Seabrook, The Brook reach deal on casino's 264-unit housing project
SEABROOK — The town has reached a deal with the owners of The Brook casino to allow them to construct up to 264 housing units on 75 acres off Route 1.
The town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment will host a public hearing on the “consent decree” reached on June 26.
The decree apparently would resolve the appeal filed with the New Hampshire Housing Appeals Board against the town of Seabrook by Nevada-based RMH NH, LLC, a company linked to The Brook operator Eureka Casinos. The appeal was filed in 2022 after the ZBA denied variances needed to build 330-plus housing units on the southwest corner of The Brook’s acreage.
According to the ZBA agenda, the decree “authorizes construction of up to 230 multi-family housing units and 17 duplexes (34 units) at 319 Route 107, subject to Planning Board approval and certain other conditions.”
The agreement, according to the agenda, will be filed with the state's Housing Appeals Board to resolve the case. The Housing Appeals Board is a three-member panel appointed by the state’s Supreme Court that hears appeals of decisions made by municipal boards, committees, and commissions on land use issues related to housing.
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Seabrook Zoning Board had twice rejected Brook housing project
The Brook filed the appeal with the state’s relatively new Housing Appeals Board after the town’s Zoning Board denied several variances needed to move forward with their project to build 334 housing units. Variances were needed for height and wetland setback issues, and because the lots involved are in Rural Zone 1 and Industrial Zone 3, neither of which allow multi-unit housing according to Seabrook’s zoning ordinances.
The appeal was put on hold while The Brook CEO Andre Carrier filed a new plan with the town’s Zoning Board for a scaled-down project to address abutter concerns that called for 223 housing units.
Carrier told ZBA members at the time the changes made to the plan were from informal meetings with Seabrook’s Planning Board and his desire to be “a good neighbor” to abutters.
The new proposal consisted of 34 two-bedroom, freestanding duplexes, 119 units in a four-story building (43 one-bedroom and 76 two-bedroom apartments), and 81 senior housing units in a multi-story building for those aged 55 years or older. The complex was not “affordable or section 8 housing," Carrier said, but did include 20 units designated as “workforce housing,” though the remaining units were to rent at “market rate.”
The board in January 2024, however, rejected that proposal as well, reviving The Brook’s original appeal to the Housing Board of Appeals.
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ZBA to hold public hearing on deal reached with The Brook
Copies of the consent decree were not provided by the town. Town officials said the proposed consent decree is not currently available for public inspection and is exempted from the state's Right-to-Know law and protected by attorney-client privilege.
However, the settlement will be reviewed during the public hearing on the June 26 Zoning Board meeting at 7 p.m. on the second floor of Town Hall.
Officials said they would not comment on the agreement until the public hearing.
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What is the New Hampshire Housing Appeals Board?
Since its establishment by statute on July 1, 2020, the New Hampshire Housing Appeals Board has heard more than 100 cases concerning land use and housing development.
A three-person board appointed by the state Supreme Court, its members must consist of those with an understanding and experience in land-use law and housing development. Members must include a New Hampshire attorney and a professional engineer or land surveyor.
The Housing Board of Appeals has the legal authority to “hear and affirm, reverse, or modify, in whole or in part, appeals of final decisions,” made by local boards, committees, or commissions on issues regarding housing developments. Commercial developments are not within its purview unless they are made up of both housing and commercial uses in a mixed-use format.
Although parties can still appeal local decisions to the Superior Court, as has been the custom for decades, the Housing Appeals Board adds an option some believe is a more cost-effective and time-efficient process.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seabrook, The Brook reach deal on casino's 264-unit housing project