Pembroke Planning Board approves Chase Bank site plan for former Friendly's building

PEMBROKE -- April 7, 2025, Pembroke Planning Board clears Chase Bank to occupy former Friendly's at 146 Church Street. The board voted 4-0 Monday to approve site plan SP3-25, authorizing JPMorgan Chase Bank to convert the 3,588-square-foot vacant Friendly's restaurant building into a full bank branch with ADA parking and sidewalk upgrades and a mill-and-overlay of the existing parking area. Civil engineer Nick Dewhurst of Bowler Engineering presented the plan; consultant Deb Keller of Merrill Engineers called it "a pretty clean plan, small footprint, no increase in impervious." The board also unanimously endorsed a lot-line correction at 35 Stetson Avenue, conveying 882 square feet to resolve an encroachment dating to a 1940 house construction, and continued two Town of Pembroke public hearings, including one for the School Street Public Safety Building, to April 28, when the board is also expected to vote on four state grant applications targeting a zoning map update, center protection district amendments, a lapsed housing protection plan, and downtown branding.