HANOVER – A proposed three-lot subdivision on a 3-acre wedge of land off Howard Pond’s South Shore Road, brought about 30 people to Wednesday night’s Planning Board public hearing in the Hanover Town House.

Some just wanted to hear what developer and seasonal Hanover resident William Kohut of Dover, N.H., had to say about his project. Others wanted to vent.

The hearing was to take abutter concerns and see whether the board should require Kohut to upgrade about 600 feet of South Shore Road. A town ordinance requires that such roads be upgraded for year-round use if a subdivision is created.

Kohut and his representative, Darryl Brown of Main-Land Development of Livermore Falls, want the board to waive the upgrade rule. Brown said it would be cost-prohibitive to require Kohut to upgrade the road and, a portion of it is owned by someone else.

Brown explained the project and work done through previous board meetings, which include keeping a no-cut buffer zone around the property’s downslope adjacent to the road. Additionally, Kohut agreed to only use two driveways instead of three.

Kohut, 61, also said he would make it very clear to potential buyers of the lots on which buildings will be constructed prior to sales, that the road is closed to winter maintenance. Impact on the road, he said, would be very minimal.

“By all rights, we’re talking three months out of the year. In six weeks, there might be three more cars on the road,” he said.

Planning Board Chairman Mark Beaudoin told the crowd that planners are worried that if they grant the waiver, they’re setting a precedent for future developers.

But Brown urged the board to take the project on its own merit, and not try to force Kohut to meet a future demand that is nonexistent now.

Abutter Richard Knowles, whose property is downslope of the second and third lots, was concerned about runoff and disturbed soil.

“I’m downhill. Water always runs downhill,” he said.

Brown said they would build crowns into the center of the 12-foot-wide driveways, so the water would shed laterally. Then, it would be shunted off to the side through culverts.

“I do know that if you graduated from the University of Maine, water runs downhill,” said 45-year Hanover resident Herb Adams, who didn’t hold much faith in Brown’s explanation.

Brown also outlined the project’s required erosion sediment control plan and how they planned to prevent soil from reaching the pond.

“I believe, and I may be wrong, that this is the start of the ruination of the tranquility of Howard Pond and the whole aspect,” Adams said.

After the 30-minute hearing was adjourned, Adams could still be heard arguing loudly against the project, on which planners were to continue work Wednesday night.