By Jen Claise
Staff Writer

Candia officials say a conflict over a 43-acre parcel of land at the southwest end of Palmer Road could lead to litigation if a developer interested in building on the land wants to build over a small graveyard discovered on the site this summer.

Clark Thyng, chairman of the board of selectmen, said he is not aware of any pending litigation, but said it could be in the cards if Manchester-based developer KAM Realty Group decides they want to use the land.

According to a property deed dating back to the early 1800s, the plot is the site of a burying ground of “four rods in length and two rods in width” – or roughly 66 feet by 33 feet – that could be the final resting place of one of Candia’s earliest families.

The developer sought approval from the town to subdivide the parcel of land into six-acre lots to build homes on. Thyng said selectmen received a request from the developer to include the graveyard in order to meet the town’s 200-foot minimum street frontage for a house lot.

But selectmen denied the request, Thyng said, choosing instead to assert the town’s right to the small piece of land, on a request from the town’s Heritage Commission.

“There’s quite a large portion of land there, but we’re just asking for the small portion where the burial areas are,” Thyng said.

Ed Fowler, vice chairman of the commission, granted an interview to The Union Leader, but said he did not want to comment further on the matter during a phone call Monday, Nov. 29.

Fowler told The Union Leader he became aware of the graves after a site walk, when he noticed a surveyor had marked the area off with stakes. He said the average person would be unlikely to notice the five small granite field stones that are believed to mark the grave sites.

Thyng said the stones are simply marked with initials, and town officials believe the descendants are no longer in the area.

Thyng, who is also a member of the Heritage Commission, said the site could be declared an abandoned graveyard by the town. Under state statutes, town officials would have to advertise the issue in the local media and request that descendants come forward.

Currently, the Heritage Commission maintains several family graveyards in town, including the Reynolds Family Cemetery on Forest Street, the Asa Heath graveyard on Depot Road and the Lang Family Cemetery on New Boston Road.

To maintain the Palmer Road site would require little additional effort, Thyng said, since maintenance typically involves an annual visit to clear brush from the grave sites.

But Thyng said town officials are eager to set a precedent with this issue.

“Given the rate of development in town, it’s likely that issues like this will come up in the future,” he said. “We want to set a good example and make sure the land is not used in a fashion that would be disrespectful to the people buried there.”