Developers Green & Company are proposing to demolish an existing 1960 era home and build a subdivision on the site with three new single-family homes. (Photo by Jeff McMenemy, Portsmouth Herald)
Developers Green & Company are planning to raze the existing home at 550 Sagamore Ave. and build a new three-home subdivision in its place on the 1.4-acre property, according to their representatives.
“The current owner applied for variances on two occasions to allow four then three dwelling units on the parcel without subdivision with the concept to preserve and protect the majority of the forested area” on the property, Eric Weinrieb of Altus Engineering, who is working for Green & Company, wrote in documents filed with the city.
He noted the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment — in both cases — denied the variance requests, “leaving the only viable alternative to develop the parcel as a conventional subdivision.”
Private cul-de-sac planned for new homes
The developers “are proposing to construct a private 40-foot wide with a 20-foot-wide paved surface roadway to access the lots,” he said.
All of the single-family home lots will be accessed from the new private cul-de-sac, and a homeowners association will maintain the roadway and stormwater on the site, Weinrieb said during a recent city Planning Board meeting.
He pointed out the new proposed subdivision would be big enough to hold four single-family homes under the city’s zoning, but developers are proposing three.
Weinrieb introduced the plan to the board during a recent preliminary conceptual consultation.
The preliminary conceptual consultation phase, according to city Planning Manager Peter Stith, “provides the Planning Board with an opportunity to review the outlines of a proposed project before it gets to detailed design (and before the applicant refines the plan as a result of review by the Technical Advisory Committee and public comment at TAC hearings).”
“In order to maximize the value of this phase, board members are encouraged to engage in dialogue with the proponent to offer suggestions and to raise any concerns so that they may be addressed in a formal application,” Stith said.
The property at 550 Sagamore Ave. is owned by The Frances E. Mouflouze Revocable Trust of 2015. Green & Company has reached an agreement to buy the property, Weinrieb said.
Traffic and speed concerns raised
During the recent board meeting, member William Bowen stated increasing development on the road is also leading to more traffic in the area.
“Those of us who live in that area think the city or the state needs to take a look at the traffic management on Sagamore for speed,” Bowen said. “It’s going to be difficult getting in and out of there, the street just gets busier and busier.”
Weinrieb acknowledged, “We are increasing traffic; we’re going from a single-family home to three homes. However, we’re making the driveway a more safe condition, where you’re not prone to back out of that driveway.”
In terms of the previous redevelopment proposed for the site, Weinrieb said they were multi-family proposals aimed at keeping as much of the site as possible for undeveloped land.
He pointed out there’s an apartment complex across the street and a condo development a short distance down the road.
“There was some precedent for multi-family in that area,” he said.
But the Board of Adjustment denied both requests for variances, he said.
So now, what Green & Company is doing meets “the subdivision regulations, and zoning regulations as far as minimum lot size,” he said. “I believe it’s because we can do this, that (the variances were) denied.”
He noted the city is “currently working on street improvements to the area, which will include construction of a new sidewalk in front of the property.”
The existing home at 550 Sagamore Ave. was built in 1960. The property was most recently appraised for $445,400, according to city records.
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