Bedford Planning Board Tables Wallace Road Subdivision, Approves 35-Unit Workforce Housing

BEDFORD — July 13, 2026 — Bedford Planning Board tables contentious 15-lot subdivision, unanimously approves 35-unit workforce housing project. The board voted to table the Potter Properties LLC application for a residential subdivision at 410 Wallace Road until its August 17 meeting after more than a dozen residents raised concerns about impacts to an endangered Blanding's Turtle habitat, PFAS-contaminated groundwater, and stormwater runoff into the impaired Riddlebrook waterway. Joanne Smith, presenting for the Bedford Conservation Commission, read a commission letter recommending non-disturbance deed restrictions on Lots 3 and 4 and a conservation easement on Lot 5, while resident Denise Ricciardi of 29 Magazine Street reported that the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services sent the applicant at least a dozen required corrections on June 5 with no response received as of the meeting date. Public Works Director Brian DeFosses warned the board that municipal water extension is impossible after construction is complete, telling members that Pennichuck Water cannot extend its own mains and that "now is the time." In a separate unanimous action, the board granted all five waivers — including a density waiver allowing 35 units on a 1.1-acre lot where 13 are permitted by right — and approved the final site plan for a four-story, 30-unit affordable apartment building at 9 Sunset Lane, with financing consultant Chuck Eisenberg arguing that 9-percent low-income housing tax credits make 35 units the minimum financially viable project size.