Superagenda

Cornerstone and Guard Up on the Docket This Week

Here's a quick look into what's going on in Westford politics and government for the week of Aug. 6.

  Welcome to August, Westford! Here's a quick rundown on some things going on in local government and politics.   Planning Board A decision will likely be made on Monday night's Planning Board meeting over the ongoing debate over freestanding entrance signs at Cornerstone Square,which was closed to public discussion at the last Planning Board meeting in July. The meeting also holds another discussion over a freestanding sign request for Kindercare on Carlisle Road and sign requests from three businesses within Cornerstone Square itself (Market Basket, Family Eye Care Center, Five Guys). Conservation Commission On Wednesday night, the Conservation Commission will hold a discussion over the topic of insurance issues with Guard Up and the …

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What Would You Like to See Go Into Cornerstone?

Welcome to our latest "Visions for Vacancies" feature, where we ask you what should go into vacant lots around Westford.

Hello Westford! Welcome to our second edition of "Visions for Vacancies", a new column where we ask the readers of Westford Patch what should go into vacant lots around town. Last week, we began the series by asking what should go into the last two spots in Westford Valley Marketplace 2. Today we ask for your opinion on what you'd like to see less than a mile down the road, just past Mobil on the Run, in the place that everybody's been talking about for months. That's right....what would you like to see go into Cornerstone Square? Barring all other circumstances, what are your picks for the perfect selections for Cornerstone? Are you still hoping for Whole Foods? Maybe a Trader Joe's like the one that's coming to Nashua? Or maybe some …

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Cornerstone Gains Approval for Internally Lit Channel Letter Signs

The amendment was the largest topic of discussion before the Planning Board on Monday night and was accompanied by other minor Cornerstone adjustments and other topics in a quick meeting.

  It was a light night this week for the Westford Planning Board, both figuratively and literally. In addition to continuing talk on changes to the Red Hat campus and a delay on action relating to storm water at Kimball Farm, the focus on Monday night at Town Hall came from a proposed modification on the Cornerstone project. The amendment requested by Cornerstone representatives asked for several changes, most notably removing the prohibition on internally lit signs in place for the project. Following an earlier discussion with the board on the subject several weeks ago, Cornerstone attorney Douglas Deschenes and Cornerstone developer Robert Walker provided examples of externally and internally lit signs throughout the area. The pair also …

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Andrew Sylvia

7:35 pm on Thursday, February 9, 2012

Sure, it was changes between the "D" Buildings and "B" Buildings (http://westford.patch.com/articles/requested-cornerstone-changes-tabled), I apologize for not linking back there. The "B" buildings (in the map in that link) were changed to two stories from the "D" buildings, which were the original two story buildings if I am not mistaken. That change and the lights were tabled at the last …   more ›

Questions Answered on Westford's Upcoming Land Use Development

Westford director of land use planning Angus Jennings was on hand at the J.V Fletcher Library on Tuesday night to provide details on a wide array of land use issues in town and in general.

A packed house filled the J.V Fletcher Library on Tuesday night as Westford land use management director Angus Jennings was on hand to give the crowd some insight into “What’s Being Built Around Us.” The event, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, took a look at the world of zoning and planning while also providing a look at large development projects coming to town in the near future. Jennings, who celebrated his second year on the job in Westford on Tuesday night, let the audience know that town planning can be difficult in Massachusetts compared to other states due to outdated laws. However, he also noted that Westford’s land use future appeared to be bright due to demographic trends and various initiatives and bylaws that would …

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Three Motions on Cornerstone at Planning Board Meeting

The large development expected to open this fall saw three motions from the Westford Planning Board on Tuesday night.

  As construction continues near the intersection of Boston and Littleton Road for the expected fall opening of the Cornerstone Square complex, the development became the focus of several agenda items at Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting. The evening of Cornerstone from its initial hearings in 2011 to the present, with discussion quickly divided into opposing opinions between Planning Board member Dennis Galvin and Chairman Michael Green. Galvin believed that the project had outgrown its original permits, citing concerns over evolving traffic projections relating to the project and worries that Massachusetts Department of Transportation pledges to expand Boston Road may be unfulfilled. Meanwhile, Green challenged Galvin’s arguments, citing …

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You Asked, Patch Answers

What's The Future of Westford's Market Basket?

Welcome to our latest You Asked, Patch Answers.

There's been alot of buzz about Cornerstone with the announcement that Market Basket will become the new anchor store when the development opens next fall, but what of the current Market Basket just a few hundred feet down Littleton Road at Westford Valley Marketplace? According to RA Ventures, the Lan Drive-based development company in charge of the development, the old Market Basket will stay where it is as the new 60,000 square foot Market Basket at Cornerstone joins Burton's Grill, Panera Bread, Family Eye Care and Five Guys Burgers and Fries near the intersection of Boston and Littleton Road.  The entire development, which is a mix of retail and medical office space in what is described as a brick, "Federal" precast stone acccents, …

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Andrew Sylvia

2:45 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012

Hi Bonnie, Sorry, no. I've been up to my eyeballs between all the elections and hurricanes and drugs and cupcakes and things in Chelmsford (working title of my memoirs...)   more ›

Market Basket, Panera, Five Guys and More to Fill Cornerstone

A wide array of tenants are scheduled to lease space as the Cornerstone property near the corner of Boston Road and Littleton Road expected to open in fall of 2012.

You Asked, Patch Answers

What's Up With Those Blasting Signs?

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for another "You Asked, Patch Answers."

For anybody driving down Boston Road or Littleton Road lately, you might have noticed those signs advertising blasting on Monday. This has to do with the Cornerstone Project near the corner of Boston Road and Littleton Road, which has been engaged in blasting since mid-October and recently regained the ability to remove earth materials from its construction site. According to the Westford Highway Department, those signs were placed there by Massachusetts DOT, and motorists can expect traffic delays near the times of blasting along Littleton Road, Boston Road, and Route 495 North, all of which abut the project.

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Selectmen Wary of Cornerstone

The Westford Board of Selectmen, in particular Selectman Robert Jefferies, drew concerns over recent developments with the currently under construction Cornerstone Project planned near the corner of Boston Road and Route 110.

When it comes to what impact the proposed Cornerstone Project will one day have on the town of Westford, the jury is still out, but the prognostications coming out of town hall on that subject were uniformly negative on Tuesday night. The Westford Board of Selectmen responded to an update on the Planning Board’s recent actions relating to the project with concern over what the planned retail and office center near the corner of Boston and Littleton Road will truly become upon completion. Although Cornerstone was able to get its earth removal permit late last week, the update began with skepticism from Selectman Robert Jefferies over whether representatives of the project even respected Westford’s bylaws relating to earth removal. While …

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Cornerstone Set to Remove Dirt Once Again

The development near Exit 32 gained approval to remove earth materials after an obscure bylaw halted removal of the material recently.

Drivers on Littleton Road be warned, large trucks are coming your way. Following a decision at their last meeting to deny an earth removal permit for the Cornerstone project near the corner of Boston and Littleton Road, the Westford Planning Board unanimously approved the same permit in their meeting on Thursday night. Ultimately, no decision could be made at the last meeting due to the lack of legal notice given to the public as town officials noticed the earth removal coming from the site only days before the meeting, forcing the issue to this meeting. According to town planner Angus Jennings, only two earth removal permits had been issued in recent memory, one for the Country Club Estates development in 1997 and another for Hitchinpost …

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