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September
14, 2007
Mast Road neighbors are wary
Condo proposal:
Traffic, rural character are the issues.
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By STEPHEN BEALE
Union Leader
Correspondent
GOFFSTOWN - A proposal to build 15 condos and a small office building at the corner of Mast and Danis Park roads has sparked a petition drive from neighbors worried about growing traffic congestion and the shrinking rural character of the town.
Janice Bournival owns the 3.6-acre parcel and runs a Century 21 real estate office there. She is proposing an additional 1,100-square-foot office space that would be in a country-style building, plus 15 condos with two bedrooms.
Eighty percent of the condos would be restricted to residents 55 and over, according to James Danis, the project engineer.
A number of neighbors turned out at the planning board meeting last night to voice their concern about what the development would do to the area. George Jones, who lives and runs an auction business next door, said that he thought Bournival was trying to overdevelop her land, further eroding the rural character of an area his family once farmed.
"The last thing I would want is to develop every single inch of my property," Jones told town planners. "It's just not fair to the town."
Jones has circulated a petition around the neighborhood that has already garnered about 40 signatures. Aside from concerns about urbanization, the petitioners also raised flags over what the impact will be to traffic in one of the major intersections in the town, their property values, and the pine-tree buffer that currently surrrounds the property.
"I think it looks very nice and I don't think that anybody should be told what to do with their lamd or anything else, but it doesn't look like I'm going to have much of a buffer," said Madeleine Pinsonneault, whose Conestoga Land home backs the development site.
The board last night decided to continue its hearing on the project until October 25, citing several parts of the site plan that were incomplete.
The board also held off any decisions on revoking a site plan for the Unique Ford business on Mast Road, across from the Hillsborough County Complex.
Steve Griffin, town planning coordinator, said the business had been cited for several violations of its site plan, related to signs and parking.
Joe Martin, general manager for the business, said the owners had not been aware of the violations until town officials brought them to their attention.
He said the business intended to comply with town rules.
"We're not trying to fight anything," Martin said. "We want to make things right and be a good neighbor."
Reproduced by the Goffstown
Residents Association.
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