At Wednesday’s meeting, the planning board held a formal review for a subdivision to create 28 residential lots for the Woodmont Commons mixed-use development project.
The 28 lots in question are single-family residential lots on a parcel of land adjacent to Gilcreast Road; these lots along with 1500 feet of roadway will occupy 19.8 acres of land in this section of Woodmont Commons. This leaves 134.8 acres of remaining land for the rest of the development.
In addition to the 28 lots, the plan includes a 2.8-acre open space parcel in the shape of an oval in the middle of the residential area. Also, taking up 3.7 acres, there will be a buffer around the outside of this portion of the plan of development (PUD). Jeff Kavan, an engineer at T.F. Moran, proposed a conditional use permit to reduce the size of this buffer from 100 feet, as planned for in the original PUD, down to 50 feet.
“This is land that would not be disturbed,” said Kavan. Within the proposed 50-foot buffer, there will be three rows of apple trees: two rows of existent trees being preserved along Gilcreast Road and a third row being added.
Kavan stated that the new construction will “stay as far away from duck pond wet land as possible,” referring to the Kendall Pond Conservation area, which sits between the proposed 28-acre subdivision and the main Woodmont parcel. “We will capture run off and treat it before it’s discharged into [the] duck swamp… and put up signs stating that this is an area remaining in its natural state,” Kavan said.
The proposed subdivision will also include a trail system which will run around the pond and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Additionally, there are plans to widen parts of Gilcreast and Pillsbury road to accommodate the increase in traffic. From the traffic analysis that was done, the added traffic will be “insignificant,” said Kavan, at “22 vehicles during AM peak and 28 during PM peak.” Still, the roads will be widened to add right turn lanes, and these plans have been submitted to the DOT for review. There are also plans for additions to the sewer system to accommodate the new residential area.
Board member Leitha Reilly had some concerns regarding the proximity of some of the lots to the proposed 50-foot buffer, saying to Kavan, “I’m looking at two of the houses. Is someone going to tell them they can’t put in a vegetable garden because it’s inside of that buffer?”
Kavan explained that the homeowners would be allowed yard spaces that will end at the 50-foot mark. Town planner Colleen Mailloux went on to explain, “It’s drawing a line in the sand at that 50 foot buffer” which will be in the deeds of home owners to prevent them from “taking another bite of the apple like we have seen at other developments.”
“What we’ve done is maintain the tree line which is the inner 50 feet closest to Duck Pond and worked within that outer 50 foot mark,” added Kavan.
When the issue was opened up to public comment, Londonderry citizen Jeff Newell voiced some concerns about the proximity of the proposed nature trail to his Gilcreast Road property. “I have been lucky enough to have total privacy [in the backyard] for the past 23 years… now all of the sudden I’m looking at being surrounded at all 3 sides, one by the project, and two by the public, walking.” Newell was referring to the plans for the nature trail, which will run adjacent to his backyard.
Kavan assured Newell that the rock wall and row of apple trees already existing in his backyard will remain undisturbed, adding, “we want it to feel like a nature trail, not like you’re walking through someone’s yard.”
After all concerns were addressed, the board moved to grant the conditional use permit to shorten the buffer around the subdivision to 50 feet. The board then granted conditional approval for the 19.8-acre subdivision.