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” …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Planning Board reviews improvements made by developer
On Monday night, the Westford Planning Board moved one step closer to approving a 570-unit self-storage facility with an accompanying office that will be constructed on Commerce Way right off of Groton Road. The project most recently received consideration from the Board on January 7 earlier this year. Board members voted to continue the case until the February 4meeting to allow the development team time to address additional concerns with the Planning and Engineering Departments. Attorney Doug Deschenes, a partner with Deschenes & Farrell, P.C., and Matt Waterman, a Civil Engineer with Land Tech Consultants, provided representation for the land developer, Cathartes Private Investments. Both Deschenes and Waterman updated the Board with …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Jennings, Westford's Director of Land Use Planning, announced his resignation last week and will stay with the town in a part time basis for the next few months.
Westford will have to make do without one of its most well-known public servants in the near future. As the Board members discussed an issue related to Phase 2A of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail project during last week's Planning Board meeting, Director of Land Use Management Angus Jennings made a surprise announcement that he had submitted his letter of resignation to the town. Jennings later told Westford Patch that he intends to stay on in a part-time role until at least Town Meeting on March 23, and possibly slightly after that as a replacement is found to help with the transition in hopes of preventing the seven month gap he had to face when he came onboard and concluding large projects about to be completed. "The caliber of person …
Jesse James
10:18 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
On 2nd thought, the town could grow MJ at the various town owned parcels of land such as EBC. The sale of MJ could easily provide a new revenue stream that could draw clients from surrounding areas. I estimate that at least $10 million/year in inflation adjusted dollars cloud be generated from this venture. The town could give above average pay raises to all town employees and let the WFD Chief … more ›