SEABROOK — An Ohio mall developer is back before the Planning Board seeking approval of the second phase of its 450,000-square-foot shopping center off Route 1.
In spite of the poor economy, Developers Diversified Realty is marching forward with Phase II of the shopping center it first proposed in August 2006 for the former 46-acre Venture Corp. site. On Tuesday night, Planning Board members sent DDR's application to the town's Technical Review Committee for analysis. The move begins the board's review of the project that in the past drew widespread and harsh criticism from residents and neighboring towns because many believe it will create a traffic nightmare.
The 12-unit, U-shaped 450,000-square-foot shopping center also has three, 1.5 acre satellite lots planned for development. The center, which would include a Target and another large unnamed retailer, is estimated to be the largest, single, general merchandise outlet south of Portsmouth and west of Methuen.
Located just over the New Hampshire border from Massachusetts and its sales tax, the completed mall is projected to draw 1,700 to 2,200 new cars per peak shopping hour on week and weekend days to routes 1 and 107, according to original projections from DDR's traffic engineers.
In recent years, Seabrook has become a retail mecca for both medium and large retailers, with several big-box national retailers along Routes 1 and 107, bringing serious traffic congestion to the roads. Among the retailers are three supermarkets, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sam's Club, soon-to-open Kohl's, and DDR's already approved 136,000-square-foot Target department store, which was approved in March 2008 as Phase I of the shopping center.
This time around, the Planning Board will begin trying to figure out if Seabrook, its roadways and people can absorb one more super-sized development, and if so, under what conditions DDR would be allowed to build its mall.
The next public hearing before the Planning Board is scheduled for Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, Planning Board Chairwoman Susan Foote said. She also said the shopping center's most controversial issue — its traffic — will probably not be discussed until Feb. 17. By then, she said, the town's consulting traffic engineer will have had a chance to review and comment of DDR's new, 2-inch thick traffic study, which may alter the traffic study originally proposed.
As presented Tuesday night, this new Phase II plan has changes from the first. Originally, the major entrance and exit to the shopping center was via Provident Way, the street abutting CVS and Provident Bank and leading directly from Route 107, the gateway to Interstate 95.
On the new plan, however, although Provident Way is still an access way, DDR has a second major entrance/exit just off Route 1, where McDonald's currently sits, directly across from New Zealand Road. The new plan calls for tearing down McDonald's, incorporating it into the shopping center, and putting a wide shopping center access road in its place.
In addition, the plan calls for a traffic signal at the Route 1/New Zealand Road/shopping center access road intersection. How the new access plan plays into the traffic pattern, if or how traffic will or will not be directed to utilized New Zealand Road — a two-lane residential street — to access Route 107 and Interstate 95 was not discussed at Tuesday's Planning Board meeting.
But audience members asked if DDR's new traffic study addresses the traffic impact their new plan will have on New Zealand Road's neighborhoods, something the board realized it will be dealing with soon.
Should the board eventually approve Phase II, DDR's attorney Malcolm McNeill said the company would withdraw its Phase I Target-only plan. Phase I's conditions will also disappear if that happens, including the nearly $700,000 payment DDR must make to the town for future road improvements.
But, Foote said, the conditions the board will place on the larger Phase II if approved, will hold more and larger conditions than that of Phase I.
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