Plans for a new residential subdivision in Bow would create 17 new homes on a 65-acre wooded lot that holds a section of maintained snowmobile trail.
The cluster of single-family homes would include a new road and cul-de-sac connecting Page and White Rock Hill Roads.
The project was presented to the Planning Board Thursday night by Jason Lopez, the project manager at Keach-Nordstrom Associates in Bedford.
Lopez reviewed the plans for the development that show a cluster development with 17 lots that ranged from one to three acres. The original plan called for 21 lots, but the town’s various subdivision regulations and open space requirements caused them to shrink that number.
Nearby residents expressed concern about increased traffic, water quality and wetland impact.
Planning Board Chairman Don Berube, Jr. said that this land will undergo changes regardless of whether this project is approved.
“This is a privately owned piece of land that will get developed at some point,” he said. “We had a conceptual plan last year for this that wasn’t so pretty, but it was just conceptual to see what people thought. I know some sometimes people don’t want to see development, but it is going to happen at some point.”
The land, which is accessed from the address at 25 Page Road, is owned by the Barbara MacAuley Revocable Trust and Deborah Lear, of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, according to town documents.
Lopez mentioned that this project was designed with Bow’s Hamilton Court project in mind, which was approved in 2018 and continues to be built. Much like the Hamilton Court properties, the newly proposed homes are projected to have a value of $500,000 or more, with some being well above that, according to Bryan Westover, the Bow community development assistant planner.
The project has been met with some pushback from the community, some of whom have sent emails and letters stating their opposition to the project.
“What you are proposing will destroy a beautiful section of our trail system that negotiates some historic town landmarks,” wrote resident Anthony Foote on behalf of the Bow Pioneers Snowmobile Club. “We understand that there must be progress. All we ask is that you don’t erase over 50 years of snowmobile history in your design.”
A topic of concern for residents and planning board members was the wetland buffer that would be in place if the project is eventually approved. Much of the discussion centered around whether it should be 50 feet or 75 feet between the development and the surrounding wetlands, as they wanted to make sure they were preserving the existing natural resources and vernal pools. Bow’s Director of Community Development Matt Taylor said the board was able to come to a consensus with how they would manage the buffer.
“There was just a little bit of discussion about the town ordinance that requires a 50-foot minimum buffer around the entire parcel,” Taylor said.
Traffic implications and water quality were other concerns of Bow residents. The town’s high school is just over a mile away from the site, so multiple Page Road homeowners questioned the traffic impact of the project. Lopez said when the application for the project was submitted, the estimated increased trips per day on Page Road was just under 200 for 21 lots, but that number would decrease since the number of proposed lots went down to 17.
The planning board is set to revisit this proposal on March 17 at their next meeting.