LONDONDERRY — Two hours before the Planning Board was to approve a recommendation for a third-party consultant to review the Woodmont Master Plan last Thursday, the developer's attorney pulled the plug.
Attorney Ari Pollack, representing Pillsbury Realty Inc., developer of the proposed 625-acre planned urban development, told the board there was a conflict of interest with one of the four finalists.
Because of the scope of the PUD and the fact it's the first one in Londonderry, the board was asked to have a third party look at the plan.
At a board meeting Dec. 14 , planners decided to put out the request for bids. They were due back Jan. 4.
Ten companies submitted bids and a subcommittee of the Planning Board made recommendations Jan. 11 to interview the four finalists on Jan. 17. They were Hawk Planning Resources of Concord; Howard/ Stein-Hudson Associates Inc. of Boston; Resource Systems Group of Concord; and Shook Kelley of Charlotte, N.C.
"We were ready to recommend Howard/Stein to the board Jan. 19," said Andre Garron, Londonderry's community development director. "But two hours before the meeting, the developer's attorney said there was a conflict of interest with one of the four chosen applicants. We don't know which one it was."
Garron said Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates Inc. had the highest score during the interviews Jan. 17.
"We were really taken back by this," he said. "We had all the proposals for two weeks before the interviews and asked if there was any conflict. Everything was going according to plan."
If approved by the board, the chosen consultant was to have until Jan. 30 make a recommendation as to whether the board should accept the Master Plan for Woodmont Commons.
"Now, the developers are causing the delay," Garron said. "We will be conferring with the town's legal counsel on how to proceed."
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