The name has changed from The Cottages to Mirabelle Bay, but not much else on the 30 acres off Route 6 where developer Matt Zuker (aka 78 Wareham Road, LLC) will be constructing a townhouse-style village, according to his presentation during Monday’s continued public hearing before the Marion Planning Board.
“The plan hasn’t changed,” said Zuker, who indicates traction to build 48 units of market-rate housing between the Weweantic River and the approved but not yet built Heron Cove Estates (a 120-unit, affordable-housing rental project).
After 11 months of delays and, most recently, formulation of responses to Major Site Plan Review, Zuker was before the board to revive what he and the members anticipate will be multiple sessions in the continued-public-hearing process before a Special Permit can lead to shovels in the ground at 78 Wareham Road.
Zuker laid out a PowerPoint presentation showing 36 detached dwellings and 12 townhouses, reminding the board that the deed restriction limits the project to 48 residential units. Though the layout has been revised, he indicated that the minor modifications made to T2’s architectural plan are mainly inside the units. Tweaks have been made to the floor plan to accommodate the over-55 target audience.
Of obvious interest not directly related to on-site work is the relationship of Zuker’s project to Ken Steen’s Heron Cove Estates where it concerns agreements that each developer independently reached with town officials to invest in badly needed, infrastructural upgrades to water and sewer along the stretch of Route 6 between Point Road and the Wareham line.
Board member Eileen Marum asked if the pumping station on Zuker’s site plan will also serve Heron Cove.
“As of right now, no,” said Zuker. “We’re prepared to go it alone at this point.”
Zuker maintained that he has a good relationship with Steen, and the two have held discussions about their adjacent projects.
While the presentation largely focused on the project itself, lingering issues relating to stormwater and wastewater were of concern.
“If the state permit allows only so much flow to the (wastewater treatment) plant – my understanding was you are pretty close – I’d just like to make sure that this issue is resolved, because if we don’t, this is a serious problem,” said board member W. Dale Jones.
Select Board member Randy Parker recalled that former Select Board member John Waterman handled the issue prior to the formal application. Parker said the town believed that, “if we took some (Infiltration/Inflow) out, we could make this thing work … it was a great plan.”
The pumping station planned for the bottom of the hill will presumably have the capacity to potentially handle River Road. “That was important,” said Parker.
“The total flow is the one that concerns me,” said Jones.
“We didn’t go out on a limb and not know that number, but it’s been a long time. The Water/Sewer commissioners were confident at the time that this was going to work,” countered Parker.
Together with Parker, fellow Marion Select Board members Norm Hills and Toby Burr make up the town’s Water/Sewer commissioners.
Zuker pointed out that when Town Meeting voted for the zoning change (to Residence E) to allow for his project, there was an accompanying Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) regarding water/sewer flow. He reminded the board that Weston & Sampson’s analysis dictated an I/I contribution that would result in payment of $1,240,000 to the town.
“That’s as thorough as you can get from probably the best company in the state,” said Zuker.
Together with property taxes, his million-plus investment in I/I and new sewer and watermains on Wareham Road, Zuker estimates that his project will generate close to $5,000,000 for the town.
Since the Zoning Board of Appeals vetted Heron Cove, the Planning Board remains concerned about the neighboring project discharging stormwater onto Mirabelle Bay and the effects of a 100-year storm.
Zuker said that Ken Motta (Marion’s peer-review engineer) provided a solution to connect not the entire stormwater systems but to the overflow from Heron Cove.
“I have a good relationship with Ken Steen and I’m sure we’ll figure that out, it’s just not a situation that we created,” said Zuker. “My goal is to build the whole infrastructure, then we can build the project.” The process, he conceded, will be difficult to predict.
Referencing the board’s last discussion, Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee asked Zuker if the bridge project expected to take place over the next three to five years will impact his project and if there has been interaction with Massachusetts Department of Transportation regarding any new curb cuts. Zuker said that even though the curb cuts will be in the same exact locations, any curb cuts require MassDOT approval.
Marum reminded the board that several abutters (not present on Monday) had attended the recent continued public hearing that was canceled only hours before its scheduled time, sending those abutters home in frustration. Zuker assured Marum he would circle back to those abutters and hear out their concerns regarding Route 6 traffic for drivers exiting Hill and Oak streets.
Zuker’s revised layout addressed 24 items in the first peer-review report, including a landscape plan that will see the replanting of approximately 500 trees and 800 shrubs, “plus 30 specimen trees on the property that we’re working on transplanting. … it’s worth saving those.”
The number two peer-review report indicated no stormwater concerns, only focusing on soils, the last box Zuker said needs checking.
The units will have two-car garages, the 22-foot roadway through the project will have sidewalks, and there will be walking paths to the clubhouse. Two homes will share one driveway entry. A 20-foot firetruck walkway will run around the whole property. Presently on the site are an old tennis court, a house and four or five buildings in what Zuker described as bad condition.
At the bottom of the slope that descends from 52 feet down to 5 feet is an old gravel path along the Weweantic that peer review noted is overgrown but has recommended bringing it back.
Zuker told the board there will be soil testing by the end of the week, and he wishes to close out as many issues as possible in building his way toward approval to begin construction.
With that, the board voted to continue the public hearing to Monday, August 5, at 7:05 pm.
A presentation and discussion revisited the state Small Municipality Storm Sewer Systems in MA (MS4) Permit and MS4 Stormwater Bylaw presented to the board in the spring by Marion Department of Public Works engineer Meghan Davis.
Resolved not to burden taxpayers, some members insisted at the time that the town merely follow the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency, only to learn on Monday night that MS4 is tailored to individual towns. The town itself can formulate its own bylaw (response) to the requirements.
To educate the board and take questions, Scott Turner of Environmental Partners visited Monday. He was recently hired by the Marion Department of Public Works to design a model bylaw and regulation that would, with Planning Board and Town Meeting approval, set up Marion to achieve compliance with state regulations.
Guey-Lee told the board he is looking to add the bylaw at the next Town Meeting, “hopefully in the fall.”
In 2003, Marion was awarded a permit similar to the effective July 1, 2018, but it was not enforced. The new permit includes the possibility of audits from the EPA.
Turner said that Marion’s subdivision regulations are comprehensive, “better than any town I’ve seen in the state.” But he said they still do not meet the requirements of the MS4 permit. For instance, Marion encourages low-impact development; MS4 requires it.
A lengthy discussion ensued that among many things addressed stormwater discharge and fecal coliform found where animals are allowed to defecate.
Turner left the board with options on how to achieve compliance, noting that some Massachusetts municipalities are in complete compliance while others “do absolutely nothing.”
Member Alanna Nelson recommended the board revisit the matter while it is “fresh in our minds,” and the board planned to put MS4 on its August 5 agenda.
After Repurpose Properties, LLC’s Approval Not Required (lot division) was given the thumbs up, Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering cheerfully waited through Zuker’s 7:05 pm public hearing before a 7:10 pm hearing that would approval Repurpose’s construction project on the rear lot at Tucker Lane. The board accepted confirmation that the stream on the property is, in fact, intermittent, meaning there is no riverfront area.
The board approved Sperry Fabric Architecture, c/o Matt Sperry, 19 Marconi Lane, for construction of a storage facility.
Sippican Holdings, LLC, received a continuance of its public hearing for its plans at the former Lockheed Martin property to August 19 at 7:05 pm.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, August 5, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station.
Marion Planning Board
By Mick Colageo