It took substantial discussion, but the Marion Planning Board voted on Monday night to continue the public hearing on a two-lot definitive subdivision plan filed by Danielle Realty Trust, Wareham Street, with the confidence that a conditioned approval will be forthcoming on December 19.
According to project representative Bob Rogers of G.A.F. Engineering, the only substantive change to the site plan as of December 5 was an increase in the pavement rift around the cul-de-sac, expanding the width of the pavement from 18 feet to 22 feet.
Rogers told the board he received an email from Fire Chief Brian Jackvony stating that the applicant’s revised site plan was reviewed and that Marion’s ladder truck would be able to enter and exit without restriction.
Test pits were also added on the hill on the property and displayed on the site map, and more could be added based on need or desire.
Erosion-control will be supported by soil-stabilization practices during construction.
Planning Board member Andrew Daniel posed the question as to snow potentially clogging the “beehive” at the front side of the cul-de-sac as opposed to the center or the rear. “Because all the snow from Danielle Drive is going to be pushed into that first,” he said.
Daniel, the Facilities manager for the Town of Rochester, explained that a snowplow would clear the straightaway first, pushing the lion’s share of snow at the front of the cul-de-sac, leaving the rear with the least amount of snow.
Rogers acknowledged that the center catch basin can be moved 5 or 6 feet toward the center of the cul-de-sac but maintained that plowing would tend to push to the right side and not push snow directly at the front of the island as Daniel suggested.
“It’s not really a beehive; it is a standard catch basin,” said Rogers.
Daniel insisted a storm could result in an 8- to 10-foot pile of snow at the center of the cul-de-sac and stuck to his suggestion that the center basin be moved 5 feet backward toward the center or even the rear of the cul-de-sac.
Town Planner Doug Guey-Lee asked if relocation of the catch basin poses ramifications for access for maintenance purposes. Rogers said no and agreed with board member Eileen Marum that the two homeowners would be responsible for the maintenance of the road.
Marum talked about increased rainfall due to climate change. Rogers said the systems being proposed are designed for 100-year storms.
When the floor was opened to comment from outside the board or town staff, self-recused Planning Board member Chris Collings, 13 River Road, identified himself as an abutter and asked if a marking at the downslope property line on the site plan is a vegetative barrier.
Rogers identified the marking in question as a tree line vertical and a no-disturb line horizontal below. Collings suggested the board request such a barrier to give abutters “the privacy they want.”
Daniel asked if the board faces liability charges should the plan prove damaging to the abutters.
“I have no worries whatsoever about this runoff going across the road,” said Rogers, but he did state that maintenance is an issue for the two drains on River Road at the bottom of the swale. Failure of those drains could impact the area, he acknowledged.
“We are used to screening solar farms from residential areas, screening a single-family house from another single-family house. That works both ways,” said Rogers.
Referencing the covenant he filled out and submitted to the town, Rogers said that before the board’s December 19 meeting, he would revise the site plan to move the catch basin in the middle of the cul-de-sac. “My expectation is that we’ll be drafting a decision with conditions for the board’s review,” he said.
As Daniel proposed tweaks along the tree line, board member Tucker Burr sought clarification on the drainage network. Rogers explained the catch basins on the perimeter of the cul-de-sac move the runoff to what begins as a 12-inch pipe that finds a low point near the beginning of River Road.
Citing that the board was moving toward approval of the project, Guey-Lee recommended any substantive issues “be brought to bear now rather than later.” He said he would like the board to be talking at its next meeting with a draft decision in hand.
Rogers said the waiver requests have not changed since being submitted.
Regarding the covenant being reviewed by the board, Guey-Lee asked how the median in the case of a private way is split up between the two prospective property owners. “I’m just wondering who would mow it, etc.,” he said. Rogers explained that both owners would be responsible for the common land.
Hills indicated that Rogers can expect a decision to be written for the board’s review, and the members voted to continue the case to December 19 at 7:05 pm.
In other business, Marum volunteered to produce an initial draft of the board’s annual report due February 1, 2023.
The board voted to approve a 2023 meeting schedule that due to holidays falling on Mondays will include six Tuesday meetings.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, December 19, at 7:00 pm at the Police Station, also accessible via Zoom.
Marion Planning Board
By Mick Colageo