New homes on Laconia-Belmont line OK’d

LACONIA — A proposed housing development in the South End of the city on land bordering Belmont has been approved by the Planning Board.

The board on Thursday approved the plan for a cluster residential subdivision, which calls for 33 houses to be built within the city limits on land off Mile Hill Road. The developers for the project, called Mountain Lake Village, already received permission from Belmont authorities to build another 18 houses on adjoining acreage in that town.

“For Laconia this is a very good-sized subdivision,” Dean Trefethen, Laconia’s planning director, said.

Attorney Philip Brouillard, a principal with Mountain Lake Village LLC, told the board the houses would be built on one-quarter, to one-third acres lots. About 23½ acres — or about two-thirds of the land in the Laconia segment of the project — would remain open space which would be controlled by the homeowners’ association.

Brouillard told the board that the three- and four-bedroom houses would likely be priced at around $300,000 and up, Trefethen said. He added that the developer expects it will take two to three years to complete the project.

Because the development is in two communities, an intermunicipal agreement will need to be agreed upon before the project can get underway.

Trefethen said the agreement will need to specify which community will be responsible for construction and maintenance for the different streets in the subdivision, as well as how to divide up the responsibilities and costs for trash collection. Another issue that will need to be ironed out is water and sewer billing.

City Manager Scott Myers and Belmont Town Administrator Jeanne Beaudin would discuss the issue initially, but the final agreement will need to be approved by the Laconia City Council and Belmont selectmen, Trefethen said.