Conway casino needs site plan review

A proposal to build a charitable gaming facility in Conway Village at the old Shurfine Plaza will be proceeding to the planning board for site plan review, town planner Ryan O’Connor said Nov. 13.

On Oct. 5, developer Dick Anagnost filed an application for a restaurant and charitable gaming, which town officials said the Conway zoning ordinance allows.

This is a change from June, when Deputy Town Manager Paul DegliAngeli denied the project a zoning permit because it was called a commercial amusement, which — as defined by Conway’s zoning ordinance — does not allow a casino. This fall, the zoning board of adjustment upheld DegliAngeli’s decision and then declined to rehear the issue.

An email from O’Connor on Nov. 14 seemed to confirm the casino now complies with Conway’s zoning ordinance. “Just because a use is permitted, it does not mean that other requirements do not need to be met before approval,” said O’Connor, hence the need for site plan review.

Anagnost of Bedford and business partner Stefan Huba want to turn the former Tiney’s grocery in Conway into a restaurant with table games and electronic machines. After he was denied a zoning permit, Anagnost said he’d sue the town for millions if the project was denied.

O’Connor issued his “letter of decision” Monday, addressing it to John Cronin, Anagnost and Huba’s attorney. “Following the review of the application and additional information submitted Oct. 27, 2023, the proposed change of use and scope of the physical changes to the site are significant relative to the existing development,” wrote O’Connor.

“The potential impacts and increased intensity of the proposal will require full site plan review of the application and must meet all applicable aspects of Chapter 110 of the Town of Conway Ordinance.”

O’Connor added: “As you are aware, the town has concerns for the proposed use. With this application, consider how the proposal can improve the current site, minimize any impact to abutters and work to fit into the fabric of the community.”

The casino was on the planning board agenda for Thursday, but Anagnost said developers weren’t ready for that yet.

On Nov. 14, Anagnost told the Conway Daily Sun his team is looking into what triggered the town’s desire for site plan review.

O’Connor said Nov. 21 was the next deadline to file an application for site plan review.

An attachment to the zoning application notes the project was given building permits twice before — by former town planner Tom Irving in 2021, which lapsed but not before $500,000 worth of work was done, and then in January, when another former town planner Jamel Torres, and former building inspector Dave Pandora signed off on a permit.

Conway Planning Board member Mark Hounsell and local resident Becky Mulkern objected to the more recent permit, which brought the issue to DegliAngeli.

The attachment to the October zoning permit notes the changed application could be a way to avoid litigation.

“Rather than leave matters to chance, considering that the ZBA chair stated that the case is on a path to litigation, the applicant requests that the town consider the zoning permit application to permit a sports pub/bar/restaurant with charitable fundraising in accord with applicable law and regulations,” said the attachment. “If the town or zoning official determines another use category is more appropriate for the use, the applicant has no preference for the administrative category as long as it can proceed to complete construction and operate its business as intended.”

Meanwhile, other projects to be discussed at Nov. 16’s meeting include:

•  North Conway Country Club will be asking the planning board for permission to Cell on Wheels, or COW — cell tower attached to a truck on country club property. The goal is to allow Verizon to offer better cell reception in North Conway Village.
•  Proposed ordinance change to allow restaurants to have outdoor dining. Outdoor dining in town began as an emergency response to COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, and the board has extended it each summer since then. Town officials have expressed interest in making it a permanent part of Conway’s restaurant culture and landscape. The planning board is working toward that end.
•  A proposed public art ordinance to separate signs from murals. Conway has been involved in disputes with Leavitt’s Country Bakery and Settler’s Green as to whether their murals are works of art protected by the First Amendment or illegal signs. An ordinance change would address such issues.

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