Littleton Planners Conclude Gravel Pit A Project Of Regional Impact
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 . . .
Several abutters, though, citing concerns such as truck traffic, have voiced opposition and said gravel pit excavations have already been occurring for several years without a permit and have resulted in noise to nearby residential properties and are in probable violation of state law and local ordinances.
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.
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 . . .
Read the full story at the Caledonian Record.