HAMPTON FALLS – The owner of the former Faro Gardens site is back with a new plan after the city’s Planning Board rejected a proposal to build an 88-unit condominium development on the vacant lot off Route 1.
Joesph Faro now wants to build an age-restricted (55 and older) housing complex with 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a total of 126 bedrooms on his long-vacant 11.5-acre property at 12 Lafayette Road. The project would consist of three three-story buildings, as well as a pool and clubhouse.
According to new documents filed with Hampton Falls, Faro needs four variances from the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to make the project happen. These are in addition to the four variances approved for his previous proposal on June 27. At that hearing, the ZBA also denied five other variance requests, derailing the 88-unit project.
The variances required for the new project include one to allow development within the wetland building setback; one to exceed the maximum allowable density for a senior living development (22 bedrooms per acre where eight are allowed); another to allow 42 bedrooms in a senior living development where 24 are allowed, and one to allow improvements within the 20-foot building setback in the backyard.
But even if all four variances are approved, the project would still “require a connection to Seabrook’s sewer system,” according to the application documents. Connecting Hampton Falls to Seabrook’s public sewer system is a concept that is still in limbo, even though Hampton Falls proposed it to Seabrook years ago.
The restaurant, once home to Luca’s and later Faro Gardens, closed due to water and sewer problems. The building was demolished several years ago, leaving an empty, unsightly lot at the south entrance to Hampton Falls.
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What is the new plan for 12 Lafayette Road in Hampton Falls?
The new plan, which will be submitted to the ZBA on August 22, is significantly smaller than Faro’s original plan, as planners attempt to fit the residential development on the property while contending with the surrounding wetlands and the city’s zoning requirements. Given the restrictions of Hampton Fall’s wetlands ordinance, the 11-plus-acre site is limited to only about 1.5 acres of building space without the exemptions, which is considered a major hardship for the project.
Faro’s initial versions of the project were reviewed twice during informal meetings with the Planning Board in the fall of 2022. The first version was for 164 one- and two-bedroom condominiums and 11,000 square feet of retail space on over 11 acres. The second version was for 104 age-restricted condominiums and retail space in three three-story buildings.
Based on feedback from the planning committee, Faro and his design team at Manchester-based Allen and Major Associates submitted an even smaller version to the ZBA in October 2023. The result was a third proposal with no retail space and 88 age-restricted one- and two-bedroom condominiums for the 55+ age group, to be sold for prices between $300,000 and $650,000 apiece.
Nine more variances were required for this project, including one for a building in a wetland area, variances for the building’s floor plan size and height dimensions that exceeded city limits, a higher density of bedrooms and units than ordinances allow, and one for fewer parking spaces per unit than required in Hampton Falls.
In June, after months of give and take, ZBA members granted four variances that allowed the project to exceed maximum building heights, the percentage increase in residential units in the city, and the required number and width of parking spaces.
But because the other required variances failed, the project was doomed to fail as presented in June. According to some ZBA members who voted against it, even though they approved of the project, they couldn’t justify approving so many variances for one project when voters were leaving them to the ZBA to uphold city ordinances.
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