Exeter’s Planning Board recently granted final approval for plans to transform a long-vacant plot of land on Portsmouth Avenue into six townhouses.
The board voted 5-2 to approve the site plan for the proposed development by StoneArch Development Corp. at 57 Portsmouth Ave. It also approved three waivers for the project.
The plan for the 0.3-acre site, situated next to the Hampton Inn & Suites and across from the Ira car dealership, calls for two structures, each housing three units, for a total of six townhome-style condominiums.
John O’Neill, a co-owner of StoneArch Development Corp., previously stated that each of the 1,960-square-foot, three-story units will feature a garage on the first floor, living and dining rooms on the second, with two bedrooms and a study on the third.
The Exeter Planning Board recently granted final approval for plans to transform a long-vacant plot of land at Portsmouth Ave. into six townhouses. (Courtesy of the Town of Exeter)
The second structure will be built behind the first and will include two additional guest parking spaces, bringing the total number of parking spaces to 14.
Townhouses approved on Portsmouth Avenue with conditions
Christian Smith of Beals Associates, representing the applicant, presented the board with revised architect renderings, floor plans and elevations based on feedback from the town’s engineers.
The major change shows that the retaining wall now connects to the foundation of the buildings, eliminating the need for two retaining structures behind the building. They also added a patio constructed of pervious pavers behind the second building.
“Those are the lion’s share of the plan’s changes,” Smith said.
Initially, Smith said they requested two waivers from the town’s site plan regulations, one to permit a proposed roadway and fire lanes to be less than 24 feet, and another to allow grading within 5 feet of the property line.
Both waiver requests received unanimous approval.
Smith said the third waiver was in response to the town’s engineers and regards stormwater discharge to “allow flows and volumes greater than that of existing conditions.”
He noted that the project is no longer connected to the municipal drainage system and emphasized that the minimal increase in stormwater would have little impact.
“I’m satisfied that it’s not going to cause a problem,” said Planning Board member Aaron Brown, noting that they are getting “punished because it’s currently an empty lot. “ … If you look at other development in that area, this is far and away superior stormwater management just because it’s new.
We are still holding them to a very high standard even granting this waiver.”
The board voted 5-2 to grant the waiver, with board members Gwen English and Jen Martel voting against it.
“It’s not passing the sniff test for me, the stormwater management plan,” Martel said.
The overall site plan was approved with 11 conditions, including a requirement that the side door on the first floor of the northeast side of the rear building must open into the garage. To prevent conflicts with guest parking stalls, the door must also be relocated to the rear of the garage.
StoneArch Development Corp. is also constructing 16 townhouse-style condos at 112 Front Street, a project that received Planning Board approval in April.
That proposal calls for the demolition of a two-century-old home and barn, previously owned by Nancy Carnegie Merrill, a prominent community leader and former curator of the Exeter Historical Society who passed away in 2012. In their place, 16 townhouse-style residential condos will be constructed, spread across four buildings.
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The plan for the 0.3-acre site calls for two structures, each housing three units, for a total of six townhome-style condominiums.
