From:	Michael Behrendt
Sent:	Monday, February 01, 2016 3:25 PM
Subject:	Mill Plaza - water on nearby lots

To the Planning Board, TRG, and applicant,
Please see the email below from Josh Meyrowitz.  Mr. Meyrowitz owns (Map 6) 
Lot 7-58, 7 Chesley Drive, below, which is adjacent to the Mill Plaza property 
directly to the south (last lot on Chesley Drive on the left).  He sent me the video 
below (through dropbox, which hopefully you can access) showing the 
overflowing of College Brook on/adjacent to his lot.  It would be helpful if the 
applicant’s engineer can take a look at this situation as part of the stormwater 
management plan for Mill Plaza.



 

Michael Behrendt
Durham Town Planner
Town of Durham
8 Newmarket Road
Durham, NH  03824
(603) 868-8064
www.ci.durham.nh.us


From: Meyrowitz, Joshua []  
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2016 6:32 PM 
To: Michael Behrendt 
Subject: Link to Vid of College Brook flooding

Hi Michael,

I tried to email you the shortest of the brook videos, shot at the lowest resolution, but 
even that was too big to email, so I'm sending a link to the video on Dropbox, viewable 
by anyone with this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zedz7hdlwh6davp/College%20Brook%20flooding.MP4?dl=0

This video is from January 10, 2016. Note that the entire wetland becomes a lake, that 
the brook channel rages like a major river, and that a new brook channel (also with 
some "white water") opens that then merges into the regular brook stream.

As I mentioned, ever since Dave Garvey took out the rear hillside of the plaza (having 
received a permit only to take out the fenced in propane-tank area at the rear of the 
plaza) and replaced it with asphalt and also packed down more of the permeable soil 
(though then surfaced it with loam and grew some grass, thus making it look pretty but 
still adding to the flooding), College Brook flooding during heavy rains or snow melts 
has increased dramatically. I've lost trees along the brook, top soil has washed away, 
and a corner of the (expensive!) new landscaping in my backyard has disappeared.

Also of note is the claim of the Plaza at that time that they desperately needed more 
parking spaces for the customers of commercial footage that existed then. Yet, the new 
plans call for more commercial space, 330 new student residents, and FEWER parking 
spaces for business customers. 

I am, however, heartened by your belief that the engineers working on the plaza site will 
be able to fix the flooding situation.

Best, 
Joshua

Joshua Meyrowitz
Professor of Media Studies
Department of Communication
Horton Social Science Center
20 Academic Way
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824 USA
1 (603) 862-3031 (office & voice mail)
joshua.meyrowitz@unh.edu 
https://unh.academia.edu/JoshuaMeyrowitz