Town approves Inn renovations

By Clare Coffey, The Dartmouth Staff

Published on Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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The Hanover Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the Hanover Inn’s proposed renovations during a meeting between the Planning Board, representatives from the College’s Real Estate Office and town residents on Tuesday evening. Construction will likely begin in June following Commencement, according to Paul Olsen, the College’s director of real estate.

After listening to comments and questions from the public, the Planning Board formally approved the agreement between the town and the College regarding preliminary solutions to traffic and parking problems stemming from the proposed project. The Real Estate Office can now submit its proposal to the Hanover Zoning Board, Planning Board Chair Judith Esmay said at the meeting.

Although the Planning Board originally expressed concern that the construction would cause a decrease in parking spaces and increase traffic influx, the Planning Board approved the project on the condition that an independent consultant conduct a parking study no later than 2013 and that the College and town collaborate to annually assess and respond to changes in the traffic and parking needs, Olsen said.

Zoning Administrator Judith Brotman determined that the project requires the creation of 18 additional parking spaces in order to alleviate traffic concerns, according to Olsen.

The construction project will eliminate the parking spaces in front of the Hopkins Center, according to minutes from a March 22 Planning Board meeting. The College will pay for new parking meters in front of the Green to compensate, according to an email in the public files of the Hanover zoning office.

The Inn will add 10 new spaces to its garage, while the College will provide eight spots. In a previous project, the College built more parking spaces than zoning ordinances required, Hanover’s Director of Zoning and Planning Jonathan Edwards said at the meeting. The town allows institutions to convert extra parking spaces into parking credits, meaning that the town “owes them spots,” Edwards said. The College agreed to apply eight of its credits to spots in the South Block garage located on South Main Street for Inn use under the recent agreement, he said.

Since the Planning Board handles site planning, including any impact a project might have on the town, its approval of the Inn’s planned renovations enables the Real Estate office to begin working with zoning administrators on issues of building safety and code compliance, Olsen said.

One resident at the meeting expressed frustration with the plan and said that the South Block garage was built for use by residents. She said that the town was unfairly reneging on its commitment by dedicating spaces of the garage to commercial use. While the Inn currently intends to use the spaces for employee parking, Olsen said he could not guarantee that the plan will not change.

In reference to the issuance of parking credits, some members of the Planning Board expressed confusion.

“I think we might be looking at a broken system,” Ian Sims, a Planning Board member, said.

The Planning Board’s decision to waive requirements for the screening of trash from public view during construction also drew also criticism from one town resident.

“Is there a plan to beautify the lot?” she said. “I think you’re missing an opportunity to begin working on this.”

The design of the parking lot behind the Inn makes normal options for hiding trash receptacles unfeasible, Edwards said.