PETERBOROUGH A Buddhist meditation center and monastery on Temple Mountain was granted permission on Monday to build a temple on its Route 101 land by the planning board.

The proposed 3,200 square foot temple would accommodate up to 75 people for mostly Sunday prayer meetings and up to 20 people for week-long retreats.

The Buddhist temple, to be named the Bao Chon Temple, would be built on an 11 acre property on Route 101 where the Temple Mountain Buddhist Meditation Center is already located.

The current meditation center is located in a three-bedroom house on Route 101 near Miller State Park and the former Temple Mountain Ski Area. The houses garage would be torn down to make way for the temple. Part of the project includes a new parking lot to accommodate more cars and widening the driveway to accommodate more traffic.

Planning board member Ivy Vann said Thursday that planners were not concerned about any increase in traffic on Route 101, since it is already a busy road. She does have a personal concern over more cars coming in and out of the Route 101 driveway, Vann said, however that falls under the jurisdiction of the N.H. Department of Transportation. DOT has granted the project a driveway permit for the increased traffic expected, she said.

Im not in love with that left off turn on Route 101, but thats the states decision, Vann said.

As part of its approval the planning board required the new parking lot to include bicycle parking. Town regulations require all new parking lots to include bicycle parking, Vann said.

Town planners feel strongly about supporting cyclists and the network of bike paths in town, she said.

In July the Peterborough Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a special exception that allows for a religious institution in the rural district and a variance to build within the 50-foot Wetland Overlay Protection Zone. In its decision the zoning board said the town conservation commission classifies the man-made ditch as a low functioning wetlands.

Vietnamese Buddhist monks have lived at the center and run it since 2011.

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Peterborough approves plans for construction of Buddhist temple