Wells development: 18 townhouses pitched amid calls for building pause

The Wells Planning Board on April 1 accepted a preliminary application to build several new housing units at 1922 Post Road.

The applicant, Green & Company of North Hampton, New Hampshire, seeks to build 17 or 18 units on approximately 8.5 acres of land at the site. Two-thirds of this land would be preserved as open space, according to town documents.

Green & Company first submitted its pre-application paperwork to the town in October, seeking, at the time, to build 20 townhouses at the site. Since then, the company received approval from the Wells Zoning Board of Appeals to install a bridge across a brook that runs near the property’s entrance, according to town engineer Michael Livingston.

The project also has a new engineer: Geoffrey Aleva of Civil Consultants of South Berwick.

Aleva appeared alongside Jenna Green of Green & Company at the Planning Board’s April 1 meeting.

The project now calls for two or three fewer townhomes than originally proposed. The units would be accessed by a cul-de-sac ending in a loop, with enough room for fire engines to fully access the development in case of an emergency, according the proposal in town documents.

Thomas Danis currently owns the property, which has a home and a barn on it. The developer plans to remove the home to allow for stormwater management measures at the site.

Planning Board members took a site walk at the property last fall.

The property is within the residential-commercial and 75-foot shoreland overlay districts. The project would not require a detailed traffic study and, if approved, would connect to the town’s water and sewer systems.

Part of the sale of the Danis parcel includes land across the railroad tracks that run past the back end of the property. Such land, approximately 17 acres, would remain as undisturbed woods and wetlands and, at the same time, potentially give the applicant the bonus density needed to add one more unit onto the main portion off Post Road.

The Planning Board has given the applicant a 60-day extension to address assorted issues discussed during the April 1 meeting.

Wells considering moratorium to curb large housing projects

Like other current proposals, the Green & Company project is making its way through the town’s planning process at a time when the community is considering temporarily halting large-scale housing projects. As a result of a Select Board vote in March, the town attorney is now drafting a retroactive moratorium that, if approved by voters at a town meeting, would pause such development in Wells for 180 days.

In recent weeks, residents have focused on one proposal that also is currently before the Planning Board: a Massachusetts developer’s hopes of building 165 single-family townhouses on 121 acres at 502 Post Road. In social media posts and during public meetings, residents have expressed their concerns that such a project would overwhelm the town’s services, schools, traffic, environment, infrastructure, health care, and overall quality of life.

Select Board members have publicly agreed that the town needs to hit the pause button, examine its zoning and land use ordinances, and fine-tune its management of growth in the community from there.

Given that the moratorium is still being drafted and would need voters’ approval, it is not known whether such a pause in development would affect a smaller-scale housing proposal like the one Green and Company has put forth.

The Select Board will hold a public hearing about a possible moratorium during its meeting on Tuesday, April 16, at the Wells Town Hall at 208 Sanford Road at 6 p.m.

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