Dartmouth administrators have decided to take more time to review a plan to develop apartment-style undergraduate housing north of campus on Lyme Road following feedback from members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and earlier concerns raised by members of the Hanover community.

Faculty members, at their annual winter term meeting late this afternoon, voted 89-4 to “request that the Lyme Road development plan be paused pending review and further consideration of how the plan affects Dartmouth’s primary mission as an undergraduate institution.”

“In light of the faculty’s concerns, we have made the decision to take some time and broaden our evaluation of the project,” says Executive Vice President Rick Mills.

He says the initial planning phase will be extended by three months, through the end of May, and will give administrators time to further explore the project in terms of its impact on the undergraduate student experience, transportation and traffic considerations, and maintaining important community recreation spaces.

“We will also use the time to conduct further engagement sessions with faculty, students, and members of the larger community,” Mills says.

As currently proposed, the project would build student residences on the east side of Lyme Road, near Lyme Road Village and Garipay Fields. The apartments would provide residential “swing space” for about 300 students, allowing Dartmouth to begin systematic renovations of approximately 60% of existing undergraduate residence halls over the next 12 years, beginning with Andres and Zimmerman Halls and the Brace Commons social space.

In January, planners presented project details in online webinars to Hanover residents, including those who live near the Lyme Road property, and to undergraduates.