Dollar General’s three-month approval process for a store along Route 114 in Henniker could be seen as a cakewalk compared to the eight months the company has spent going through revisions in Boscawen.
The national chain, which planned to open 900 new stores in 2016, has been stuck on its proposal for a 7,500 square foot site at 169 King St., in Boscawen.
Bohler Engineering originally submitted plans on Dollar General’s behalf for a 9,100 square foot store at the beginning of May. After two rounds with the zoning board (each included several continued hearings and multiple variances denied) and after resubmitting their application, store representatives went back before the Boscawen Planning Board this week.
“Essentially what that was, was the beginning of the site plan process,” town co-administrator Alan Hardy said. “It was their amended information.”
Following the second zoning board hearing this fall, Dollar General had two variances denied for a 97.5 square foot, internally lit sign for the store front.
The store did have two variances granted for its other sign, which will be free standing, 50.6 square feet and lit.
At the most recent meeting, Hardy said planning board members were focused on what the front of the building would look like without a lit sign. The store plans to put a sign above the doors with reflective letters and external lighting.
“They made the commitment to use HardiPlank on the front,” Hardy said. The material, which is fiber cement siding, is nicer than cheap vinyl siding, he said.
The store will also have a pitched-gable entry, faux windows and landscaping in the front.
“They were talking a lot about landscaping,” Hardy said. He added that due to abutters living just feet away, the store committed to providing some sort of screening landscape work. Zoning board meeting minutes from the fall show Dollar General has committed to an eight-foot fence for its neighbors at the very least.
Hardy said planning board members continue to wonder how trucks will load and unload from the 61,000-square-foot lot, in between 46 parking spaces, off of busy Route 3.
Dollar General plans for 10 transactions an hour between 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and for delivery trucks to come once per week at 7 a.m. Bohler Engineering recently provided diagrams showing how trucks would back in and out.
Hardy said there are other lingering questions about the store’s plans for two detention areas for handling water runoff from impervious surfaces. Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission is currently examining Bohler’s plan.
Planning board members will continue discussing Dollar General at their next meeting on Feb. 7.
As for the abutters, Hardy said at this point, the biggest concern is the noise, traffic and disruption the store could bring to the town’s “historic district.”
“The challenge that we have is we don’t have a truly historical district,” Hardy said. He added that the town once asked residents whether they wanted a historic zoning district, but voters turn the idea down at town meeting.
“If there was a historical district there, they would have input on the process,” Hardy said.
Like Boscawen, Henniker had an army of complaints about the prospect of a chain store in town. But the planning board there ultimately approved the project with several contingencies, including an earlier closing time and altered, “New England style” look.
Hardy said the main difference between the two is that Dollar General asked for zoning variances in Boscawen, whereas in Henniker, the company simply changed their plans to fit the area.
“They said, ‘Fine.’ They adapted,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s always better to find a way to adapt to the town’s or city’s ordinance than to get a variance.”
Going through the zoning board, he added, “It’s just a more difficult process. And intentionally so.”
Editor’s note: This story mistakenly said Underwood Engineering is examining Dollar General’s site plan. Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission is reviewing the plan.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)