By Jodi Wolfe
Staff Writer

Allenstown selectmen voted not to open Lincoln Street for McNamara’s Landing, after residents of the street opposed the idea. Now the zoning board must decide if a second access to the development is required or not.

McNamara’s Landing is a proposal for 85 condominiums in 19 separate buildings to be constructed between Route 3 and Main Street with access from the High Ridge Trail/Bailey Avenue loop.

On Sept. 14, the zoning board ruled that the project needed to have a second access in addition to the High Ridge/Bailey loop.

After researching neighboring streets for a secondary entrance, the developer, J.H. Spain Associates of Concord, proposed opening the dead end of Lincoln Street to the selectmen. The other neighboring streets considered for a secondary access included Granite Street and Route 3.

A study prepared for the developers by traffic engineer Laurie Rauseo of Canterbury found that opening Lincoln Street would increase traffic by 380 vehicles per day with 80 vehicles from Lincoln Street homes, 120 vehicles from existing traffic diverted from neighboring Notre Dame Avenue and 180 from McNamara’s Landing.

In a letter from Rauseo to Spain’s attorney, Richard Uchida, Rauseo said the increased traffic to Lincoln Street is acceptable for a residential street.

The proposal to open the dead-end street was brought to selectmen at a public hearing on Monday, Dec. 6, and they decided against it. “We listened to the residents and there was no resident in favor of it,” said Selectman Sandra McKenney.

Allenstown resident Kris Raymond recently bought her grandparents’ Lincoln Street house, which was the original house on that street.

“I never want that street opened out,” she said. “I’ve had it as a dead end for 51 years.”

J.H. Spain Associates has been working on the project for approximately a year to receive approval from the zoning board before moving on to the planning board.

Since the selectmen voted down the opening off Lincoln Street, Spain and his team asked the zoning board to reconsider their previous decision, which the zoning board approved reconsidering at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

A Tuesday, Jan. 11, hearing has been set for the zoning board to make another decision on the secondary entrance to McNamara’s Landing.

“If they don’t, we need to determine whether we are going to redesign the project or challenge the zoning board’s decision in court or any number of options,” said Uchida.