NEWPORT — The developer of a proposed 55-unit housing project has changed plans due to updated floodplain standards.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved variances for the updated development slated for a vacant lot at the corner of Canal and Cross streets this week.

The project has been revised since the Planning Board approved it two years ago. It was initially proposed to include two separate buildings in different locations. The previous plans called for 30 units in the same location and 25 units for a separate building on Central Street that is part of the same property address, 21 Cross St.

But Elm Grove has since abandoned its plans for Central Street and decided to put all the units at Canal and Cross.

Since the Planning Board’s initial approval, the federal government, in 2024, issued new 100-year floodplain standards, said Aaron Ravenelle, of Elm Grove Companies of Hooksett, N.H., the agent for the project.

The new standards put the previously designed building on Central Street inside the floodplain, Ravenelle told the board.

As a result, he said, “it (would) need to be redesigned and constructed at higher cost with additional mitigation required.”

One variance the Zoning Board approved on Wednesday for the revised project will allow the owner, listed as Cross Central LLC, to exceed the maximum allowable height in the industrial district from 40 to 45 feet.

Also approved was a reduction in the required size of each parking space from the 10-by-20 feet in the zoning ordinance to 9-by-18 feet. Ravenelle told the board that the smaller size will allow for all 96 spaces to be on site and there is no need for off-site parking.

Two conditions of the variances include installing a three-way stop sign at Canal and Cross and construction of a sidewalk on Canal. There was also mention of possibly making Cross, which connects Sunapee and Maple streets, one-way in anticipation of more traffic with the 55 units. Many motorists use Cross to get to Elm Street and avoid downtown.  

Elm Grove, a multifamily real estate company that handles construction, development, property management and acquisitions, will now go before the Planning Board next week for site plan approval for the project.

Elm Grove is under contract to buy the property, assessed at $335,000, pending the required approvals, Ravenelle said Thursday. Construction is anticipated to begin this summer, he said.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.