LEBANON — Officials delayed discussion of a Bank Street development for at least a month after residents argued by mail and by livestream against the city’s plans to conduct a public hearing using teleconferencing software.

Too many people have trouble accessing municipal meetings by phone or online, some residents participating remotely told the Planning Board on Monday night, while others maintained that contentious issues should only be taken up in person.

Ultimately, the board pushed back talk of a Hanover developer’s plans to tear down a downtown boarding house and replace it with two new apartment buildings.

The project is “complex” and there are many people who want to speak up during its review, Planning Board member Kathie Romano said near the end of an almost hourlong debate held by teleconference, with city officials themselves also participating remotely.

“I’m just hoping that in a month or two, they will be able to,” she said.

Instead, board members will seek advice from an attorney and determine in May whether they should proceed with hearings on the project or wait until the coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings have been lifted.

Nearly 70 people either called or tuned in to Monday’s Planning Board meeting, staying online as officials made quick work of less controversial applications.

When they came to the Bank Street project, talk quickly turned to emails and letters opposing Jolin Kish’s plans for the property and whether it is fair to take up the matter virtually.

Kish proposes to raze 14 Bank St. and replace it with a three-story apartment building with six units. Plans also call for construction of a 29-unit structure with three floors of apartments and two floors of parking. In all, her project would have 40 units on two parcels she wants to merge that sit across from the AVA Gallery and Arts Center.

Like other towns and cities, Lebanon’s municipal boards have been meeting virtually for the last month to limit contact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But at least six people submitted letters challenging the “fairness of conducting this hearing online,” Senior Planner Tim Corwin told the Planning Board.

“There is a concern that those who would like to participate won’t be able to (or) won’t be able to fully participate,” he said.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed an emergency order in March easing New Hampshire’s right-to-know law so municipal meetings can be held online or by phone.

In a separate order made earlier this month, the governor also released boards from other meeting provisions, such as the state law requiring planning boards to convene once a month.

Taken together, the measures appear to suggest that boards are to choose a single course of action — either meet via teleconferencing or not at all, according to Corwin.

However, conversations he’s had with attorneys at the New Hampshire Municipal Association indicated there may be more wiggle room for boards hoping to postpone some discussions.

The association, which represents towns and cities across New Hampshire, takes the stance that a board can postpone a hearing “in which there is a great deal of contention or that’s particularity controversial” until it can meet in person, Corwin said.

Planning Board members nearly unanimously called for a postponement, and Kish sent an email to the city saying she would be agreeable to the delay. But at least one city councilor watching the proceedings argued against the move.

“I think that it’s a very serious matter for the Planning Board to be treating applicants differently,” Councilor Karen Liot Hill said.

Liot Hill added that she understands the Bank Street project may be more controversial than others, but that determination is subjective.

She also pointed to the large number of people watching and listening to the meeting, saying, “It suggests that people are finding ways to still remain engaged.”

Board member Joan Monroe pointed out that many people are still new to teleconferencing technology, including colleagues who struggled to log in Monday. She added that other projects on the board’s agenda weren’t nearly as “complicated, complex or big” as the Bank Street project.

“I think that a lot of information that is communicated is done visually,” Monroe said. “To not be able to see the full board and for the board to be able to see the audience and the applicant, I think it handicaps us.”

The board will decide whether to further delay the Bank Street project’s review during its May 11 meeting.

That meeting also will be streamed and available by telephone. People can find out how to access both at LebanonNH.gov/Live.

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