College representatives presented an elaborate argument for keeping the proposed Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth on Occom Ridge Road at a meeting of the Hanover Planning Board Tuesday night.
The College has been locked in a heated debate for about a year with the Occom Ridge Neighborhood Preservation Association over the proposed site for the Center, which would be near Delta Delta Delta sorority.
The association is a group of area residents who disapprove of the Center's being located on their mostly residential street. The residents say they think the Center would aggravate traffic and parking, and endanger pedestrian safety.
At the meeting, Director of Facilities Planning and Operations Gordon DeWitt proposed a two-year "trial period" to begin immediately after the Center's completion. The Planning Board could then re-evaluate the site-plan if traffic or safety become problematic, he said.
Shawn Donovon, a member of the board, said the board has legal power to prevent the College from using this location if it will adversely affect the neighborhood. But he said it is more likely to impose limitations on the Center's construction.
"We hope to mediate a compromise," Donovon said.
Cary Clark, the College's attorney, expressed hope that future meetings will not focus on zoning issues, but rather "go to the details, and, if necessary, make refinements to make [the Center] better."
At Tuesday's meeting Clark called Occom Ridge "Dartmouth's neighborhood too" and said he feels "confident that this is a permitted project."
College Rabbi Daniel Siegel said the College has been "honest and open," while certain opponents have "ignored and misrepresented statistics."
College representatives spent half of the three-hour meeting trying to refute the "findings-of-fact" presented earlier this month by the Occom Ridge Neighborhood Preservation Association.
At the last Planning Board meeting, neighbors presented figures estimating the Upper Valley Jewish population to be 1,600. The association claimed that an increase in interest associated with a new facility could cause traffic congestion on Occom Ridge.
Siegel called the association's figure "artificially inflated," and their methodology "bad social science." Siegel estimates the Jewish population to be less than 500.
Tom Adler, a traffic analyst from Resource Systems Group, reiterated his firm's conclusion that "traffic impact will be negligible."
Randy Mudge, the architect who designed the building and later redesigned it to conform to area residents' concerns, said it will be "characteristic of the neighborhood in terms of scale."
Occom Ridge Road resident Reese Prosser said he "cannot agree with [the College's] predictions."
Prosser cited the diverse activities scheduled for the Church of Christ as an example of what the proposed Center might become. "I am concerned by the future use of a very large building in a very quiet neighborhood," Prosser said.
The Planning Board is scheduled to meet again on Feb. 21. Planning Board member Bruce Waters said at the next meeting "we're not going to talk anymore about neighborhoods, but we'll get into the [site-plan] review process."
Donovon said the review will consist of examining "the nitty-gritty of the site-plan." This will consist of drainage, parking and other factors, he said.
Trix Officer, the president of the association, said the association intends to address the minutiae of the site-plan in terms of parking and access at the next meeting.
The proposed Center cleared an obstacle in December when the Hanover Zoning Board granted the College a special exception to parking laws in spite of the association's opposition.
