The American Legion post in Penacook got permission from the zoning board Wednesday to build a 7,900-square-foot activity center on its property on Charles and Washington streets.
Originally introduced in February and recessed until this week, the proposal was approved unanimously after speakers offered nothing but positive comments for the plan.
“I’m in support of what they’ve done because I think they’ve bent over backwards to do what we wanted as
neighbors,” Virginia Pinard said.
The plan will preserve the historic brick building known as the Beede House – neighbors had objected when it was slated to be demolished – and set back its parking away from the edge of the property, per a request stemming from the February meeting.
Due to the size of the hall, the city’s ordinance called for 202 parking spaces. Pinard said the neighbors “went ballistic” when they saw that.
But the American Legion Post 31 typically has six to 13 vehicles parked on site, according to its own study, with a peak of 16 during a popular member event on a weekend in December.
The American Legion’s attorney, Richard Uchida, said the city ordinance requires more than 200 spaces because the facility “is treated as a place of public assembly, even though it’s a private club.” The fraternal organization doesn’t expect a tremendous spike in membership stemming from the new facility, he said.
The approved plan calls for 25 parking spaces, although the site has space to build 25 more. The zoning board approved the American Legion’s request to build only 25 spaces for now, unless the city or the American Legion decides an additional lot closer to Charles Street is needed. That area will be a field with landscaping for the time being.
Uchida said the post needs a bigger building because its current space is inadequate.
“Our kitchen is woefully undersized. We have no coolers, we have no storage for the medical equipment that they give away to veterans and others in the community,” he said. “All of that stuff is either undersized or antiquated. We just need the room.”
Jim O’Neill, an American Legion member from Penacook, said the expansion will help the post host services for families leaving the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.
“They do that out of the goodness of their heart, and that’s what they’re trying to do,” he said. “These people give back to the community big time.”
All the variances requested had to do with parking and loading areas, partly because the property effectively has three front yards.
The new facility will be located at the property at 12-14 Washington St., while the building on the post’s abutting lot, 11 Charles St., which has been the location of the American Legion post for years, will be removed.
Vehicles will be able to access the parking lot only from Washington Street, which is also a change from the previousl plan.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at
@NickBReid.)