Public Hearing On Excavation Permit Request Scheduled For May 30
Robert Blechl Staff Writer
LITTLETON — The Littleton Planning Board on Tuesday concluded that the gravel pit located at 173 Alder Brook Road and accessed through the town of Bethlehem constitutes a project of regional impact.
Their vote will now bring into the public hearing process the North Country Council, the regional planning commission.
The gravel pit project is being advanced by Chris Crowe, of Crowe Family Investments LLC, who, on April 12, was granted a special exception by the Littleton Zoning Board of Adjustment to excavate sand and gravel on a 2.2-acre area on his 232-acre property in what is designated a rural zone.
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On Tuesday, the planning board had been scheduled to hold a public hearing for the requested excavation permit, but the town of Bethlehem was not notified as required under state statute.
Because of the procedural error, the town of Bethlehem will be given a hearing notice along with residential abutters in Littleton and Bethlehem.
The planning board hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on May 30 at the Littleton Opera House.
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Going forward, two opposed abutters, Mary and John Polaski, of Bethlehem, have enlisted an attorney, Sheridan Brown, who on Tuesday submitted to town planners a petition with the signatures of 80 “abutters and concerned citizens” and towns of residences listed as Littleton, Bethlehem, Whitefield, Dalton, Lancaster, and Lisbon,
In a letter to planners, Brown asked the board to reject Crowe’s earth excavation permit application as incomplete, arguing that the permit under New Hampshire RSA 155-E cannot be issued by the planning board until the project receives the required state permits.
The pit, he argues, lacks key components required under 155-E:3 and dust control, traffic, noise control, site safety, and the estimated duration of the project have not been addressed by the applicant.
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In addition, Brown said that the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services has received a complaint alleging that Crowe has not obtained a state alteration of terrain permit and DES has since opened up a case to investigate, with a site visit by DES to occur soon.
On April 24, Tyler Davidson, wetlands specialist with DES’s Land Resources Management Program, wrote Crowe to say that the complaint alleges that he or his agent “disturbed over 100,000 square feet of terrain without a permit or proper authorization from NHDES.”
An alteration of terrain permit is required for any earth disturbance greater than 100,000 square feet of contiguous terrain.
“If work has been performed without a permit or proper authorization, you are requested to voluntarily refrain from carrying out additional work, except for the installation of siltation and erosion controls, until NHDES investigates this matter,” wrote Davidson. “If there is a violation, NHDES has the authority to take enforcement action.”
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