The Marion Planning Board met April 21 to discuss the housing Production Plan from the Marion Affordable Housing Trust, and continued the public hearing for Saltworks Marine’s new facility located at 291 Wareham Street.
The April 6 meeting with the Planning Board left Dan Crete, owner of Saltworks Marine, and Dave Davignon of N. Douglas Schneider and Associates, Inc. with several notes about the current plans for the property.
One of the primary issues was the need for a Special Permit, as the proposed buildings on the site exceed the 5,000 square-foot aggregate. No motion was made on the permit at this time, but it will be either approved or denied at the May 4 Planning Board meeting.
Davignon presented the board with updated plans and highlighted, at the behest of Planning Board Chairman Stephen Kokkins, the changes that were made to the plan since the last meeting.
“If you could cover the major points which resulted in changes in your plan … so that when we take these away and review them and look them over we understand what we’re looking at so we can hone in on some of the changes you’ve made,” Kokkins said.
The specific issues include a building slated to be constructed within a FEMA designated velocity zone. A velocity zone is an area along the coast subject to flooding.
Davignon said in Tuesday’s meeting that there will be no buildings placed within the velocity zone, and he wanted to make sure the board understood that.
Another issue was related to groundwater mounding.
“As I recall, there were fairly significant [issues] regarding the effects of groundwater rising into the recharge system for the front building,” Kokkins said.
In the initial plans, there were concerns in a report that the groundwater mounding would reach nine inches into one of the stormwater management systems.
“That comment, when first put on paper, was written without the realization that the leaching facility in the design was lifted by ten inches,” Davignon said. “It came up eight-tenths of a foot in the revisions in the first phase. Therefore the nine inches are no longer an issue.”
The Board of Health recommended the applicant dig a test hole ten feet deep to determine if they have enough soil beneath the facility to house the drainage system.
“You’re churning up the soil, you’re doing more harm than good,” Davignon said. “And so we don’t agree with the suggestion.”
As such, the applicant is requesting a waiver from the test. This is one of seven waivers being filed in the final plans.
Kokkins thanked the representatives for the work they’ve done so far on the project.
“I think the ‘I’s’ have been dotted and the “T’s” have been crossed,” board member Stephen Gonsalves said of the project.
Also during the meeting, the board unanimously approved the Housing Production Plan presented by Marion Affordable Housing Trust Chairman Jennifer Watson. Board member Eileen Marum raised a question about the property choice. She asked if Watson has considered purchasing and subdividing one of Marion’s larger homes into affordable housing.
“The reason I raise this concern is that I know there is very little developable land in Marion. Most of what might be available is wetlands,” Marum said.
Watson addressed this concern by saying that they would not be purchasing and subdividing a home for financial reasons.
“It would be very difficult for us as the Affordable Housing Trust to purchase a larger home and convert it because, money-wise, we don’t have the funds to do that,” Watson said.
The board also approved two contracts for the Town’s Master Plan, one of which was related to the Affordable Housing Trust and the other was a contract for technical services from the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, SRPEDD.
Before the end of the meeting, the board approved the minutes from several prior meetings. The minutes of August 8, September 16, and October 7 were approved unanimously. There was a disagreement about the minutes of Dec. 1, in which board member Norman Hills felt that a discussion regarding how the minutes should be recorded was misrepresented by Clerk Robert Lane.
The discussion turned heated when Lane defended his work, saying that he consulted a number of resources and determined that the way he recorded the minutes was legal and accurate. When Marum asked to see a presentation of Lane’s research he refused, by saying “I haven’t the slightest intention of doing it.”
“That leads me to think that you didn’t do the research,” Marum said in response.
The discussion lasted ten minutes and ended in a 4-2 vote to approve the minutes with Marum and Hills opposed.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for May 4 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Andrew Roiter
