Lebanon
In a Nov. 9 letter to the city, Manchester-based Brady Sullivan is requesting two more years to start work on the second phase of its Prospect Hills project, which is slated for 40 acres uphill of Lebanon Middle School.
The company, a major developer in New Hampshire, is hoping to complete work on the development’s first phase, where it has built 54 homes in the residential neighborhood off of Route 4, officials said in the letter.
Homes in the neighborhood still are without a permanent certificate of occupancy, partially because Brady Sullivan has yet to turn the water system over to Lebanon, according to Planning and Zoning Director David Brooks. The developer also is required to deed a right-turn lane onto Moulton Avenue before the city signs off, he said.
“I think, to the best of my knowledge, they’ve done all of the other physical improvements within phase one that were required,” Brooks said.
But Brady Sullivan’s request comes as city planners are looking to crack down on projects that come back every two years to ask for extensions on their site plan approvals.
The Planning Board met on Monday to discuss an amendment to its regulations that would require the board to study whether an applicant for an extension has made progress satisfying its approval conditions or beginning construction.
“This is a basis for the board to make it clear that they’re going to be taking a close look (at extension requests),” Brooks said.
“Ten years ago, applicants for an extension request cited the economy as a problem,” Brooks added. “The economy’s better now, so this is sort of a question as to whether that’s a legitimate basis for this.”
Tough economic conditions are likely what killed initial plans for the subdivision, which then was owned by Lebanon natives Erik and Treff Moulton.
Their company, M&M Equities, filed for bankruptcy in 2009 after completing only six homes. That’s when Brady Sullivan stepped in and purchased the project.
But it’s not quite clear whether economic issues continue to stall progress. Brady Sullivan officials said two years ago that they hoped to have infrastructure work complete by 2017, with finishing touches on the cul-de-sac extending into 2018.
In its letter to the city, Brady Sullivan says it still needs to complete construction agreements, post a final bond payment and complete construction inspections.
Chichester, N.H.-based engineer Jon Rokeh declined to comment on the project on Thursday, saying he no longer is authorized to discuss Brady Sullivan-related matters. Phone and email messages left for Brady Sullivan attorney Marc Pinard were not immediately returned.
While the plans for Prospect Hills have been known for more than a decade, they drew controversy in 2016, when Brady Sullivan missed the deadline to apply for an extension and was forced to undergo a full Planning Board review.
That’s when residents of the project’s first phase aired several concerns about the developer, bringing forward stories of deteriorating streets and shoddy home construction.
Their testimony led the Planning Board to hold onto a $250,000 performance bond the city required as a safety net in the event that Brady Sullivan abandons work on the neighborhood.
The company had hoped to lower the bond to $60,500, so that it could use the remaining money on the second phase of construction.
Homeowners have reported mixed interactions with Brady Sullivan over the last two years. While the company has worked to make some repairs and accepted the hiring of popular property management company Mosely Associates, it also continues to hold a majority position in the homeowners’ association.
The group’s bylaws allow Brady Sullivan to vote not only on behalf of the townhouses it owns, but also on all of the 117 unfinished units.
Resident Catherine Patch said that when she moved in, Brady Sullivan assured her it would be selling the townhouses, therefore relinquishing some of its votes in the association.
“Every vote we take, they have more properties and outrule all of us,” she in an email. “At the last meeting, they had no plan to sell the townhouses, which is deceitful.”
Bruce Williamson, who used to sit on the association’s Board of Directors, said the company hasn’t finished regrading the neighborhood’s roads. Many of the trees it planted over the past two years also have died, he said.
“It’s a great neighborhood, and great people,” Williamson said in an email. “It would still be better if Brady Sullivan would just finish their obligations with the first phase.”
The Planning Board will discuss Brady Sullivan’s extension request when it meets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 10, at City Hall.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.