Brunette takes Elm St. retaining wall complaints to court

LACONIA — An abutter to a major redevelopment project off Lakeport Square wants a court to find the city’s Zoning Board and planning director erred in denying his appeal regarding the installation of a metal retaining wall close to his property.

Peter Brunette filed the appeal petition in Belknap Superior Court on Friday.

In the legal action, Brunette is asking the court to find the Zoning Board of Adjustment was wrong to deny his appeal and motion for rehearing regarding the wall which is made of 35-foot-long corrugated steel sheets driven into the ground.

In addition, Brunette, who lives at 19 Park St., wants a judge to rule that city Planning Director Dean Trefethen erred in four matters:

— That the retaining was a construction technique, and therefore not subject to setback requirements.

— That the retaining wall could be built within the 5-foot setback.

— That the main boundary between Brunette’s land and land on which Paugus Elm is being developed constituted a side setback.

— That the steel retaining walls did not need to be shown on the site plan for the project.

Brunette is asking the court to send the matter back to the ZBA and Trefethen “for further proceedings.”

The petition was filed one month after the ZBA declined on July 15 to rehear Brunette’s appeal which the board denied on June 30.

Work on the three-story, commercial-residential complex, with attached parking garage resumed on July 16. But Trefethen said any construction work the developer did within 5 feet of Brunette’s property line during the 30-day appeal period was being done at the developer’s risk.

The retaining wall which Brunette objected to has since been installed.

In the filing Brunette states that he had not sought injunctive relief from court earlier “because he was led to believe that the developer had agreed to an alternative resolution (which he had) proposed and that (he) had submitted a draft agreement at the developer’s request, which was thereafter ignored.”

Scott Everett, the developer of Paugus Elm, said that while Brunette had sent him some ideas, he never responded to them or indicated any sort of agreement.

"There never was a resolution," he said Friday.

Brunette has argued that he fears the technique to be used to beat 35-foot-long metal sheets into the ground could make his house structurally unsound, as well as that of the historic United Baptist Church located next door.