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.