LONDONDERRY — With plans for the long-awaited Woodmont Commons development accepted as complete by the Londonderry Planning Board on Wednesday night, town officials and local developers said a long and complex process still lies ahead.

On Oct. 5, staff members at Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, the third-party review consultants hired by the town to offer an outside opinion on the plans for Woodmont Commons, submitted their updated evaluation to the town.

The Woodmont Commons Planned Unit Development (PUD) master plan was originally submitted in October 2011, but after a preliminary evaluation by town staff, developers requested a continuance.

Over the past year, the approval process has faced multiple delays. The most recent one was during the Sept. 5 Planning Board meeting, when the board adjourned for a private session and returned a short time later to announce that the process would take just a bit longer, as the town's third-party consultant (Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc.), and consultants for Pillsbury Realty Development still needed to address several issues and concerns.

At the time, town attorney Mike Ramsdell assured the Planning Board that the plans and third-party review would be ready in time for this week's meeting.

At the start of Wednesday evening's Planning Board meeting, a representative of the consulting team confirmed that was the case.

“We feel the application is complete at this point,” said Ted Brovitz of Howard/Stein-Hudson. “We know there's a lot of work ahead, but at this point we feel it's complete.”

Brovitz said the team is now working on studies of the project's traffic and fiscal impacts.

Town Councilor Jim Butler asked Brovitz what type of time frame he's expecting.

Brovitz said he was uncertain about the time frame, and referred the question to the town's planning officials.

“I think it's a key element the board, staff and the development team need to address,” Community Development Andre Garron said. “There's a lot of exemptions and waivers (suggested) in these plans that the board needs to address, so I think dealing with those issues first might be the best step.”

The application identified several areas in local regulations where the developers are seeking waivers. Town officials said many questions remain as to what standards would be put in place and how in the coming years.

“I think we really need to talk about how much flexibility is appropriate and reasonable,” Brovitz added. “It's hard for us to determine what potential impacts are as far as traffic, utilities and services. Those are the three areas we need to get working on and bring before the public.”

Ramsdell noted that the typical 65-day approval window usually given following a positive, conditional board vote “seems very ambitious and maybe not realistic for a project this size.”

Brovitz noted that the current Woodmont plans are encompassed in one very large PUD but suggested it might make more sense to break up the 625-acre town village project into multiple PUD's.

“I think what's critical is the relationships (for the site's different areas) are defined, otherwise I don't think it would function well,” Planning Board Chairman Art Rugg replied.

Town Council Chairman John Farrell further noted that it's best to address such issues sooner rather than later, while remaining conscious of the town's existing PUD ordinance.

“From what I understand of a master plan, it's a vision, a list of everything the developers would like to potentially do,” board member Maria Newman said. “So it doesn't mean everything on this document is going to happen.

Attorney Ari Pollack, who represents Woodmont Commons developer Mike Kettenbach of Pillsbury Realty Development, said the town ordinance clearly dictates the submittal process, which he said his client has addressed to the best of his ability.

“In this instance, we realized there are some rather complex issues that must be addressed for a parcel this size,” Pollack said. “We'll just have to see how it goes.”

Pollack said that he'd welcome the chance to discuss how site amendments might be addressed for a project of this size and scope.

“It would be very advantageous for us to have a clear line of understanding,” he said.

Following the hour-long discussion among the board, town officials and attending citizens, the Woodmont Commons PUD master plan was accepted as complete.

With that, the board continued the public hearing on Woodmont Commons to the Nov. 14 meeting. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Moose Hill Council Chambers at Londonderry Town Hall.

aguilmet@newstote.com