The Village at Buxton Farm

This is the first real test of the Fair Market Rental Housing ordinance Chester voters adopted in 2024. The plan calls for 34 one- and two-bedroom detached rental homes on a private road, on about 20 acres of former farmland. Chester has very little rental housing compared to the towns around it, so whatever the board decides here sets the pattern for the next application filed under that ordinance.

How we got here

• Application filed under Chester’s Fair Market Rental Housing ordinance
• Site walk held July 29, 2026
• Hearing continued from August 5 to August 26 at the applicant’s request
• Board review has focused on Route 121 traffic, entrance safety, stormwater, and density

Nothing has been approved. It’s an active application, and I’ll update this the moment the board takes real action.

Noah Estates

Noah Estates started out as a 23-home proposal at 112 Little Mill Road. During Planning Board review, the applicant’s representative said a yield analysis found 21 homes fit the property better, and more recent town materials describe it that way now. Twenty-one additional single-family homes in one project is enough to get my attention in a town Sandown’s size.

How we got here

• Originally filed as a 23-home subdivision
• May 19, 2026 Planning Board hearing: yield analysis presented, plan narrowed to 21 homes
• Still moving through subdivision and wetlands review

Not approved. Early enough that the final numbers could still move.

196 & 198 Rockingham Road

This one’s on the current S&S Metal Recycling property on Rockingham Road. The plan has shifted since it first surfaced as a concept, now proposing three buildings of 20 units each instead of one larger building, still in Londonderry’s Commercial II district.

How we got here

• First appeared as a conceptual review
• Design evolved to three 20-unit buildings in a courtyard layout
• Planning Board continued the application pending a third-party environmental study
• A conditional use permit and a use exception for residential in a commercial zone are still outstanding

Still under review. Not approved, not conditionally approved.

225 Rockingham Road

A short way down the same road from the S&S site, a separate proposal for 40 residential units is moving through its own review. Put together with 196/198 Rockingham, that’s 100 potential new homes along one stretch of Route 28.

How we got here

• Continued across multiple 2026 hearings (Feb 4, Mar 11, Apr 8)
• Still in formal site plan review as of May 13, 2026

Not approved. I’m watching both Rockingham Road sites together since they’ll shape the same stretch of road.

One Oceanfront South

This is the one project on this page that’s actually cleared to build. The Planning Board approved it back in March 2020, and it took until July 2026 for the final permit to come through, nearly nine years from the first hearing. It’s the closest thing Salisbury Beach has to a year-round residential building, five stories with retail on the ground floor.

How we got here

• First appeared before the Planning Board in late 2017
• Unanimous Planning Board approval, March 2020
• Final permit issued, July 2026

Approved and permitted. No construction start date announced yet.

Tuscan Village — West Village District

Tuscan Village keeps leaning further into housing. The workforce and affordable component has grown from 50 units to 72 since it was first floated, and the developers have separately looked at dropping planned lab and life-science space, citing vacancy in that market. Full build-out across the whole property is projected near 2,000 residential units eventually.

Still conceptual. No hearing date confirmed yet.

Colby Farm

Litchfield’s first project under its mixed-use village provisions, putting townhouses, retail, and a daycare on one site along Route 3A. Zoning would allow up to 101 units at this density; the applicant is asking for 86.

How we got here

• Application accepted as complete by a 6-0 vote, April 7, 2026 — accepted, not approved
• Staff review flagged a missing fiscal impact study, no phasing plan, and open space below the town’s requirement
• Not on the July 21 or August 4 Planning Board agenda
• No hearing currently scheduled — staff recommended continuing to a date certain

This one’s gone quiet since April. That’s worth knowing if you’ve been wondering whether it’s still alive: as of now, it is, it just hasn’t been back in front of the board.