More than 120 people turned out Monday, Nov. 19, for the first of what might be a series of Zoning Board hearings on a special exception application for gas pumps at Page’s Country Store and Deli.

The air was thick from the heat of so many bodies as supporters, opponents, residents, abutters, business owners and interested observers packed into the double classroom to hear the plan presented by Page’s Country Store owner Dave Barkie’s team of experts.

Owners of the property have twice been turned down for gas pumps using underground storage facilities, in 1992 and 2002, due to water contamination concerns.

At the hearing, engineer Jennifer McCourt outlined the plans for the canopy-covered three-island gas pumps and the 20,000 gallon above-ground storage tank system that would hold the gas. Some of the precautions against gas spillage, that McCourt described as far exceeding state standards, included a doublewalled tank, extra holding capacity to prevent overfill, a concrete dike for the tank, double layers on the flexible pipes that run underground, sensors with alarms to detect a breach of the walls, automatic shutoff valves, a storm water interceptor, and a bioretention pond to filter runoff water with organic materials and sediments.

Environmental engineer Jim Elliott described a review of 12 reported cases of spills involving above-ground storage systems in New Hampshire from 2005 to 2006 and found many involved old facilities, human error or motor vehicles accidents. There was some impact to soil but there was no groundwater contamination.

Real estate appraiser Ken Currier testified that gas pumps would not bring property values down, citing the sales of homes in Dunbarton before and after the construction of the Country Store, as well as construction of an Irving gas station in Goffstown and another gas station in Holderness as case studies.

Traffic engineer Stephen Pernaw estimated the majority of gas station business would come from “pass-by” trips and would bring 10 more trips during peak travel hours, increasing net traffic volume on Route 77 by 1 percent.

Attorney Amy Manzelli, representing the abutters, presented her response in regards to the five main criteria for a special exception.

Manzelli said the property value report used case studies that weren’t comparable to this situation and didn’t address the effect on a neighborhood with historic homes such as the Molly Stark House.

She pointed out that no amount of state-of-the-art equipment could guarantee against human error in spilling toxic materials, and that the applicant hadn’t addressed the use of municipal services in the case of a leak.

She also cited the expiration of the above-ground storage permit as evidence for doubting Barkie’s ability to fufill maintainence and safety requirements.

The board also heard from environmental engineering consultant John Gilbert, hired by the abutters, who cut short his presentation due to time constraints but submitted a list of responses to Barkie’s findings. Gilbert highlighted that the ethanol that had replaced MTBEs in gasoline was even more water soluble and that the state even has a cleanup fund in anticipation that spills will occur, despite the best of equipment and practices.

Abutter Karen Cusano, of 10 Old Fort Lane, said that the town already had a gas station and that the Page’s Country Store would end up servicing out-oftowners more than Dunbarton residents.

“We’re not anti-commercial. We run businesses, too,” she said. “But that goal cannot supersede the health and safety of the people that live around the area.”

Chairman John Trottier announced the meeting would be cut off at 10 p.m. but that everyone who wanted to would eventually have an opportunity to speak.

Resident George Halt said he was neutral on the issue but was generally interested in town politics and came, he joked, “to see the fur fly.”

However, despite a few under-the-breath mutterings by audience members, the proceedings were largely civil.

“Everyone did a good job staying levelheaded and sticking to the five criteria,” said Manzelli. “Everybody’s been very patient.”

Barkie’s attorney Richard Uchida said their goal had been to make as thorough a presentation as possible. “I think we achieved that goal,” he said.

They hope to be able to respond to the abutters’ criticism sometime by December or January. The hearing was continued to Dec. 10, 7 p.m., at the Dunbarton Elementary School.