Planning Board OKs condo complex at Barton’s site

LACONIA — A condominium complex on the site of the current Barton’s Motel has been approved by the city’s Planning Board.

The vote to approve the 32-unit development at 1330 Union Ave. was approved by a vote of 6-2, 7½ months after the initial concept for the project was first presented to the board.

Joh Rokeh, the agent for Barton’s Motel Inc., and DHB Homes of Londonderry, explained the complex will consist of four four-story buildings, each with eight units. Each lakefront condo will have three bedrooms, he told the board. Each unit will have garage space for two vehicles. The garages will be in separate structures that will be located between the residential buildings and Union Avenue.

No one spoke during the public hearing portion of the June 2 meeting which was using Zoom — a remote teleconferencing platform.

In recent months there have been several letters published in The Laconia Daily Sun, criticizing the height and style of the condominium buildings, some calling the design “hideous,” and “a travesty.”

Board member Michael DellaVecchia, who cast one of the two votes against the project, said the style of new buildings should be compatible with existing, surrounding buildings. He was particularly troubled by the buildings’ height.

Fellow board member Charlie St. Clair, while sympathizing with DellaVecchia’s concerns, pointed out that no members of the public bothered to speak at the public hearing. He added that when “a project is going by the rules, it’s hard to deny.”

Planning Director Dean Trefethen said the 60-foot-tall buildings comply with the city's ordinance.

Board member Jewel Fox, who cast the other dissenting vote, said she was concerned because the condo complex with 96 bedrooms would have a greater density than the motel, which has 37 units. In addition, she said the project would have more than double the number of parking spaces currently on the property.

Rokeh said he was unsure when work on the project, to be called Lakeside at Paugus Bay, would start, except to say that demolition of the buildings could take place this fall or next spring.

Trefethen said the developer is in the process of getting the necessary permits from the state to allow development within 250 feet from the shore of the lake.

The motel is closed.

Despite the developer’s request for a waiver, the board required that a sidewalk be installed along the entire frontage of the property. At the south end the sidewalk will be a crosswalk for pedestrians to use to get to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The crosswalk will be controlled by a traffic signal, Trefethen said.