296 storage units planned for prime Weirs Beach land

LACONIA — When the Planning Board meets in March it will conduct a design review of a proposal by the A,E. Mitchell, Corporation of Belmont, a general contractor and property developer, to build a large self-storage facility at Weirs Beach.

The company proposes to build on the 6.8-acre lot on the north side of Endicott Street North (Rte. 3) across the highway from the Meredith Bridge condominium community and next door to the Cumberland Farms convenience store. The land, which was cleared several years ago, backs up to the N.H. Veteran's Association compound that fronts on Lakeside Ave.

As proposed, the facility would consist of 296 storage units divided among 17 buildings. It would include a two-story office building, constructed to a colonial design, facing Rte. 3. The south, east and west borders of the site would be ringed by trees.

The company owns and operates a self-storage facility in Belmont at 393 Laconia Road (Rte. 106), which was built within the last decade. Al Mitchell, principal of the corporation, has contemplated building a similar facility at Weirs Beach for several years, but has been encouraged by Planning Director Shanna Saunders to put the property to a higher and better use more in keeping with the character of the Weirs as a resort area.

Meanwhile, in 2007, a team of consultants sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, recommended refining the zoning at The Weirs, most of which lies within the commercial resort district, to foster development consistent with a waterfront community catering to seasonal homeowners and visiting tourists. The Zoning Task Force has begun reconsidering the uses permitted and prohibited in the commercial resort district.