LEBANON — Developers are proposing a new Frito-Lay warehouse and distribution center on Airpark Road in Upper Valley Technology Park, a 36.8-acre property in a commercial and industrial district.

Saad Development Company, of Mobile, Ala., is seeking city approval to build a 6,000-square-foot facility for storing, delivery and distribution of Frito-Lay products. The facility will include a loading area with five bays designed to accommodate tractor trailers and delivery vans, as well as parking spaces for up to 14 employees.

The Lebanon Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Monday to consider the project.

Frito-Lay also leases a distribution center in Plainfield, which recently resulted in a legal dispute with the town over the company’s hours of operation.

In 2019 the Town of Plainfield filed a cease-and-desist order in Sullivan County Superior Court against Frito-Lay North America after the company’s ongoing violations of conditions set by the town planning and zoning boards.

One condition prohibited truck deliveries outside the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. According to the court filing, tractor trailers frequently arrived at the facility outside the approved hours, including during the middle of the night.

In Sept. 2019 the Plainfield Zoning Board of Adjustment agreed to extend the permitted operating hours from 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The facility owners, Bart Industries, of Bellows Falls, Vt., originally asked the board for an extension until 10 p.m.

Kim McGrath, a co-owner of Bart Industries, did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Lebanon Senior Planner Tim Corwin said that there would be no operating time restrictions at Technology Park, as it is not located in a residential area.

The Upper Valley Tech Park is in a tax-increment financing, or TIF, district where a tax-based public financing formula is used to reinvest in economic development projects.

The project will require additional permitting from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because construction will have an impact on wetlands located on the property. Engineers estimate “approximately 900 square feet of permanent impacts and 400 square feet of temporary impacts” on the wetlands area, according to the application.

The public hearing will take place on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Patrick Adrian may be reached at padrian@vnews.com or at 603-727-3216.

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