Neighborhood Meeting Crafts Avenue Roadway and Utility Work

May 14, 2012

Held at: Kilton Library Hosted by: Lyme Properties

A Bit of History
October 3, 2007 Lyme Properties purchases the former Bailey Bros. site in West Lebanon comprising 38 acres with over mile of Connecticut River frontage. p g Lyme invited approximately 200 of the y pp y Winter/Spring 2008 closest neighbors to meet at the site and discuss the future of West Lebanon and how the Bailey Bros. may be part of that future. Five well attended Neighborhood Meetings were held as a result. May 13, 2008 At the 4th Neighborhood Meeting, Lyme introduces the River Park Master Plan, incorporating the top , p g p priorities voiced by neighbors for river access, neighborhood scale retail, expanded job base, mixed-use, and protection for the existing character of Crafts Ave via construction of single family homes as a transition zone with no vehicular access to River Park from Crafts Ave. 2

A Bit of History
Fall 2008/Winter 2009 The conceptual River Park Master Plan was presented to the Planning Board and Conservation Commission pursuant to the zoning ordinance. Three public meetings and four site tours were conducted with positive input from both groups. July 2009 Lyme held meetings with Old West Lebanon business owners to discuss the impact of River Park on existing businesses. The River Park Master Plan was embraced by the business owners as an important step in revitalizing West Lebanon. July 19, 2009 Lyme held a neighborhood picnic. More than 150 neighbors attended to experience the river frontage first hand y y and view the scale model of River Park. Lyme announced they would seek a rezoning to allow the River Park Master Plan to be implemented.

A Bit of History
October 26, 2009 A voter initiated petition, with over 135 signatures, was submitted to the City Clerk to place the River Park rezoning on the spring ballot. y Jan/Feb 2010 Lyme conducts outreach and education on the River Park rezoning petition including four days of site tours. March 9 2010 9, River Park zoning petition approved by the voters of Lebanon 1975 to 949 (725 to 236 in West Lebanon). June 11, 2010 11 Lyme submits applications for River Park preliminary subdivision and site plan review. This represents a tremendous engineering effort by Lymes consultants compressed into a 90 day timeframe to avoid the down zoning of the site by the Lebanon City Council, in defiance of the referendum vote.
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A Bit of History
December 2010 Six months after our applications were formally submitted, the City Engineer has not fully reviewed the engineering plans and insists that a third party water and sewer study be conducted. However, the proposals for these no-bid studies are not provided t Lyme for more than a month. L id d to L f th th Lyme pays $2 500 f th $2,500 for the water study and $12,000 for the sewer study. Both reports are due in January 2011 based upon the written scope documents prepared by the City s consultant. Citys consultant February 2011 Despite repeated requests, the City Engineer refuses to allow Lyme access to the water and sewer study results. f t ll L t th t d t d lt In fact, during this same period, the City Engineer directed the peer reviewer to disregard the data from Lymes engineers and to increase the projected water and sewer flows by 50% without informing Lyme.
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A Bit of History
April 11, 2011 After three months of stonewalling Lymes efforts to obtain copies of the water and sewer reports, the City Engineer issues a memo to the City Council recommending that the Council require extensive infrastructure upgrades as part of the River Park approval, including rebuilding Crafts Avenue to full City standards. After repeated requests, the Council agrees to allow Lyme and an independent engineer time to review the studies before acting on City Engineers memo. April 2011 The new City Manager convenes meetings to discuss the water and sewer studies. The City Engineers unilateral directive to disregard Lymes projections is disclosed and a number of methodological errors by the City Engineers office and the Citys peer reviewer are uncovered. The City Manager directs staff to reconsider the proposed conditions. T id h d di i Two of the original f f h i i l four conditions are dropped. 6

A Bit of History
May 18, 2011 City Council votes to allow water and sewer connections for River Park, but still includes unrelated infrastructure improvements as part of the approval, such as d bli th size of i t t f th l h doubling the i f the sewer main to accommodate other areas of the City and completely rebuilding Crafts Avenue. October 11, 2011 Planning Board approves the River Park Subdivision application with conditions. October 24, 2011 Planning Board conditionally approves the Site Plan application for all seven phases of River Park. March 15, 2012 NH DOT conditionally approves the River Park Driveway Permit application. Some of the conditions are at odds application with the City approvals. Lyme is seeking a meeting with the NH DOT Commissioner in June to resolve the outstanding issues.

The Impact of the City Council Conditions

Upsize the sewer line from our proposed 10 line to a 15 or 18 line. Reconstruct the full length of Crafts Ave within the existing right of way, including replacement of all sidewalks and curbing to their current standard. Reconnect existing sewer lines to the new sanitary main. No work is required outside of the street right of way. No work will be done on the existing water lines in Crafts Avenue. The new single family homes at River Park will connect to the existing water line in Crafts Avenue. Council reserved the right to require granite curbs and concrete sidewalks at municipal expense. Total construction timeframe now estimated at 3 months unless the y p City opts for new curbs and sidewalks.
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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 41 Crafts Avenue Owner - Cynthia Mansell

Potential Sidewalk Conflict 37 Crafts Avenue Owner Raymond & Iris Mok

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 35 Crafts Avenue Owner Benjamin & Terrill Salter

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 31 Crafts Avenue Owner Etienne & Kristin Houdegbe

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 29 Crafts Avenue Owner Edwin Pearce

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 27 Crafts Avenue Owner Mary Munn

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 23 Crafts Avenue Owner Jonathan & Lissa Jones

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 23 Crafts Avenue Owner Jonathan & Lissa Jones

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 15 Crafts Avenue Owner Matthew & Debra Malloy

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Potential Sidewalk Conflict 3 Crafts Avenue Owner Greg & Beverly Taylor

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Potential Roadway Conflict 16 Crafts Avenue Owner Schwaber Trust

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Potential Roadway Conflict 36 Crafts Avenue Owner Kathleen Omalley

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The Planning Board Also Required A new sidewalk along the west side of North Main Street from River Park to Beyerle Street Street.

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Location of New Sidewalk 165 North Main Street Owner Donald & Debra Curtis

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Location of New Sidewalk 161 North Main Street Owner George Kraus

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Location of New Sidewalk 159 & 157 North Main Street Edson/Villaverde & Scearbo

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Next Steps
Lyme Properties will continue to advance the engineering and design work necessary to accomplish the mandated work. Our goal is to t t i t start construction in August, 2012 assuming the Cit signs off t ti i A t i th City i ff by July 1, 2012. Lyme will update our website regularly with any new information regarding the construction schedule. www.riverparkwestlebanon.com When the final design is approved by the City, we will retain a City contractor to perform the work. The contractor will be required to provide sufficient personnel to keep neighbors informed with a daily website posting and to monitor traffic impacts. p g p The work will be organized in phases to minimize daily impact to the fewest neighbors possible. Please dont hesitate to contact us with questions or concerns.
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