Londonderry mixed-use development hits zoning roadblock
One of four variance requests for a mixed-use development that could generate as many as 1,300 jobs in the greater Manchester area was denied by the Londonderry Zoning Board of Adjustment last week.
LONDONDERRY, NH – One of four variance requests for a mixed-use development that could generate as many as 1,300 jobs in the greater Manchester area was denied by the Londonderry Zoning Board of Adjustment last week.
The vote highlights how the town’s zoning has not kept pace with economic development reality, Town Manager Mike Magaluti said. The town is looking at ways to change that.
Malaguti, in a telephone interview Monday, said, that, speaking as town manager, not allowing housing in mixed-use development proposals can affect the town’s economic growth.
“[The manufacturers] need places for these highly skilled workers to live,” he said. Losing the residential component can make the rest of the development problematic.
A variance for a portion of The Village on Technology Hill development that would allow seven buildings with 304 residential units at 104 Grenier Field Road was denied 3-2 by the board Wednesday night. Three other variances and two special exception requests were continued to the July 19 meeting.
The housing was a key piece of the plan, developer Dick Anagnost, doing business as Londonderry Holdings LLC, has said. He could not be reached for comment on the vote.
Malaguti said that Londonderry Holdings LLC may ask the zoning board to reconsider its decision, or adjust the proposal if the board doesn’t approve the housing.
If the developer were to ask the board to reconsider the variance, he would have to provide new information showing that the variance met the required legal standards, Kellie Caron, assistant town manager and economic development director, said Monday.
Variance approval is based on five requirements. The breakdown of Wednesday’s votes on four of the five points was 3-2, against, with members Irene Macarelli, Mitchell Feig and Robert Robicsek in the majority and Chair Jacqueline Bernard and Brendan O’Brien in the minority. [Board Vice Chair Suzanne Brunelle recused herself from the vote; Robicsek, an alternate, was appointed to replace her.]
The specific rules of law the board voted on were:
- The variance will not be contrary to the public interest. The board determined 3-2, it would be contrary, because the change would alter the essential character of the neighborhood. Members also cited safety concerns for area residents.
- The spirit of the zoning ordinance is observed. The board voted that the spirit of the ordinance would not be observed, for the same reasons the first point was voted against.
- Substantial justice is done [gain to the general public by allowing the variance must outweigh loss to the individual by not allowing it]. The board determined that locating the project in the industrial zone would do more harm to the public than benefit the applicant.
- The values of surrounding properties are not diminished. The board unanimously determined the addition of residential property next to industrial property wouldn’t interfere with the industrial property value.
- Literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship. The board voted that the property is capable of having industrial development, and the proposed use is not reasonable because of compatibility, health and welfare.
After voting on the five provisions, the board voted 3-2 to deny the variance.
The rest of the development
The development, on 75 acres, would be anchored by a 262,000-square-foot industrial building for Envision Technology. It would also include retail and daycare, to be built in two phases, as well as housing, which would be a mix of workforce and market rate.
Anagnost has said that the development would provide 1,300 jobs, 1,100 of them new.
Londonderry Holdings LLC on July 19 will ask the zoning board to approve, in the Industrial II zoning district:
- A special exception to allow a group childcare center in the Industrial II Zoning District, 6 Akira Way.
- A special exception to allow a group childcare center in the Industrial II Zoning District, 104 Grenier Field Road
- A variance to allow retaining walls in the conservation overlay district, 104 Grenier Field Road
- A variance to allow a retail sales establishment, 6 Akira Way
- A variance 104 Grenier Field Road
The project also must be approved by the planning board before it can be built. That board got a preliminary look in April, and board members were positive about it.
Malaguti said that the planning board considers health, safety and welfare issues, and that if the zoning board approves some or all of the variances, planners would still weigh those issues and only approve the project if it met them.
Zoning changes needed
Anagnost, who recently built a similar development in Bedford, appeared on a panel last month that focused on how local zoning changes are needed to build the nearly 25,000 units of housing the state needs.
Panelists discussed how local zoning regulations work against providing housing. Anagnost said that development regulations lack a planning focus and are often knee-jerk reactions to specific proposals or issues.
“We don’t maximize the resources at our disposal,” he said.
Londonderry is among the towns that must find ways to get its zoning to catch up with the realities of development and the housing crisis, Malaguti said Monday.
He said zoning should “focus on character” instead of being confined to silos.
“Not all industrial uses are the same intensity,” he said. “Not all residential uses are the same intensity.”
In an emailed statement to Ink Link and other media after the board’s vote, he said, “I continue to believe projects like this are as important to Londonderry as they are to the state and the region as we wrestle with a twin housing and labor market crisis that is inhibiting economic growth.”
He said he respects the zoning board’s decision and thanks them for “their careful consideration of this project in view of our existing zoning regulations.”
But Wednesday’s vote “highlights the importance of modern, progressive zoning regulations as an instrument in resolving our state’s housing and labor market challenges,” he said. “While Londonderry’s comprehensive master plan anticipates and embraces project like the Village on Technology Hill, our zoning regulations have not fully caught up with this vision.”
Caron is leading an effort to look at ways to change the town’s zoning ordinance to ease restrictions on mixed-use development, and the town is also pursuing grant funding under the InvestNH initiative to review and improve its zoning and development regulations, Magaluti said.
