Cranmore hotel gets conditional OK from ZBA

The board at its Nov. 20 meeting granted a special exception for a hotel in the Recreation Resort District as a supporting use to the North Conway ski resort.
Such a use requires the granting of a special exception under the zoning ordinance.

The four-story hotel is set to be built on the site of the lodge, which housed the fitness center at Cranmore that closed its doors Aug. 28.

 

Under zoning regulations, the applicant must set aside 2 acres of land for each guest room planned in a resort hotel, and CMR has dedicated 184 acres of its 814 acres to satisfy that requirement.

 

Cranmore President and General Manager Ben Wilcox said the hotel will be “a Marriott brand.” Its footprint is planned to be smaller than that of the 55,000-square-foot former fitness center.

Attorney Christopher T. Meier of the Cooper Cargill Chant law firm represented CMR Properties and noted the hotel is designed to be consistent with the “look and feel” of the existing ski resort.

In deliberating on the request, the ZBA considered several criteria, including architectural suitability and impacts on neighboring properties.

 
CMR is working with the town to determine anticipated traffic impacts that the project will have on nearby intersections.

Conway Planning Director Tom Irving noted that the ZBA will need to be satisfied that any increases in traffic resulting from the hotel development will not lessen the level of service at the nearest intersections controlled by traffic lights, essentially meaning that wait times at stoplights won’t be significantly lengthened.

Intersections of concern are where Kearsarge Road and Pine Street intersect with White Mountain Highway in North Conway Village, Irving said.

 

CMR will need to return to the ZBA to show they have satisfied traffic intersection concerns. They then will have to go before the planning board for site plan and subdivision review.

Meier said he feels their traffic study will show "we will have no impact on those signalized intersections. The town staff has asked us to go back and get more information on that, and we intend to do that, so however the town wants us to proceed on that, we will certainly do so."

Meier said a recent appraisal indicated the project would not diminish surrounding property values. Instead, he said, “it has the potential to increase the value of surrounding properties.”

 

He also said traffic impacts would not alter the character of the neighborhood.

Resident Joan Wilson raised concerns about potential traffic increases on “narrow, residential streets.”

Meier said with a resort hotel “people tend to stay at that resort more than you would at another type of hotel.”

 

He also pointed out that traffic that had been generated by the fitness club “would go away.”

Ultimately the board found no traffic hazard with the project.

In a related action, CMR Properties was granted a special exception to allow pavement within a wetland buffer area. Meier said CMR has converted some impervious surfaces to vegetated area, resulting in “a net increase in vegetated areas.”