Further development of the Walden Eco Village may continue to be delayed, according to town officials, due to the third-party review of the site’s hydrology and wetland study that the Planning Board requested in July.
Peterborough Town Planner Danica Melone said that the third-party reviews have taken much longer than anticipated, and until they are complete, the Planning Board can’t move forward with the applications related to the Eco Village project.
Walden Eco Village has been before board since 2020, when applicant Akhil Garland described his plan to subdivide the property. The proposal for a 20-lot subdivision faced challenges when multiple permit and code violations were discovered in late 2020, sparking lawsuits and the mass eviction of the tenants living on the property at the time.
In July, the Planning Board found that the submissions from Garland and his team related to hydrology and wetland studies were insufficient, and decided to require a third-party review. Since then, the matter of Eco Village has been continued at multiple hearings.
“This is very atypical; it’s not usually like this,” Melone said. The third party, GeoInsight, has “found significant issues with the wetlands,” she said. They have had to be almost entirely remapped, as the wetlands are much larger than previously reported.
Melone said she anticipated the matter could get delayed again, as it is on the docket for the Nov. 8 Planning Board meeting, but she had yet to hear whether the wetlands study was complete.
Garland said he also anticipates further delays and does not expect to move forward anytime soon.
“There’s always another trick or delay or reason why we can’t meet,” he said. “They typically include new misrepresentations or new reasons to cancel or deny or delay the project.”
Garland said that his frustrations specifically lie with the town administration, who he said aren’t dedicated to addressing the lack of housing opportunities in the area and other related issues.
“Walden addresses so many of them, not just housing – community crises and agricultural crises,” he said.
Despite this, Garland said that he and his team are not going to give up on moving the project along.
“We’re frustrated, but we’re also committed to seeing the project through,” he said.
Melone said much the same.
“It’s very unusual, but it is what it is,” she said. “We’re still trying to push them through it.”
The next Planning Board meeting is on Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m.