DERRY — The Planning Board recently approved the subdivision of a 12,000-square-foot lot in one of the town’s oldest neighborhoods, but some neighbors had concerns that the plan to build a new house at 2 Howard Street would not fit the character of the neighborhood.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a variance to property owners Craig and Snow Bonneau for the subdivision in March, according to George Sioras, the town planning director.

“The new parcel being created would have less than the required lot frontage, lot area and lot width,” he said. “But the new lot would be in keeping with the character and size of the existing neighborhood.”

Sioras said the neighborhood off Crystal Avenue is one of the oldest in the town, with a number of houses near 100 years old and predating the town’s zoning ordinances.

“The current parcel is approximately 12,000 square feet, and it does have an existing single-family home on it,” said project engineer Robert Balquist of Meisner Brem out of Salem. “They are asking for two lots of 6,000 square feet.”

The portion of the lot where the new house will be built was previously overgrown.

“The new owner has cleared it up and removed a lot of the overgrowth,” said Balquist.

Although several neighbors said they appreciated the efforts of the new owners to clear up the lot, they said they had concerns about a new house going up in the dense neighborhood.

“I don’t need to live 50 feet from a person,” said abutter Kathleen Blood. “I already live very close to the lot on the other side of me.”

Blood said she was also concerned about potential damage to the foundation of her house as the result of construction.

“My home is 91 years old, and there’s not a straight line in it,” she said. “I wonder how structurally sound my home will remain when they bring in all the heavy equipment to build a house.”

Donna Laudano of Lincoln Street said she was also concerned about the building of a new house on the lot.

“I am thrilled that they have maintained their property because we have lived there for 13 years and the property was always terribly overgrown,” she said. “But I feel that it is such a small area to put another property on.”

Although the zoning ordinance requires 10,000-square-foot lots for the neighborhood, Sioras noted that many of the lots predate the ordinance and are under the 10,000-square-foot mark.

Planning Board member John O’Connor said that it is a dense neighborhood, the homes are well maintained and he believed the proposed house would fit in with the character of the neighborhood.

The board approved the subdivision by a 5-2 vote, with members Darrell Park and Jan Choiniere stating they were not comfortable with the proposal.

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