| Joanne Cole |
The Planning Board met on March 18 to consider an updated application from Oz Associates. Oz wants to amend its existing subdivision plan to develop an additional six lots on two parcels totaling some 15.6 acres near Oz Drive, across from the former Buddy’s Store on Sabbathday Road.
Five of the six new lots would be for commercial uses; the last one would be residential, with a duplex planned. The parcels border Oz Drive, Sabbathday Road and Mayall Road and are in the Residential Commercial District and Groundwater Protection Overlay zone (Map 2 Lots 36-3 and 36-4).
After review and discussion, the board declared Oz Associates’ application complete and scheduled a site walk of the property for Monday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m. A public hearing on the application will take place Tuesday, April 1, at 7 p.m. at the Meetinghouse. The public is welcome to attend either or both.
At the March 18 meeting, Brandon Binette of Sevee & Maher Engineers appeared on behalf of Oz Associates, as he had for a preliminary conversation in September. He updated the board on the fire protection plan and the driveway permit (both in the works but not yet documented), as well as stormwater management and other items.
The board’s review had unusual wrinkles because the structures, tenants and proposed uses on the commercial parcels are all unknown at this point. For example, how can the applicant establish that the water supply is adequate for needs, when the needs aren’t yet known?
Binette acknowledged as much: “Hard to show what you need if you don’t have a use.” A greenhouse would be water-intensive; a storage building would not, he noted. As a solution, Binette proposed that Oz demonstrate water supply compliance at the permit stage for each building, when the use will be known.
Board member Steve Libby wanted each business/use to undergo site plan review at the Planning Board when the times comes, not just code enforcement officer approval. For one thing, abutters might want to weigh in at a public hearing, he said, depending on the type of business proposed. Libby noted that the Planning Board was told that one of the current Oz Road parcels would have a construction-related use but it’s instead a cannabis grow operation that the board didn’t approve. It appeared there was no record of code officer approval in the file either.
Oz Associates had hoped for blanket approval in advance rather than successive reviews, but Chair Doug McAtee clarified that although the board can approve the subdivision as a whole, “We can’t give you approval of what business can go in there.” The ordinance specifies what activities are permitted in the zone, what are permitted with site plan review and what are prohibited, McAtee noted. The code officer makes the determination in each case, not the board.
Steve Libby asked whether the proposed lots met the net residential acreage requirements, which ensure a minimum natural buildable area on each lot. Under the ordinance, areas with poor soils, areas within the 100-year floodplain, filled or drained ponds or wetlands, too-steep slopes, areas under conservation restrictions and the like are subtracted to arrive at the net number.
Libby had noticed that a couple of the proposed lots just cleared the one-acre bar, including one with significant wetlands. Binette replied that “wetlands are not subtracted, per the ordinance.” He said he’d asked former planner Kathy Tombarelli because that seemed “peculiar.” Chair Doug McAtee said, “I thought we always deducted wetlands from that, but if we don’t, we don’t.” The board left the question there.
Binette noted that the Residential Commercial zone allows a maximum of 30 percent coverage–paving, parking, roofs–on a lot. By contrast, the Groundwater Protection zone generally limits coverage to a maximum of 10 percent, he said, but the board has discretion to allow up to 30 percent, and that’s what Oz Associates is requesting. His calculations assume the largest allowable build, and proposed treatment ponds will handle the stormwater, Binette said.
With board members’ questions aired, they proceeded through the submission checklist and determined that the application was complete. Next up: the site walk at Oz Drive on Monday, March 31, followed by the public hearing and board meeting on Tuesday, April l 1.
Watch video of the Planning Board’s March 18, 2025, meeting at this link and the agenda packet at this link. Find links to other meeting agendas, minutes and related documents on the Planning Board page at this link.
