RiverWoods plan for new health center in Exeter NH rejected

EXETER — RiverWoods’ plan to provide “centralized” patient care for its senior residents through the construction of a new health center along Kingston and Jolly Rand Road has been rejected.

The town’s Zoning Board last month unanimously voted to deny the project the two variances needed — height and buffer — asserting that the “massive structure” would alter the essential character of the primarily residential neighborhood.

The proposed three-story, 158,000-square-foot building needed a variance to include a gable roof, which would add 11 feet on top of the town’s 35-foot height limit. Eric Harrmann of AG Architecture had previously stated that while the building itself falls under the 35-foot range, having a gabled roof would make more sense “from an architectural standpoint.”

However, he said the design team will revert to a flat roof design if the height variance is rejected.

ZBA Vice Chair Esther Olson-Murphy said the gabled roof is not a critical requirement for the building.

“I’m not sure if preferred architecture is justifiable over the neighborhood having a more massive building hanging over them,” she said. “Especially since (RiverWoods) can still have the building without it.”

ZBA member Kavin Baum agreed, stating that the “primary reasoning for the relief is aesthetic.” He said the project could essentially be constructed without the need of any height relief.

“The purpose of height restrictions are to avoid large, massive buildings blocking view sheds, looming over other properties,” he said. “Unfortunately, despite the size of this property… it sat right in the spot where it has the most impact to abutters.”

Zoning Board member Laura Davies said more residents opposed the project as a whole compared to those who supported “architectural consistency.”

Proposed to be located near the administration office at 7 Riverwoods Drive, the “centralized” health center, offering 126 rooms with two courtyards and 116 parking spots, would replace the three existing ones in the facility’s neighborhoods, The Woods, The Ridge and The Boulders .

The second variance requested was for 11 of the 116 parking spaces that are located within the 100-foot landscape buffer. Although the project would only require 106 parking spaces, the design team wanted to have 116 spaces to accommodate workers and visitors to the center.

Davies, of the ZBA, said the 100-foot landscape buffer is needed for this project due to its proximity to surrounding abutters.

“It’s very visible,” she said of the project. “I’m really opposed to any infringement to the buffer because this scale building is massive and it really doesn’t belong in this neighborhood… it’s a massive scale on a small area of a site and I don’t think we should reduce the buffer.”

ZBA member Mark Lemos said the buffer variance “bothered” him “more” than the height variance.

“At one of these points the actual building is almost encroaching on the buffer,” he said. “ … One of the reasons we put this (buffer requirement) in is not just for sight, but also for blocking these kinds of structures and also for protecting the property line to other people’s property.”

RiverWoods officials did not return phone calls and emails seeking information on its future plans for the health center.

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