumped over a lot of hurdles with the federal government,” said Lewis. The developer explained that that government will not fund a project without a signed plan, and so they are requesting the plans be signed by the town before funding is received. This situation was described by Lewis as a “circle dilemma.” The other waiver Lewis is requesting concerns the construction of the finished paving on the site. In order to remain in compliance of federal regulations, the developer wants to rent out the first building before finishing construction of the second building and to hold off on paving the entire lot until the first building is occupied.
The Board chose to grant Lewis the waivers due to the unique circumstances of the town ownership, the federal government regulations, and the funding restrictions by the NH housing finance authority. The Board also moved to extend the developer’s deadline to satisfy conditions of approval from Sept. 1, 2018 to Nov. 15, 2018.