September 27, 2023 David Smith
Abutters say Effingham’s Planning Board violated the zoning ordinance when it conditionally approved the controversial development.
August 15, 2023 Staff Report
“The Planning Board appears to have erroneously believed that because Meena received a variance for a gas station…approving the site plan application was inevitable, regardless of environmental concerns.”
August 12, 2023 Staff Report
Michael Cahalane tells Effingham’s Planning Board there was a “consensus” to allow the work to proceed without an approved site plan.
August 6, 2023 Werner Zack
A public hearing will take place on Monday, August 7, to address issues raised in the wake of the board’s conditional approval of the development.
July 31, 2023 David Smith
Effingham’s Select Board says there is “nothing to substantiate” one of the items in the Planning Board’s “Findings of Fact” that was used as the basis of its July 11 gas station decision.
July 16, 2023 David Smith
Addressing the location of the diesel pump and making changes in the design of the bioretention basin are among tasks that must be completed before a final sign-off.
July 13, 2023 Daymond Steer
Conditions that will be attached to the approval have not been made public.
July 6, 2023 David Smith
Newly released to the public, letters asking Effingham to deny the Meena gas station application come from an array of people and organizations.
June 29, 2023 David Smith
Calls Meena LLC “arrogant” in its attitude toward scientific concerns.
June 23, 2023 Daymond Steer
Planning Board members seem to agree that conditions would need to be met before they would sign off on the plan.
June 21, 2023 Daymond Steer
“This affects you, it affects me, and this affects the future the water in this town,” said teenager Stella Lunt, who lives nearby.
June 18, 2023 David Smith
Effingham’s June 13 hearing revealed what the Planning Board has been missing for the past two years.
June 8, 2023 Daymond Steer
“We can’t just arbitrarily decide that we think this is a bad idea and refuse it,” said Effingham Planning Board Chair George Bull.
June 4, 2023 David Smith
The board has a legal responsibility to protect the public by making a reasonable and lawful decision based on facts—all of the facts.
May 29, 2023 David Smith
After his credibility is questioned, the geoscientist identifies four critical ways in which the plan fails to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare.
May 24, 2023 David Smith
The developer calls it the “best” plan. Critics promise a rebuttal.
May 15, 2023 David Smith
Nate Williams and Michael Cahalane, whose votes on the ZBA helped Meena LLC obtain a zoning variance for a gas station, will now deliberate the company’s Site Plan Application on the Planning Board.
May 14, 2023 David Smith
Days away from a hearing, there is still no unified Site Plan Application for Meena’s Development of Regional Impact.
May 8, 2023 David Smith
Impact of zoning officer’s ruling remains one of a number of unknowns.
May 1, 2023 David Smith
Planning Board Chair George Bull calls for a retraction of a ruling by the zoning officer, while a board source says Meena may have submitted materials directly to the independent advisor.
April 25, 2023 David Smith
The Conway developer’s decision to close the convenience store after buying it more than two years ago has voided its legal status as a protected non-conforming use.
April 16, 2023 David Smith
Newly released public documents show the company’s failure to consider zoning regulations led to a series of missteps that stalled their plan.
April 5, 2023 David Smith
Newly elected Victoria Garceau has bowed-out, according to the Conway Daily Sun.
March 22, 2023 David Smith
Ossipee resident Leona Simon’s opposition to the Effingham gas station proposal was based on personal experience.
March 7, 2023 David Smith
High school student Stella Lunt of Ossipee is learning a lot from the Meena gas station case.
February 26, 2023 David Smith
Whether Effingham’s Planning Board will accept the material is unclear, given its September cut-off date and a court-ordered stay of the proceedings.
February 12, 2023 David Smith
Effingham’s Planning Board will have new leadership when it resumes consideration of the controversial gas station plan.
January 29, 2023 David Smith
The ruling comes as officials in neighboring towns say they want the additional environmental assurances a Special Use Permit would require.
January 26, 2023 David Smith
The ZBA on February 1 will continue deliberating whether a Planning Board decision in the Meena case violated the Zoning Ordinance.
January 22, 2023 Editorial Staff
An Effingham Planning Board decision inequitably favors a Conway developer and deprives the board and the community of required environmental information.
January 11, 2023 David Smith
Discussion will continue on February 1.
November 28, 2022 David Smith
Appeals of the Planning Board’s decision regarding the need for a Special Use Permit are pending with the ZBA and Superior Court.
October 31, 2022 David Smith
Meena LLC’s need for a Special Use Permit is once again the focus.
October 26, 2022 Matt Howe
Gas station technology has improved, but that doesn’t change anything about the original basis for the ordinance.
October 19, 2022 David Smith
Concerns about protecting drinking water are rising, and local candidates have taken notice.
October 10, 2022 David Smith
Hearing is continued as Effingham’s Planning Board is told to file a certified record of the case’s proceedings in response to a lawsuit.
October 8, 2022 Daymond Steer
Effingham Planning Board is told to provide the court with a certified record of the proceedings.
October 4, 2022 David Smith
An August decision about a Special Use Permit is now in court.
October 3, 2022 Daymond Steer
“It (spilled gas) is going to end up here,” said Newton, pointing to Ossipee Lake at Thursday night’s public presentation.
September 27, 2022 David Smith
It’s not clear whether Dr. Robert Newton will be allowed to present his research on the proposed gas station site at next week’s Effingham Planning Board hearing, but he will be at Runnells Hall, and on Zoom, this Thursday night to speak and answer questions.
September 8, 2022 David Smith
Ossipee and Effingham petitioners want to know if their water is safe to drink.
August 28, 2022 David Smith
Meena LLC cannot use DOT’s abutting property to meet its regulatory requirements for gas station runoff.
August 23, 2022 David Smith
More than 100 people who were prepared to have a discussion see red after public comment is barred and the proceeding is postponed until October.
August 21, 2022 Editorial Staff
Effingham’s Planning Board should deny Meena LLC’s Development of Regional Impact application when it meets on Monday night.
August 20, 2022 David Smith
In a late Friday letter to the Planning Board, the company’s attorney said Ossipee Aquifer expert Dr. Bob Newton should not be allowed to speak, and a petition calling for a more complete independent technical review of the plan “has no bearing on the application.”
August 16, 2022 David Smith
In advance of a special August 22 hearing in Effingham, two State Representatives last week asked the Department of Transportation to deny the use of State property for gas station runoff.
August 9, 2022 David Smith
“The Ossipee Aquifer can’t move. A gas station can be sited in a different place,” says the head of national non-profit American Groundwater Trust.
August 4, 2022 David Smith
An expected outcome at a sparsely attended meeting.
July 26, 2022 David Smith
Gas station opponents say Meena LLC cannot meet the requirements of an important environmental regulation.
July 19, 2022 David Smith
As some previous issues are addressed, further complications arise.
July 13, 2022 David Smith
Conservation groups scrambled to spread the word after the Planning Board Chair said members needed time to review an independent professional evaluation of Meena’s newly submitted materials.
July 5, 2022 David Smith
An unresolved waiver request, the need for a Special Use Permit, and a nine-town petition are likely to be on the agenda when the Effingham gas station hearings reconvene on Thursday, July 7.
June 28, 2022 David Smith
More than 500 people from nine towns say they want Effingham’s planners to obtain a full, not partial, independent review of the Meena LLC gas station Site Plan Application.
June 21, 2022 David Smith
It may not be as visible as our gorgeous surroundings, but clean drinking water is critical to our way of life and our tourism economy. A new video explains.
June 14, 2022 David Smith
Demands that the company be held accountable are rooted in fear that last year’s illegal excavation might have caused naphthalene and other petroleum contaminants to migrate to the groundwater.
June 12, 2022 David Smith
The town’s Planning Board will now determine whether the controversial “Development of Regional Impact” is a threat to the public’s health, safety and welfare.
May 16, 2022 David Smith
Meena LLC has a variance to build a gas station but needs a Special Use Permit to operate it, according to Concord-based Northpoint Engineering. Meena’s attorney says that’s “legally incorrect.”
May 12, 2022 David Smith
Ossipee’s endorsement of an Effingham gas station struck some as an outlier decision, but it’s part of a years-long pattern.
May 8, 2022 David Smith
Effingham’s Planning Board has continued the gas station hearing to July 7 as attorneys for the applicant and abutters debate Northpoint Engineering’s conclusion that a Special Use Permit is required.
May 3, 2022 David Smith
Concord-based Northpoint Engineering’s findings are consistent with local assessments that the Meena LLC site plan is insufficient, and that an Environmental Impact Analysis is needed.
April 12, 2022 David Smith
The surprise decision to support a commercial business in a neighboring town has abutters angry and others wondering why.
April 8, 2022 David Smith
Acting on a recommendation by Lakes Region Planning Commission, Effingham’s Planning Board will have the Meena LLC site plan application vetted by a professional engineering firm before hearings continue.
April 5, 2022 David Smith
Citing concerns about water quality, town officials plan to argue the Meena LLC site plan application should not be approved.
March 31, 2022 David Smith
New and improved equipment and DES tank permits are only half of the story. It’s the other half that Effingham officials need to address.
March 29, 2022 David Smith
Exercising their recently-granted abutter status, Tamworth joins a growing number of towns expressing concerns about the proposed development’s environmental impact.
March 17, 2022 David Smith
Anticipating a crowd, the 7 p.m. meeting will be held at Town Hall.
March 15, 2022 David Smith
Freedom, Ossipee, Tamworth and Madison are among the communities receiving notice that the Effingham gas station proposal is a “Development of Regional Impact.”
March 2, 2022 Daymond Steer
The Conway Daily Sun’s reporting on last week’s Effingham Planning Board hearing.
February 26, 2022 David Smith
Planning Board votes 5-2 to invite neighboring communities and the Lakes Region Planning Commission to help deliberate the controversial development.
February 20, 2022 David Smith
Regional impact and a recusal request are likely to be on the agenda.
February 15, 2022 Daymond Steer
Attorneys faced-off Friday in an initial court hearing on the proposed gas station on the Effingham-Ossipee border.
February 13, 2022 David Smith
The reaction to Professor Bob Newton’s video shows the public understands towns must look beyond their borders to ensure the protection of their community’s drinking water.
February 4, 2022 David Smith
A vote by the Effingham Planning Board to accept the application as complete means public debate will start on February 24.
January 30, 2022 David Smith
Noted geoscientist says pumping gas at the site of a former gravel pit in Effingham could threaten the wells of dozens of Ossipee property owners.
January 23, 2022 David Smith
After three postponements, the Effingham Planning Board is scheduled to review Meena LLC’s site plan application on February 3.
December 30, 2021 David Smith
Some New Year’s resolutions are made to be broken. Here’s one we plan to keep.
November 1, 2021 David Smith
It’s a question we hear every day. This is what we think, and why we believe you should be concerned.
October 28, 2021 David Smith
Meanwhile, opponents have filed an appeal with State Superior Court.
September 26, 2021 David Smith
Two days before Effingham’s Planning Board is scheduled to conduct a site plan review of the proposal to convert Boyle’s Market into a gas station, the ZBA will consider an appeal to reverse its approval of the project and re-hear the application.
August 12, 2021 David Smith
Local residents want Effingham’s Select Board to determine whether the ZBA erred when it approved a variance to pump gas at Boyle’s Market.
August 9, 2021 David Smith
On a 4-1 vote, the ZBA last week granted relief to a Conway businessman for his proposal to pump gas at Boyle’s Market, which is in the Groundwater Protection District.
July 26, 2021 Alliance Staff
As Effingham’s ZBA prepares to address that question, we offer our opinion.
July 22, 2021 David Smith
Tuesday’s ZBA meeting didn’t produce a decision on the controversial project, but it did answer a number of outstanding questions.
July 15, 2021 David Smith
Boyle’s Market on Route 25 closed its gas station six years ago. A new owner wants to start pumping again and has already installed the tanks.