Report: Controversial Bedford Workforce Housing Project OK’d


Despite strong community opposition, Bedford town officials have given the go-ahead to a 93-unit workforce housing project that will also see a derelict restaurant revitalized.

“The board can’t say ‘no’ because we don’t like,” Bedford Planning Board member Harold Newberry told The New Hampshire Union Leader.

The site off of Route 101 once housed a Shorty’s restaurant, now abandoned. Previous efforts by the developers, 206 Route 101 LLC and Bow Lane Bedford LLC, ran into opposition and difficulties getting wetlands permits and other approvals. In March, a new version of the project was submitted including only 93 apartments in three buildings; the restaurant building would also be renovated. The town’s zoning administrator had previously ruled that the land could only hold a maximum of 94 workforce housing units.