Builder scraps mill project; Planners' approval not a sure thing.

Byline: Karen Nugent

CLINTON - The New Hampshire developer who wanted to convert the old Lancaster Mills factory complex on Green Street into a mixed housing and commercial operation has withdrawn the proposal.

The Planning Board last night announced that Manchester, N.H.-based Brady Sullivan Properties, the owner of the old mill, decided not to go forward with its controversial plan, and withdrew its application on Monday.

The company needed a supermajority of four of five planners to approve a special permit for the $25 million project, and it was unclear if it would get the nod from four members, although three said they were in favor of the plan.

By withdrawing the application, rather than having it denied, the developer can modify its plan and reapply for another permit right away. If a permit had been denied, Brady Sullivan would have to wait two years before resubmitting a subsequent application.

In a letter to the board read aloud at the meeting last night, the company said it recognized the comments and concerns by board members, and needs to re-examine options.

It is unclear what the developer will do with the property, which was bought at auction last year by Brady Sullivan for $2 million. Company representatives have discussed razing the 323,000-square-foot buildings, which are candidates for listing in a state or historical register, and selling the steel and lumber.

The complex, built in 1844 as a textile mill, once housed the Colonial Press, one of Clinton's largest employers, but it has been vacant for years. It is considered the first factory of the Industrial Age to use a horizontal manufacturing process.

Board members and other town officials grew wary of the proposal after officials from the adjacent Weetabix Co. said they were opposed to the residential component - 139 apartments that would be converted to condominiums in five years - because of concerns that residents would complain about noise and traffic from the Weetabix plant. One of Weetabix's new warehouses is about 20 feet from a Brady-Sullivan building.

Weetabix, one of Clinton's largest employers, last month also raised questions about whether housing near the cereal factory would affect a federal 2003 bioterrorism act pertaining to the food industry, and hinted at moving the entire operation to its Canadian plant if the mill conversion project became a reality.

Officials in town said all along they would prefer a commercial operation only because the mill is in an industrial area with a lot of truck traffic from Weetabix and nearby Dunn & Co. publishing, But Brady Sullivan said the project could not be done without the housing component.

NAME: CLINTON PLANNING BOARD