West Lebanon — Construction crews might be ready to start work on the proposed River Park mixed-use development, but disagreements with city officials and the oncoming winter weather will likely delay plans until spring.

Surveying for a sewer extension on Crafts Avenue was completed in August and supplies are stockpiled at the end of Crafts Avenue, where they’ll likely stay until the ground softens.

“It’s sort of like a ghost town in terms of construction activity,” said Morgan Swan, who lives on the street.

Everything is in place for work to begin, he said, but none of his neighbors are aware of any being completed.

That’s likely because developer David Clem and the city are still at odds over two issues: the size of the security bond Clem will pay and third-party inspections, according to City Planning Director David Brooks.

Clem’s company, Lyme Properties, hopes to build 840,000 square feet of retail, office and life science space on a 38-acre lot north of West Lebanon, along with nine new homes at the end of Crafts Avenue. The project was approved for another one-year extension by the Planning Board on Monday, but the go-ahead has stalled at City Hall.

“We’ve been working with them since July at least on the development agreements and some of the specifics associated with getting them started,” Brooks said. “We didn’t get those issues worked out in time for him to start work this fall.”

Brooks said the developer had a construction schedule that made it necessary to begin work in August, and discussions with city planners took longer than expected.

“We’re trying to find a way to allow the project to move forward while any remaining issues get worked out,” Brooks said.

Phone message and emails sent to Clem on Tuesday were not returned.

Writing on his blog in September, he said delays obtaining an excavation permit slowed the project considerably.

“Consequently, we do not have time to complete the work this fall as originally hoped for prior to the deadline for street work found in the municipal ordinance,” he said. “I am really sorry we will have to now delay this work to be done in conjunction with the construction of the first building at River Park.”

Clem went on to say the pre-construction work completed this summer should help move the project forward quickly, and his attorney was working to resolve remaining issues by mid-September.

That’s been difficult because of the “voluminous number of conditions attached to this approval,” said Philip Hastings, Clem’s attorney, speaking before the Planning Board on Monday.

“We’ve been working very diligently with city staff particularly over the last three or four months to complete (the process),” he said, adding that he’s optimistic the two sides will come to a conclusion soon.

Hastings declined to comment further on the project on Tuesday.

Neighbors have noticed the lack of action on the street, and said it’s played into talks about mitigating traffic.

Residents of Crafts Avenue have long asked the city to install traffic controls in the lead up to the project, complaining that cut-through drivers from Route 10 and the possible uptick from River Park could make the residential street more dangerous.

Speaking before the City Council on Nov. 2, Swan said his neighbors were happy to see the city reduce area speed limits to 25 mph, but requested city officials withdraw plans to establish one-way traffic on Crafts Avenue during morning and evening rush hour.

“Quite candidly, we don’t really support this particular measure after all,” he said in an audio recording of the meeting.

People felt like the proposed hours were confusing and would burden residents commuting home, Swan said. With the construction project delayed, “there’s not as much of an impetus and as much of a sense of urgency,” he said.

Ultimately, the City Council dropped the one-way proposal in favor of further monitoring the street as residents explore alternatives.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.