Developer proposes duplex project on New Rochester Road in Dover. Here are the plans.
DOVER — A developer is pursuing city approval to construct five duplex buildings on New Rochester Road, a project estimated to cost $3 million.
The site, which would see 10 new housing units built if approved, is presently home to a single-family house, according to plans filed with the city by applicant Robert Baldwin, the owner of Knox Marsh Development, LLC.
The proposal will first be heard by the city’s Technical Review Committee this week for necessary approval before heading to the Planning Board. The Technical Review Committee will meet inside City Hall at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to hear the proposal.
The five duplex development pitch calls for the existing circa-1943 single-family home to remain on the 35,555-square-foot lot, which would see 22 parking spaces incorporated into the plan. The duplexes would be built behind the single-family home.
“The proposed duplex homes are similar in footprint to surrounding single-family homes (975 sq. ft. footprint) and are restricted to two stories, as (are) the surrounding single-family homes,” project records read. “This footprint is an attempt to create a streetscape that is harmonious with the surrounding architecture.”
The duplexes, according to project records, would be accessed via one current roadway that would be extended, Copper Drive, and a yet-to-be-built street called “Nickel Drive” off New Rochester Road.
To build the new road, the applicant is seeking permission to remove two single-family home driveway cuts from New Rochester Road, city project plans state.
“Nickel Drive is proposed to be aligned with Auburn Street to create a two-way stop-controlled intersection,” the plans state.
The new development would connect to the city’s water and sewer systems.
“Ornamental grasses and shrubs are proposed around (the) duplex structures, and a mix of shrubs (and) hardwoods/evergreens are proposed throughout the interior and perimeter of the site,” a description of the project adds.
The new homes are proposed to be located in the city’s Gateway District. Dover’s code for the zoning district states that residential projects located within 300 feet of the centerline of New Rochester Road can only be single-family or two-family dwelling units built no more than two stories high.
The developer is additionally seeking to merge the lot where the duplexes would be built with an adjacent lot on Copper Drive, which is home to an already-approved, single-family home development. Two of the homes in that project have been completed, while six of the single-family units are under construction. Both lots are owned by Knox Marsh Development, LLC, which are at 34 and 36 New Rochester Road, the latter of which stretches 68,111 square feet.
If approved, the merged lot would then contain 19 approved units.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Developer plans 5 duplex buildings on New Rochester Road in Dover, NH
