The Peterborough Planning Board approved applications for two housing projects, one on Old Greenfield Road and one at the former site of Little River Bed and Breakfast, to move ahead at Monday night’s meeting of the board.

On April 25, the board requested that Troy Rich of Graz Engineeing, who is representing developers Aaron Seppala and Daniel Aho, return to the Planning Board in 60 days with a modified site plan for the proposed subdivision at 238 Old Greenfield Road.

At April’s hearing, Town Planner Danica Melone raised concerns that some grading in the site plan fell within the updated floodplain line on one of the lots.

“The wetlands overlay protection will not allow any modifications to the landscape within the floodplain, including grading. Currently, the site plan for Lot 3 shows that some grading for the septic tank would fall within the new floodline,” Melone said at the April hearing.

FEMA was scheduled to officially release new 100-year floodplain maps on May 1. Rich said that while they are aware of the new floodplain maps, the maps have not yet been officially released.

“We are operating using those new guidelines regardless,” he said.

At the hearing on May 12, several abutters said they have witnessed regular flooding on the property and questioned how building there would be possible. A previous home on the property was abandoned due to flood damage.

On Monday night, Rich presented a new plan with adjusted grading on Lot 3. Melone said the new plan met the requirements of the new map.

“We still have no new flood map year from FEMA, but we were looking to see that any grading that was going to happen on the site, which fell within the new floodplain map, was moved outside of that area. I am glad to see that everything has been moved out of the floodplain area on this new plan,” Melone said.

Developers Seppala and Aho have applied to build four three-bedroom houses on 16 acres at 238 Old Greenfield Road.

Abutter Scott Johnson, who owns a farm at 200 Old Greenfield Road, expressed concerns about the impact of the development on the wetlands.

“It’s very wet back there. You don’t have to go very far to find really wet land,” Johnson said. “I’m very sensitive to the impact on the wetland.”

Rich confirmed that the new site plan conforms to local, state and federal regulations for protection of wetlands.

The board approved the application for a four-lot subdivision at 238 Old Greenfield with the condition that the applicant will flag the wetland buffer as required by town code and meet all Department of Environmental Services requirements.

Parking plan at former Little River site approved

The board approved the parking plan for a subdivision at 182-184 Union Street, which was formerly the Little River Bed and Breakfast.

In April, the Peterborough ZBA approved a variance allowing Shatos Realty to reconfigure the existing building on the property into four new housing units.

Howard Shafman and Randy Santos of Shatos Realty had requested relief from the General Residence District requirement of 10,000 square feet per unit in order to create four apartments from the former hotel.

Shatos will convert the main house at the property, which is currently a five-bedroom, five-bath house, into three separate apartments, with one on each floor. An additional 540-square-foot studio apartment will be created over the one-car garage.

The property also includes a former carriage house, which is a single-family rental home with a two-car garage.

A staff report on the parking plan submitted by Town Planner Danica Melone states that the applicants had “measured available existing parking spaces on the property and have indicated there is adequate parking for at least 11 cars.”

Peterborough requires a minimum of two parking spots per unit.

Abutter John Lawlor of Dublin, who owns a rental property next door to 184 Union St., asked “how the change in use at the property would benefit the town.”

“This is a better use for the town than what was pre-existing on that site,” Melone said. “The town desperately needs housing, and this is a change from commercial back to residential. The property will also be assessed higher and bring in more tax revenue for the town. This was the only commercial use on this district because the previous owners had received a special exception. Now it is reverting to residential use, which is a more appropriate use for this property.”

Planning Board member Andrew Dunbar noted that the change of use of the property, which was ruled on by the Zoning Board, was not under the Planning Board’s purview.

The board passed a motion to approve the parking plan at the site.