Overview:
The Enfield Planning Board will hold a public hearing on a proposal for a nearly 300-unit housing development on 77 acres off Route 4. The project, known as Laramie Farms, includes 216 one- and two-bedroom apartments and 82 townhouses. The hearing will consider the project's design, including traffic impacts, lighting, landscaping, parking, noise, and other impacts on the neighborhood. The proposal has drawn opposition from residents.
ENFIELD — The town Planning Board on Wednesday will hold a public hearing on a nearly 300-unit housing development proposed on 77 acres off Route 4.
John Dibitteto, of Maple Street-Enfield Acquisition LLC, based in Bradford, Mass., and Stephen Doherty, of DC Development and Construction, based in Sandown, N.H. will present plans for the project known as Laramie Farms during the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Enfield Public Works Facility, located at 74 Lockehaven Road, and on Microsoft teams via enfieldnh.gov/meetings.
The project includes 216 one- and two-bedroom apartments spread across three buildings and 82 townhouses on roughly 77 acres on two plots of land between Maple Street and Route 4.
On Wednesday, Planning Board members will consider the project’s design including traffic impacts, lighting, landscaping, parking, noise and “anything that’s an impact to the neighborhood so to speak,” Rob Taylor, Enfield’s land use and community development administrator, said in a phone interview.
He described the hearing as “the beginning of a fairly extensive process” that will involve multiple hearings. Eventually, Planning Board members will vote on whether to approve a final site plan.
“I’m certain it will take several months to plow through it all,” Taylor said.
The proposal — which would be the largest of its kind in the town’s history — has drawn opposition from abutters and other residents since it was first proposed a few years ago.
Last year, the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved two variances for the project: One that allows more than one building per primary lot and another that allows the developers to exceed the town’s 35-foot height limit to construct buildings that are around 75 feet tall.
In response to the board’s decision, abutters Alv Elvestad and Linda Jones sued the Enfield Zoning Board; in January, New Hampshire Superior Court Judge Michael Klass ruled in favor of the town.
Jones, a member of the Planning Board, will recuse herself from voting on the project, Taylor said.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment also approved a “special exception” to fill in wetlands to build an access road last November. Two abutters, Gwyn and Trae Dessert, asked the Zoning Board for a “request for rehearing” to reconsider its decision, but members denied that request in January.
Now it is the Planning Board’s turn to evaluate the project, which has been designated as a “development of regional impact,” meaning that residents from Canaan, Lebanon and Hanover are welcome to weigh in.
Those who can’t attend the meeting in person or online can email their comments to Taylor at planning@enfieldnh.gov.