On February 23, 2006, the Manchester Planning Board held a business meeting. A vote was scheduled for the Waterford Development Corporation's "Neighbors at Woodland Pond" project.

There was considerable discussion of the traffic impacts that would be caused by the project. Traffic from the proposed development, as well as traffic from a large number of existing Waterford-constructed single family homes and apartment buildings, Hillcrest Terrace Retirement Complex, Countryside Village apartment complex, and numerous homes and condos on Hackett Hill Road, will all exit at the intersection of Hackett Hill Road and Route 3A. Moreover a giant Wal-Mart and Lowes are slated to be constructed slightly north of the intersection on Route 3A.

The Discussion basically concerned who would pay for improvements at the intersection, especially if the Hooksett project did not occur, It was proposed that Waterford should make a commitment for the necessary changes if the Wal-Mart and Lowes were not constructed. Todd Connors also brought up the impact of schools on the construction of 500 more homes on Hackett Hill, although other members of the board and Pam Goucher, Associate City Planning Director, did not consider school overcrowding to be a problem. It was decided that appropriate individuals in the School Department would be kept informed.

Of considerable importance was a letter sent to the Planning Board by the Manchester Conservation Commission. Todd Connors summarized the complete text of the letter. The letter states the Conservation Commission's opposition to the Waterford project, and noted that this land was originally targeted by the regional EPA as appropriate mitigation land for the widening of I-93. It then went on to say, that should the development be approved, despite this opposition, it should only proceed under certain constraints. The letter then restated many of the concerns expressed in a letter sent by The Nature Conservancy to the Planning Board that was written into the record at the Dec. 15, 2005 public hearing.

A few other members of the Planning Board examined the letter and felt that the constraints it expressed had already been covered at the previous public hearings. However, it should be recalled that in those instances, no explicit promises were made by Waterford regarding the constraints, and that Robert Shapiro had only stated that he was maintaining an "open dialogue with The Nature Conservancy." Also, in response to a question about the situation put to him after the meeting by Mark Hayward, reporter for the Manchester Union Leader, Shapiro only stated that, "We obviously view it as a major responsiblity, and something we're going to do a good job with."

The Planning Board then voted on the application, which had already received a favorable recommendation by the Manchester Planning Department. The application was approved by a voice vote.

Later on, it was learned that a number of conditions had been attached by the Planning Board to the Waterford development project. Among other things, the conditions noted that any modification of the approved plans would be subject to review and approval by the Planning Department. It was also noted that traffic improvement plans (concerning the Hackett Hill Road - 3A intersection) must be submitted prior to the issuance of the 200th certificate of occupancy. None of the conditions related to the concerns expressed by The Nature Conservancy and the Manchester Conservation Commission.