WATERVILLE $ Vehicles leaving a 33-unit apartment building would cause traffic problems on quiet Burleigh Street and Morrill Avenues, neighbors told the Planning Board tonight.

The Board was considering whether to approve a site plan for a proposal to turn Gilman Street School into affordable apartments.

Neighbors Lawrence Bloom, Janis Lazarian and Susan Wark argued that with an entrance and exit to the development on Burleigh Street, drivers leaving the building will be apt to turn right onto Burleigh $ rather than left $ and then turn onto Morrill Avenue, where children play and people ride bicycles.

Bloom suggested the entrance to the development be on Gilman Street, an already-busy street.

City Engineer Greg Brown and developer Kevin Bunker said the grades are too steep from Gilman to the property to have a driveway there.

Board Chairman David Geller also said the area is very steep.

"It may not seem it, but when it's icy, it's extremely dangerous," he said.

Planner Eliza Mathias asked if there were ways to alert drivers to slow down while exiting onto Burleigh, such as erecting signs.

Brown said that was a good idea, but signs must be authorized.

"The police chief has the sole authority, I think, to erect those signs," Brown said.

Bloom said he was disappointed that residents were not able to say they do not want all the cars exiting onto a quiet and safe street.

"This is a travesty, having all the parking lots empty onto Burleigh," he said.

A draft of a neighborhood impact study developed at the request of neighbors was released late Monday afternoon. It attempts to address how the development would impact the neighborhood in terms of traffic, noise, added population and other issues.

Bunker and Pat Carroll of Carroll Associates, a landscaping firm, said they want to work with neighbors on some issues, including the type of fence to erect along Morrill Avenue property lines to serve as a buffer to the building.

They discussed parking, trees, shrubbery, trash receptacles and other issues with neighbors and planners, with Carroll saying the trash receptacles would be situated behind the building and trucks would unload them and exit from Burleigh.

"Personally, I think this is horrible," Lazarian said. "The trash activities, parking, driving in and out of there $ so close to all of the homes," she said. "It's right there in our back yards, basically."

Wark agreed.

"That's a lot of garbage and trash for 33 units, picked up once a week," she said.

At 8:45 p.m. Monday, the board had not made a decision on whether to approve the site plan. The City Council plans to hold a special meeting Oct. 14 to discuss the impact study and expects to vote on a possible zone change on Oct. 21. The zone change would allow 33 apartments to be built in the facility, whereas current zoning allows 28.