Londonderry planning officials and staff may head to North Carolina to visit a development similar to the Woodmont Commons project proposed in Londonderry.
“It would be an experience of reviewing completed site plans in other communities to understand their process for the individual components of the planned unit development (PUD),” Town Council Chairman John Farrell said.
When the project was before the Planning Board earlier this year, designers of the project’s PUD models sought board members and town staff to visit a completed development sharing the PUD models proposed in Londonderry, according to Town Manager Kevin Smith.
“Right now, it is being talked about, but there is not a planned trip,” he said. “I know they want to do it sooner rather than later, because Woodmont is coming in soon with site plans for the first phase of development – we expect sometime this summer.”
Smith explained there isn’t a development like Woodmont in the region, and visiting a completed project would help prepare members of the Planning Board to make decisions for the Town when site plans are proposed.
“It’s for fact finding, so we will have a better idea of what is being proposed, rather than just looking at pictures,” he said. “Part of the plan was to take a few people to some of the developments they don’t believe have been done so well because the planning wasn’t as good as it should have been, and to projects that were more successful, like Birkdale Village, because they have been planned properly. It will show in real life what this would look like in Londonderry.”
Smith sent an email to Planning Board Chairman Art Rugg inquiring if there is any interest among Board members to take the trip to North Carolina, the cost of which would be paid from the Administrator and Planning Board’s travel budgets.
Farrell said the expense would have to be approved by the Town Council.
A date has not yet been set for the trip, but plans are still in the works.