Developer proposes 14 townhouses on small White Oaks lot

WEIRS BEACH — A developer hopes to construct 14 townhouse units on a small lot at the corner of White Oaks Road and Endicott Street East, planning board members heard during the meeting on Tuesday night.  

Board members tabled the application until November.

The 1.7-acre lot sits at the empty corner of White Oaks, just a short distance away from the Weirs Beach traffic circle, and future residents there would have easy access to all the Weirs has to offer.

Marquis Contracting Group, on behalf of Keith Normand of Normand Properties, proposed the construction of the townhouse condominium development on an undeveloped lot in the commercial resort district. They’d build 11, 738-square-foot buildings, and three, 1,141-square-foot buildings, along with associated parking areas and a single driveway off White Oaks. 

The group previously presented a concept for the plan to the planning board on Feb. 4, and received initial feedback.

The property is located within a performance zoning district, and developers are seeking a conditional use permit, its issuance dependent on site plan approval by the planning board.

Justin Daniel of Granite Engineering told board members the proposal is to construct two, three-unit buildings and two, four-unit structures, include landscaping and lighting, and offer parking for 31 vehicles through 17 garage spaces, 17 driveway spaces and three guest spots.

Jeff Merritt of Granite Engineering said snow storage would be handled on-site and, if necessary, excess snow would be removed by truck off the property, as is common for commercial developments. 

“This is a condominium association, so it is operated as an association, so there would be a contractor on board to not only plow it, but to remove the snow if we got one of those winters,” he said. “Haven’t necessarily had that in a while, but in theory it could happen, so we made accommodations for that.”

The buildings would have one story tucked into the grade with two stories above — the main level, in the back slope, would be something of a “walk-out” with a garage underneath. Patios would be accessed from the upper level with descending stairs.

Ronald Stafford, one of the owners of White Oaks RV Park which abuts the subject property, said his camp has serious concerns regarding compliance with zoning limits and criteria required for conditional use permit approval.

“This project proposes 14 condominium units on 1.736 acres of land zoned commercial resort — under CR zoning, the maximum density permitted is six dwelling units per acre, which allows roughly 10 units on this property. The applicant is seeking a 40% increase in density,” Stafford said. “Additionally, the proposed buildings have a height of 44 feet, seven-and-a-quarter inches, while the zoning ordinance caps building height in this district at 35 feet. That is nearly a 10-foot, or 27%, increase.

“These are not minor variances; they represent a major deviation from the zoning ordinance.”

Neighbor Herb Dick said he’s worried about infrastructure and parking, stating the parcel would likely be over capacity when occupied, and said he’s worried about the height of proposed buildings.

“There’s plenty of people around there that take this stuff into value, that have bought this land to be able to see the lakes, the trees, etc.,” Dick said. “It’s just not fair for me to go put a four-story building next to him — how would they feel? So that’s my concern, please take it into consideration.”

Planning Director Rob Mora said developers proposed a maximum height of 50 feet, and height is measured from average grade.

“It’s a lot of sausage for one casing, is my gut feeling,” planning board member Gail Ober said. “That’s the only thing I have to say about it.”