Jaffrey condo plan okayed
By Casey Farrar
Sentinel Staff
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008
JAFFREY — The Jaffrey Zoning Board of Adjustment has given a Rindge developer the green light on plans for a 28-unit development near Mount Monadnock.
But an opposition group, made up of local residents and the Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests, has vowed to take the matter back to court.
A ruling earlier this summer from Cheshire County Superior Court Judge John P. Arnold forced developer Robert B. Van Dyke to seek a variance from town wetlands ordinances for the proposed development between Cutter Brook and Stony Brook.
Arnold’s ruling meant the 28-unit development would have to be considered separate lots, each of which would be required by town ordinances to meet a 200-foot wetland buffer.
The zoning board ruled Sept. 2 that allowing a variance of the town ordinance would not be contrary to the public interest and a 50-foot buffer is more than adequate to protect both the brook and the pond.
“Neither the pond nor the brook are ‘public waters’ governed by similar state law or regulation,” the ruling said.
Opponents argue the development, which would have only 119 feet of shoreline frontage per unit, instead of the 200 feet required by town ordinances, should include only 11 units.
The variance includes four conditions, including a stipulation that residents of the development not use fertilizers or pesticides or other chemicals behind the buildings.