Dover rezoning goals prioritized

DOVER — The city’s Rezoning Committee has put together a series of short-, medium- and long-term goals with potential areas to be rezoned for commercial use.

Next month, the Planning Board subcommittee is expected to meet for the last time to approve a final report to be sent to the Planning Board for review.

Assistant City Manager Christopher Parker said the short-term recommendations could be executed in the next four to six months; the intermediate recommendations could be accomplished next year with additional study; and the long-term goals have no set date for competition, requiring more investigative work to move forward.

Any zoning charge would need to be reviewed by the Planning Board first, which would then make its recommendation to the City Council that would have final say on zoning changes. At least one public hearing would be held at the Planning Board and City Council levels before any changes would be made.

Some of the short-term recommendations presented to the Rezoning Committee last week by Parker included the area near the Spaulding Turnpike’s Exit 7, a stretch of Indian Brook Drive off Exit 9 and a couple of sections of Sixth Street. It also included sections of Route 108 by Weeks Crossing and Back River Road and Mast Road, a small part of Route 9 and an area by Dover Point Road and Old Dover Point Road.

The recommend changes include:

* The area by Exit 7 by Locust Street, Rutland Street and Cataract Avenue. It would rezone the existing Restricted Industrial District and the residential district with the Downtown Gateway Zone. Parker said it would be a logical extension of the Downtown Gateway Zone and there is property owner support for such a change. The zoning change would help transition between the residential and commercial uses, he said.

* The bus terminal side of Indian Brook Drive from the highway to the Sixth Street would be rezoned to a hotel and retail district. The committee also wants to change the other side of the same street from its current hotel and retail district designation to an assembly and office district. This latter change would extend from Indian Brook Drive to Sixth Street to Venture Drive.

* The committee would recommend changing the north side of Sixth Street from the highway overpass to Glenwood Avenue to an executive and technology park as it is on the south side of the road.

* The areas by Weeks Crossing would be rezoned to reflect the commercial growth in the area already in place.

* On Route 108 by Back River Road, the committee would recommend changing six acres there to an ETP zone. On Route 108 by the Mast Road intersection, it would support rezoning an area to hotel and retail district, which Parker believes is part of the evolution of commercial growth in the area.

* On Route 108 by the Elks Lodge near the Madbury town line, the committee would recommend it changed to an assembly and office district.

* On Route 9 from Old Littleworth Road to the rail overpass, the committee would recommend changing it from a low-density residential district (R-20) to an assembly and office district (I-4). Across from the Industrial Park Drive on Route 9, it would recommend rezoning from an R-20 to I-4.

* The area between Dover Point Road and Old Dover Point Road would be changed from a neighborhood business district to an office district.