LEBANON — A proposal to build a 436-unit apartment complex in a former brickyard on Hanover Street will need to address an array of public concerns, including the potential impact on wildlife and traffic congestion, according to city planning officials.

The proposed site, across the street from Lebanon High School and Hanover Street Elementary School, is in a wetland conservation district and a high-volume traffic area, and it’s already drawing resistance from Lebanon residents. An online petition launched on Saturday had 264 signatures as of Tuesday morning, and that pushback was apparent during a Monday night meeting between property developers and city officials.

“We really value our wetlands as a community,” Lebanon Planning Board member Cori Hirai told the developers. “It might even need to be a PR effort where you dedicate yourselves by saying that you really respect this issue and then walk the talk.”

The meeting Monday was on a proposal by Lane NH Holdings, a firm based in Nevada, which is looking to build a multifamily apartment complex on approximately 30 acres of its 133-acre property across from the two schools.

On Monday project manager David Fenstermacher, of VHB, a development firm in Burlington, and Timothy Boisvert, representing the property owner Richard Marchese, met with the Planning Board for a preliminary project discussion, where the developers can receive recommendations and feedback from planning officials before submitting their formal project application.

The project, which is still in its conceptual phase, is proposed to include five four-story apartment buildings and a separate building containing tenant amenities, as well as approximately 650 total parking spaces.

The site would include two driveway access points, one at each end of the complex. A driveway at the south end would connect to Hanover Street at its intersection with Evans Drive. A driveway at the north end would connect to Hanover Street at the intersection with Old Etna Road.

Fenstermacher said the developers are working to minimize the impact on the wetlands.

The conceptual plan shows that new buildings will be constructed around Densmore Pond, the main body of water on the parcel that had once been a source of clay used in brick manufacturing. The land, known as the Brickyard, was once the site of Densmore Brickyard, which manufactured bricks from 1883 into the early 1970s.

The greatest impact on the wetlands would be at two sections of stream where the driveway access points would cross, Fenstermacher said. The developers said they intend to come up with a design plan using recommendations of wetlands scientists and New Hampshire Fish and Game to mitigate the wetland impact.

Board members also expressed concern about the potential traffic impact; the area already has heavy road congestion from the two schools at morning arrival and afternoon dismissal.

“Trying to get out of the school and onto Route 120, you can sit there for 15 minutes, just with (the traffic) we have now,” said Hirai. “The number of cars we already have is a problem, so adding cars is going to be a significant (issue).”

Board members also noted the high level of traffic throughout “much of the day” on Route 120, particularly during work commutes.

“Trying to get onto 120 from both Old Etna and Evans roads is broken,” board member Thomas Jasinski. “This is going to make it tremendously worse.”

Fenstermacher said the developers are conducting a traffic study as part of their application but are aware of the high traffic counts at these junctions.

Speaking to the wetlands, Lebanon Zoning Director Tim Corwin noted that crossing over wetlands is allowed if the Lebanon Zoning Board grants a special exception and a permit is issued by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

“By the time (the application) gets to you, the issue will already be decided,” Corwin told the Planning Board members.

City planning administrators also reminded the board to avoid talking to residents about the project outside of public meetings, after some board members indicated they’d been contacted.

“It’s only fair to the applicant, all the members of the public and the board that we’re all on the same equal playing field,” Planning Director Nathan Reichert said. “The only way to have an equal playing field is if all our communications are in writing and submitted to the board as public record or verbally communicated as part of the public hearing.”

The board did not invite public comments at the Monday meeting because the discussion was informal, as opposed to a public hearing to discuss a formal application.

In addition, resident letters, emails or the petition cannot be considered as public record until a complete application is filed.

“There is nothing for the board to consider at this time other than what the applicant is presenting,” Corwin said. “If such a petition or any public comment to staff is presented to staff, then we will provide that information to you in an agenda packet. But that is not the stage we are at.”

Once an application is filed, the project will go to the Lebanon Conservation Commission for review and then to the Zoning Board. At that point the city will accept public letters or the petition as public record and there will be public hearings for residents to comment.

Fenstermacher did not answer whether any of the apartment rents would be subsidized or below market rate, saying that the project numbers are still being analyzed.

The units will be a mix of one to three bedrooms, though the final counts have not been determined.

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

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