Zoning board rejects parking plan for Bay Street development combating homelessness

LACONIA — A project to provide housing for 12 people either experiencing or at risk of homelessness was dealt a blow on Monday night, when the Zoning Board of Adjustment denied a request by Lakes Region Community Developers for a parking variance.

The project, at 17-19 Bay St., would replace a burned-down home with a two-story structure with a dozen single-occupancy, efficiency apartments. LRCD, which specializes in providing housing where it’s needed most, intends to use the apartments to house people who make less than $20,000 per year. The project would also include a partnership with Lakes Region Mental Health Center, which would provide case management to the residents as needed.

The 6,000-square-foot building, as proposed, would be built on a lot only slightly larger than a quarter acre, which doesn’t have much space left for parking. The plan, when it was brought before the Planning Board earlier this summer, showed only six parking spaces for residents. That’s far less than the 1.5 spaces per unit zoning would typically require. Instead, LRCD asked for the plan to include 12 spaces: six at the housing site, and six more a short distance away, at the parking lot of the LRCD offices.

As Carmen Lorentz, executive director of LRCD, explained to both the Planning and then to the Zoning boards, usual parking requirements don’t line up with the actual parking needs of their clients. She estimated that only about 10% of the residents who would qualify for housing at Bay Street would have cars.

However, before the Planning Board would consider the scheme of reserving six of the LRCD office’s parking spaces to the Bay Street project, they asked LRCD to first get a variance from the Zoning Board — which was denied Monday.

The variance was required because the LRCD office has its own need for parking. In fact, it was already out of compliance, as it has 12 parking spaces, two less than what current zoning would require, based on square footage. Lorentz said that requirement is also out of step with actual practices, as there are a handful of employees who park in that lot, and they observe a hybrid work schedule — making most of their parking spaces superfluous.

“We don’t really think that they’ll need 12 spaces at this building, but we’re happy to provide 12 spaces,” Lorentz said. She explained that, in order to make housing projects viable, density is critical, and achieving the necessary density often requires accommodations.

However, for a majority of the Zoning Board, it was an accommodation they weren’t willing to make.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like you need a lot more parking spaces than you have over there,” board member Roland Maheu said. “Until you come up with something, I’m not going to vote for it.”

Marcia Hayward joined Maheu in opposition, citing the “perpetual bonding” between the two properties. Should LRCD decide to relocate, “how would we deal with that?”

Chair Michael DellaVecchia, though he was the sole vote in favor of the parking plan, acknowledged the potential problem. “It is a can of worms waiting to be opened.”

During public comment, there were speakers who argued both for and against the project. Other social service providers, such as Belknap House and Laconia Housing Authority, spoke about the critical need for affordable housing, and commended LRCD’s track record.

Most of the opposition came from neighbors to the proposed development, who said the density of the project was too great for the nature of the neighborhood.

After the meeting, Lorentz said her organization would take the coming weeks to reconfigure the plan. “We have asked that our application with the Planning Board be continued at the Oct. 3 meeting to give us time to figure out how we want to proceed.”