Sale: Pozo con prouccción
3.2.1 LA VOZ DEL CLIENTE
beds in the current design are in the southern part of the plaza, abutting the Faculty Neighborhood. I believe much more can and must be done to shift the balance of student housing to the Main Street and Mill Road borders of the property, leaving commercial and office space or parking closer to the Faculty Neighborhood, buffering and maintaining the quality of life of those residents as much as possible.
A related February 8, 2016, letter on Site Plan #3 from Erin Hale to the Planning Board can be read here:
www.ci.durham.nh.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/planning_board/page/21171/letter_from_ms._hale.pdf
The original group letter with 154 signatures is posted here:
www.ci.durham.nh.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/planning_board/page/21171/mill_plaza_response_11_ 4_14.pdf
Keith O’Brien, 14 Croghan Lane, said he had chosen to live in the Faculty Neighborhood because of the families there. He said his neighbors had been eloquent in expressing concerns about the proposed density of the development, their access as full time residents to the grocery store, and the safety of their children as they walked to and from the downtown and the schools. He said many people agreed that finding a smart way to redevelop the Plaza was the most important goal, but he said the current layout was too student oriented and was a commercial center, rather than being a community center. He spoke further on this, and on the need to strike a proper balance between college students and the kids who were growing up in Durham.
Don Padgett, 13 Mill Road, Brookside Condominiums, unit 3, said he was concerned that Building B would loom above him, and also said as a result of its location the traffic flow would splash noise to the south, where his property was. He said the building would be 150 ft from his back porch, and would block 20% of the
morning sun. He said this would destroy the current feeling of light and space he experienced living there, and also would result in a significant loss of privacy. He said the entire plan seemed terribly cramped and vertical, and felt like a city scape, which was completely out of character with the Town.
Jennifer Pribble, 8 Bayview Road, noted that she grew up in the suburbs. She said this was an exciting opportunity, and said a good design affected human behavior and could bring people of different generations together. She spoke about how the ice cream place at Durham Marketplace had done this. She said she would like to see the developer partner with the Town and be visionary and less concerned with the bottom line. She said this design wasn’t doing it.
Durham’s Mill Plaza – 1967 to 2018 / 153
the student housing there wasn’t being leased. She said she continued to doubt the need for the quantity of student housing the owner of Mill Plaza proposed. She said the Town needed to be careful that as the college student population fluctuated, there was housing that was suitable and interesting for people of different backgrounds and needs. She said she wanted Mill Plaza to be a viable community center, and said any
student housing there would need to be monitored well. She spoke about the importance of keeping the buffer, putting the buildings on the northern part of the property, and making sure the pedestrian ways worked for people of all ages.
Matt Komonchak, One Thompson Lane, said it was unfortunate that the plan reflected the settlement
agreement, and he noted that the agreement didn’t specify height limits and the minimum amount by which the buffer must be extended. He also said it didn’t look like good faith to have none of the residential structures wholly on the north side of the property, and he asked the Planning Board to ask the Town Attorney about this. He said the proposed scale and density of the development were incompatible with the neighborhoods, and were inconsistent with the notion of a village center. He spoke about uncertain commercial head winds in the Seacoast area, and also noted that the commercial space in each of the recently built properties in Durham wasn’t fully leased. He also spoke about commercial space available in Portsmouth, Dover and Rochester that was cheaper than the space in Durham, and said they therefore shouldn’t get ahead of themselves with massive increases in commercial space.
Mr. Komonchak said the Town had said student housing was being built in order to extract students from family neighborhoods, and said it seemed bizarre to pursue those projects and then place large dorms on the
doorsteps of family neighborhoods. He said the Town’s fiscal interest might not be best served by accepting more of the costs that should be borne by UNH. He also said the loss of possible civic space was an important point to consider, and noted that the Town had lost the 66 Main St. parcel to UNH. He urged the Planning Board to help find an arrangement that had a lot fewer than 330 beds, that placed any beds on the far northern side of the parcel, and that considered senior housing or other alternatives to student housing. He read some recent statistics about crimes on UNH property.
Peter Andersen, 6 Chesley Drive, said he was a direct abutter to Mill Plaza. He said it was important to clarify what the north side of the property was, and he showed this on the plan. He said the only thing in the plan that was on the north side was the building the grocery store was in. He also spoke about locations of ledge and marine clay on the site. He said what was proposed was not a good design. He said tall buildings, even with 5 stories in the northern portion wouldn’t impact anyone, and recommended decreasing building height going from the northern portion of the site to the southern portion. He said he was tempted to read the Planner’s 162 recommendations into the Minutes, and said he didn’t find one he disagreed with. He said he was glad Mr. Behrendt was the Town Planner. He said if the recommendations were followed, and the team looked at the Mill Plaza study, there was no reason they all couldn’t be dazzled. He noted that he was a builder, and said this current design review process was putting the cart before the horse. He said the plan reflected an
underutilization of the site, which could be a town center that included student housing, elderly housing, etc. He said there could be greenspace, and the commercial parking spaces that would be needed. He said he found it disturbing that the Plaza had previously [in 2009] said it needed more parking, and now would need more parking but didn’t propose to increase the parking. He spoke about having buildings that would have sloped roofs that looked more like New England structures. He also said there could be separate sections of the site for workforce housing, retirement housing, and student housing. He said Colonial Durham could address all of these markets, and could start by meeting with people in the community before going to the Planning Board…. Andrea Bodo, Newmarket Road, said she was Vice Chair of the HDC/Heritage Commission, and was there to represent some thoughts of the Heritage Commission concerning possible impacts of the project on one of Durham’s historic resources, the bicentennial park at the corner of Main St. and Mill Road. She said this lovely little park was a focal point for the community downtown, and noted that it was owned by Colonial Durham Associates but the Town had an easement on it. She said it was a small outdoor museum containing historical artifacts that allowed citizens to feel a connection with the heritage of the Town. She said the Heritage
Durham’s Mill Plaza – 1967 to 2018 / 154
Commission discussed the park at its last meeting, and made some recommendations for the Planning Board to keep in mind. She said one was that hopefully the park would be integrated with the new development, creating pedestrian connections and a cohesive, pedestrian friendly streetscape. She personally suggested that not building the addition to Building A, as currently proposed, would help with connectivity. She noted that the utilities in the alley behind the Pauly’s Pockets building were an eyesore, and said the Heritage
Commission recommended that they should be buried so there would be a more attractive viewscape. She suggested that the park could perhaps be made on one level as part of burying the utilities. She said the Heritage Commission also encouraged the Planning Board to make sure there were good buffers of arborvitae along Mill Road, so pedestrians walking there wouldn’t have to look at the utilities behind the Hannaford
building.
Joshua Meyrowitz, 7 Chesley Drive, said most residents would appreciate a bold plan to redevelop a plaza they depended on so much. He said this plan appeared to be reckless, and disregarded the neighborhood and how the Town functioned or could function. He said this plan didn’t reflect a town that had one plaza, and instead reflected towns similar to where he’d grown up in New York, which had a plaza every few miles. He noted the previous idea of putting a boutique hotel on Mill Road, which had been a very NY mentality. He said it would be much better to put it or other uses such as medical offices, which quieted down at night, at the back of the site. He said ideas like this, for something functional and beautiful, should be considered. He said he didn’t see how the beautiful pictures the team had provided fit with the current plan. He spoke about possible uses, such as a bakery and an ice cream parlor. Mr. Meyrowitz said potential good faith with the
neighborhoods near Mill Plaza had been wasted over the years. He noted that in 2002, Plaza manager Dave Garvey removed a chain link fence and ended up taking out an entire hillside. He also noted paving put in then was out of compliance but was still there, which had led to increased flooding of the brook. He said this had impacted his property, causing a loss of trees and topsoil. He said in 2009, the owner said more parking was needed for existing businesses, but now the proposal was to add more commercial space and decrease the parking. He recommended that cones should be laid out on the site where the buildings would be and where the parking would be, in order to analyze the traffic circulation that would result from the proposed
development.
Annmarie Harris, Oyster River Road, said she’d checked Craiglist and University listings of student rentals today, and had seen that reduced rent bonuses were being offered. She said a question was how many more student rental units were needed.
Mr. Meyrowitz said the new buildings downtown look pretty good, but said all of them were given over to temporary residents. He said Mill Plaza was the last best hope to have a place that functioned for the people who lived in Durham all year, year after year. He said if this was lost, the Town would become basically an annex of the University.