Boat storage proposal OK’d, but road-weight issue must be settled

LACONIA — The Planning Board approved a proposed building for a valet boat service on Lake Winnisquam, but not before the board pressed the developer about Public Works Department concerns that area streets might not withstand the weight of forklifts shuttling boats between the storage building and the boat launch.

The plan, submitted by Attorney Philip Brouillard, was one of three boat storage proposals approved by the board at its meeting Tuesday evening.

Brouillard told the board that the combined weight of the forklift and boat would be 35,490 pounds, which he said would be 500 pounds under the maximum weight allowed on standard roads and streets. But Public Works Director Wes Anderson said Wednesday that the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight is 33,400 pounds.

The board approved the plan, but on the condition that the weight issue be resolved.

The plan calls for the construction of a 12,100-square-foot boat storage building on Bay Street. Boats would be moved via forklift to Winnisquam Avenue — about a half block away — where they would be launched in the Winnipesaukee River, near where it empties into Lake Winnisquam.

Utility wires along a stretch of Winnisquam Avenue would be buried under the street, and so repaving the street would be part of the project.

Brouillard told the board that matters regarding road weight were “addressed back in November.” But Anderson said Wednesday that while Brouillard had discussed the issue with the public works department back then, he and Brouillard “hadn’t come to a resolution.”

Ralph Langevin, an abutter to the project who owns Martel’s Bait and Boat Shop, chided the board for being preoccupied with the weight issue, saying that typically 10 to 15 tractor-trailer trucks travel on Winnisquam Avenue every day without damaging the street.

Anderson said Brouillard’s plan still has to meet all the requirements to use the streets.

“The city doesn’t have the ability to waive state law,” he said.

The other two boat storage proposals were approved easily.

Winni Marine received approval to construct a new boat storage facility on Channel Lane. An existing 16,000-square-foot building will be torn down and replaced with a 22,000-square-foot building.

The board also approved a plan for outdoor boat storage on land at the corner of Route 3 and Roller Coaster Road.

Both proposals passed unanimously.

In other business, the board approved:

• A plan to condominiumize five boat slips in the Weirs Channel at 1184 Weirs Boulevard.

• A plan to create a paved parking lot with room for 20 cars at the corner of Union Avenue and Walnut Street, two blocks from Lakeport Square.

The board also voted to continue the acceptance of plans for tearing down Barton’s Motel at 1330 Union Ave., and replacing it with a 32-unit condominium complex. The board scheduled a public hearing for the plan at the board’s March meeting. But the board voted against a proposed waiver that would have eliminated the need to construct a sidewalk in front of the complex.