Friday, April 5, 2013
Thirty two units planned for tract between Dunstable Road and St. Augustine Drive
On Monday evening, the Westford Planning Board reviewed a proposed Open Space Residential Development (OSRD) on 46 acres of land located between Dunstable Road and St. Augustine Drive. Connell Real Estate Trust of Westford, the land owner and applicant, is proposing 32 buildable lots with 3,846 linear feet of new roads. The development will contain a separate 10-acre agricultural lot which will have a deed restriction preventing further subdivision of that tract. Attorney Suzanne Poitras, from Newburyport, MA, and Mark Sleger, P.E., a civil engineer with ALAN Engineering of Wakefield, MA, provided representation for the applicant. An OSRD provides the same number of buildable lots as a Conventional Residential Subdivision (CRS) but on …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Mid-fall time-frame targeted for construction completion
The Westford Planning Board considered an application on Monday evening from Nashoba Valley Technical High School to construct a new athletic complex at the school’s 100 Littleton Road site. Superintendent Dr. Judith Klimkiewicz and Brad Mezquita, P.E., a civil engineer from Tighe & Bond of Portsmouth, NH, presented the site plan to the Board. The new athletic facility will replace the existing grass football field with an artificial field and accompanying bleachers in addition to a new track and field complex. A softball field will be erected adjacent to the track and field area. Either tennis courts or a practice field will be constructed on a parcel the school owns on the east side of St. Mary’s Drive. Klimkiewicz stressed to the …
Friday, March 22, 2013
With Town Meeting rapidly drawing closer, Board unable to resolve last few changes to proposed bylaw
The Westford Planning Board voted unanimously at Monday evening’s meeting to recommend temporary dismissal of Article 20, which amends the town’s Zoning Bylaws concerning sign regulations, from the Town Meeting agenda. With the annual Town Meeting looming a mere five days from its meeting, the Board reached the difficult decision after two months of public hearings. Director of Land Use Management Chris Kluchman again provided Board members a revised draft of the proposed amendment that differentiated between the existing and proposed sign bylaws. Some of the more challenging issues that have left the Board at a standstill involve portable signs and the reduction in size of wall signs. Incorporating those changes without drawing the ire …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
After first appearing before Board in November, Boston land developer receives go-ahead to construct 570 self-storage units
The Westford Planning Board on Monday evening unanimously voted 5-0 to approve a proposed self-storage facility to be constructed on Commerce Way off of Groton Road. Cathartes Private Investments (CPI), a Boston-based land developer, plans to build the 78,000 square foot self-storage facility that will house 570 units over seven buildings and an 800 square foot rental office. All of the buildings will be one-story in height. Attorney Doug Deschenes, a partner with Deschenes & Farrell, P.C., and Andrea Tavares, a Civil Engineer with Land Tech Consultants of Westford, provided representation for CPI. The project last appeared before the Board on February 4. Since that meeting, Deschenes and Tavares have worked diligently to address all …
Monday, March 11, 2013
Board will continue debate about restaurant drive-thrus
On Monday evening the Westford Planning Board voted to recommend two of the three Zoning Bylaw amendment warrant articles it previously continued from the February 19 meeting. The first warrant article, Article 21-Sidewalk Funding, grants the Planning Board the authority to waive the required sidewalk construction associated with land development projects in lieu of the developer making a financial contribution to the town. Westford has historically done this for over 20 years on projects where constructing sidewalks wouldn’t make practical sense. The contributions are deposited into a fund for the purpose of building sidewalks in higher priority areas or fixing sidewalks in dire need of repair. When the Board does waive construction in …
Friday, March 8, 2013
Board running out of time to approve proposed sign regulations before Town Meeting
Fresh off its informal working session, the Westford Planning Board undertook once again the arduous task of amending the section of town’s Zoning Bylaws that deals with sign regulations. Director of Land Use Management Chris Kluchman provided the Board with a revised amendment that incorporated comments from the working session meeting. A common theme of the revision process has been how best to manage the advertising needs of the business community with the town’s desire to maintain a certain character common to Westford along with safety and visibility aspects. Under the proposed amendment, the size of wall signs will decrease from one and a half times the square footage of linear building frontage to being equal to the square footage …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Current Planner Chris Kluchman to fill vacant Director of Land Use Management Position while Chairman Kevin Borselli declines to run for re-election
When the Westford Planning Board convened on Monday evening for the first of its two monthly meetings in March, the focus was on an agenda packed with items. The Board was scheduled to hear cases ranging from multiple amendments to the town’s Zoning Bylaws to a multi-family apartment building to a four-lot residential subdivision. But the spotlight quickly turned to a couple of surprising announcements. Current Town Planner Chris Kluchman has been appointed to be the new Director of Land Use Management. The position became vacant when the former director, Angus Jennings, announced his resignation back in January. After receiving congratulations from the Board, Kluchman informed the Board and those in the audience that the town is now …
Monday, March 4, 2013
With Town Meeting on the horizon, Board works to prepare bylaw amendment for approval
As the 2013 Annual Town Meeting creeps closer, the Westford Planning Board held an informal working session on Wednesday night to continue discussing the proposed amendment to the town’s sign regulations. Town Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 23rd. With only two regularly scheduled Planning Board meetings before then, the Board is aiming to approve the pending amendments so that they can be voted upon. Chris Kluchman, the Town Planner, and Board members Mike Green and Matt Lewin, along with several residents, met at the Police Training Facility on Main Street. Everyone in attendance received handouts of the existing sign regulations, a draft of the proposed sign regulations, and a draft of revised definitions related to signs. …
Friday, February 22, 2013
Medical marijuana facilities and restaurant drive-thrus among topics discussed
On Tuesday evening the Westford Planning Board initiated discussion over four proposed amendments to the town’s Zoning Bylaws. The four amendments regard a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana treatment centers, allowing an applicant to make a financial contribution to the town in lieu of constructing sidewalks during development projects, updating references in the flood plain overlay district, and to allow drive-thrus for restaurants with associated requirements for drive-thrus. Angus Jennings, the former Director of Land Use Management who substituted this week for Town Planner Chris Kluchman, provided the Board with an explanation of each proposed amendment. With the use of medicinal marijuana now legal in Massachusetts, the next …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Special meeting scheduled for additional analysis
One of the first orders of business the Westford Planning Board took up at their meeting on Tuesday night was the continued discussion of the proposed sign regulations amendment. As they did at their February 4th meeting, the Board wrestled with how to fairly amend the bylaws so as not to hurt businesses, especially along the Route 110 corridor, with maintaining the desired character that has come to define Westford. The struggle is how to “balance marketing requirements with visibility and safety”, said Board member Mike Green. When the Board opened the discussion to the public, resident Paul Fassbender of 14 Texas Road echoed the opinion that the bylaws should be written in such a manner as to uphold the “character of the community” …
Alex Finnegan
10:23 pm on Saturday, April 13, 2013
Steven, "The reason is that all of those amenities cost money, perpetually. Someone has to maintain it, run it, fund it and staff it." Yep, public or private. "Those staffs & increases to other agencies that will have to be bolstered to maintain & protect them (DPW, police, etc) will have increased hours & pensions for future generations" Yet so many towns manage it. Successful govt. "If there is… more ›