Newcastle Publick House, LLC, the Newcastle Harbor House applicant, did not meet conditions of approval set by the Newcastle Planning Board, rendering the applicant’s permit “moot,” town attorney Peter Drum said.
Drum made the announcement at a Jan. 19 meeting of the Newcastle Board of Appeals. The board adjourned without further discussion.
The board met to continue discussion of an appeal of the approval by Stetson House, LLC, a neighbor of the Newcastle Harbor House site.
The Newcastle Planning Board had granted the Newcastle Publick House two extensions from of the initial 30-day deadline to fulfill two conditions of approval. The conditions included the delivery of a letter of credit to Newcastle Code Enforcement Officer Stanley Waltz.
In the event that Newcastle Publick House, LLC failed to complete the project within a specific time frame, a letter of credit would have allowed Newcastle to complete the exterior of or demolish any incomplete structure.
According to a Jan. 19 letter from Drum to the Board, “a decision [on the appeal] at this time would be inappropriate.”
“I can confirm that Newcastle Public [sic] House worked diligently to ensure that the terms of the letter of credit acceptable to Newcastle were approved,” Drum wrote. “While Newcastle Public [sic] House LLC did obtain approval on the terms necessary for the Town, the Letter of Credit was not signed and provided to the Town by the date necessary.”
“I’m not sure why [the condition] was not ultimately met,” Drum said at the meeting. According to Drum, The First, the bank working with Newcastle Publick House on the project, “approved the terms” of the letter of credit.
According to Mark Robinson, a spokesperson for Kevin Mattson, President of Mattson Development, the company that has represented Newcastle Publick House, LLC at all meetings with the town, “the company has made a strategic decision to reapply to the Planning Board.”
“The language on the letter of credit is ready to go,” Robinson said. “[Reapplication] “will allow [the Planning Board] to address the concerns raised in the appeals process and approve the language of the letter of credit.”
“Kevin [Mattson] is enthusiastic about the project,” Robinson said.
According to Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier, the project is not on the agenda for the Thurs., Jan. 20 meeting of the Planning Board. The next Planning Board meeting is Thurs., Feb. 17.
