ENFIELD — Members of the public will have the opportunity to view the site of a proposed neighborhood development that could see nearly 40 single-family homes built downtown.
The Enfield’s Zoning Board of Adjustment will host a site visit Tuesday at 5 p.m. at 130 Main St., where Adam Grounds, co-founder of Boston-based real estate development company Copper Acres, is hoping to building 38 units of single-family, cottage-style homes and multi-family buildings on three parcels of land that total roughly 16 acres off Main Street.
Grounds is requesting a variance from Enfield’s zoning ordinance so that he can build more than one principal structure per lot.
After the site visit, the Zoning Board of Adjustment will continue to deliberate about Grounds’ request during a meeting that is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at the town’s Public Works Facility, located at 74 Lockehaven Road. People can also attend remotely via enfieldnh.gov/meetings.
“We think this type of community is something that hasn’t been built around here but could be very popular,” Grounds said in a phone interview.
He is hoping to list some of the homes at under $500,000. Current plans call for a mix of one- one-and-a-half and two-story homes that are 1,000 to 1,600 square feet, which could have up to three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms. The lots are on the town’s water and sewer system; the Selectboard — acting in their role as the town’s water commissioners — would ultimately need to approve any new water and sewer connections.
Developer Adam Grounds is proposing a cottage-style housing development off Main Street in Enfield. (Courtesy Copper Acres)
“When I look at the development landscape in the Upper Valley there’s a large undersupply of housing and I think a number of developers have risen to the challenge,” Grounds said, noting apartment buildings that are being constructed elsewhere in the region, including Lebanon. “What I don’t see a lot of is when someone outgrows an apartment, where are they going to live if someone wants to put down roots in a community?”
During a conceptual hearing at an Enfield Planning Board meeting in March, Grounds originally proposed building 19 units of housing.
But between that time and the June 9 Zoning Board meeting when he first presented his variance request, he was able to obtain an additional 2½ acres through a real estate option agreement with an abutter on Estey Lane, which will allow him to double the number of the units.
Nicole Lovejoy, whose Main Street home abuts Grounds’ proposed development, raised concerns about the addition of nearly 40 homes to the neighborhood.
“I don’t think there’s a gain to the general public per say. This is really housing for people who are going to be working in Lebanon and Hanover,” Lovejoy said in a phone interview. “It would increase the taxes for Enfield, but I don’t see that as sufficient gain for the abutters.”
She noted that at Town Meeting, residents rejected changes to the town’s zoning ordinance that would have allowed more housing density, particularly in the R1 Residential District.
“It was voted down. That’s what the people of Enfield said,” Lovejoy said. “We don’t want to allow you to build multiple units in the R1 district.”
Lovejoy said she would support a smaller housing development, with around 10 units.
Under the terms of the town’s zoning ordinance, Grounds could build a three-story, 65-unit apartment building without having to request a variance.
“That’s not what we want to build which is why we’re going through this process, but that is what we could build by right,” Grounds said. “If we don’t get the variance we’ll be evaluating some of the other options available to us.”
