The Marion Planning Board on March 6 briefly went over a few details of the Buzzards Bay Coalition site plan review for a new field operations barn at 173 and 177 Spring Street.
Ken Motta, the board’s peer review engineer, had submitted a detailed letter with his questions and recommendations only 30 minutes before the start of the meeting, so the board members had not yet had the chance to review it.
In light of this, CLE Engineering representative Susan Nilson requested that the board table any matters pertaining to stormwater runoff and drainage until the next meeting because of the technical nature of the topics.
“It’s just a little bit scattered, so I’m not sure how to approach it,” Nilson said, but she added that she is confident she can address the stormwater issues with the board at the next meeting.
Chairman Robert Lane asked about a section of the plan where a future expansion could possibly be undertaken, asking Buzzards Bay Coalition President Mark Rassmussen whether it was indeed part of the intended plan before the board.
“We very well may, so we’d like to leave the option on the plan,” said Rassmussen, if only so it would be recognized as a preliminary concept. He said expansion would take place in roughly three years.
Lane told Rassmussen to either take it off the plan or treat it as if he is going to build it.
“We’re not going to give you site plan approval for a building we don’t even have all the material,” Lane told him.
Rassmussen’s only concern was for the stormwater specs for this current plan to be adequate enough to allow for future expansion of the footprint if desired.
“We wouldn’t want to reconstruct them or downsize them,” added Nilson.
A site plan review, said Lane, is only good for two years and only extendable for one additional year. By three years, the project would have to come back before the board anyway and be resubmitted.
Abutter Jean Maher had some concerns from a previous meeting, and she told the board she met with Rassmussen the prior week and walked the perimeter with him.
“We felt more comfortable with what he said … and he was very agreeable to planting some trees where we have open space between our property and theirs,” said Maher. “We appreciate that the coalition had agreed to doing that.”
The board continued the hearing until March 20.
In other matters, the board swiftly approved a modification to the site plan for 806 Mill Street owned by Arnold Johnson. The inability to relocate a fire hydrant to accommodate a new curb cut for an entrance resulted in having to use an existing curb cut at the old Frigate property for an entrance.
The board deemed it a minor enough change to simply approve it on the spot.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for March 20 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Jean Perry