5 Takeaways From the Dec. 18 Planning Board Meeting

Liquor store, cannabis cultivation operation receive signoff while retail outlet faces resident opposition

The Planning Board met last night without Chair Stephen Johnson. Vice-chair Vinny Fratalia ran the meeting. There were no committee reports.

In her Town Planner’s report, Community/Economic Development Planner Alexandra Lowder advised the board no new public hearings are scheduled for the Jan. 8 meeting. That agenda will consist only of continued hearings–including a few, such as the Tree House Brewing overflow lot and Holt & Bugbee, that were scheduled for tonight. 

Lowder also provided the board with an excerpt from a report, called “Housing Underproduction in the U.S,” that shows that homebuilding slowed in 2009 and never recovered.

“No direct action is required, but I wanted the board to have this as a resource when it considers future housing development, whether it’s adaptive reuse or new construction,” she said.

Finally, the Tewksbury Conservation Commission will host a virtual feedback session on proposed changes to the wetland protection bylaw on Thursday, Jan. 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The dial-in link and contact info are available here.

Fratalia asked Lowder about the status of the town’s MBTA Zoning. One district, Main Street A, has been submitted and review is ongoing by the state. Lowder also said that work is happening at the historic Lee House. 

After approving a family suite on Sunset Circle, the board heard from Ben Osgood of Ranger Engineering Group, which is proposing a 15,000 square foot, two-story daycare building on about one acre at 770 Main St. The operator will be a “national company” that Osgood declined to name. 

“They have a standard footprint, they build these in many locations across the country,” he said. “And they think Tewksbury is a great location for their facility.”

The lot is across from Mexica, currently holds a single-family home and is directly adjacent to the Main Street Learning Academy. A previously proposed single-level daycare ran into opposition and was withdrawn in April. The revamped design has a smaller footprint, a fenced playground and 40 parking spaces. Expected occupancy is 170 children from infant to preschool and 28 staff. 

Waivers will be required for fewer parking spaces and smaller buffers than required and configuration of the driveway entrance and exits. The proposal is to place the driveway just opposite Erlin Ave. to create a four four-way intersection.

Fratalia and other members expressed concern with the number of students and the safety of the crossing configuration. A traffic study is forthcoming. With no residents rising to speak, the hearing was continued to Jan. 8.

Attorney Mike Khoury and Patel Palek appeared for Nilkant 345, which is doing business as City Wine Spirits & Smoke Shop. Khoury requested a use special permit to operate a 3,100 square foot liquor store in Units 1 and 2 in Building B at 354 Main St., Wamesit Place. 

Nilkant has already secured an all-alcohol liquor license for offsite consumption, which has been approved by the ABCC. The units, which are adjacent to RTN Credit Union, are currently vacant. Besides beer, wine and liquor, the Board of Health has approved “an ancillary smoke shop,” said Khoury. Palek said tobacco sales will be limited and inline with what’s typical at a liquor store.

With no resident comment, the special permit was approved unanimously.

Dean Graffeo, site engineer Matt Hamor, traffic engineer Kim Eric Hazarvartian and attorney David Plunkett appeared for a proposed two-story, 4,500 square foot retail cannabis outlet and offices at 1625 Andover St., between Wendy’s and Aroma Joe’s and using the same access road as the Lowell 5 bank. Rendering above.

Graffeo, the registered agent on file for 133 Cannabis LLC, unsuccessfully applied for a retail cannabis license for a shop at 2186-2196 Main St. in the first round. The new project would need to receive the town’s last remaining license from the Select Board, should the Planning Board approve the use.

Jonathan Miller and David Daly of The Daly Group, which owns the lot, were also in attendance. The site was previously approved for a fine dining restaurant. The proposed building would have the cannabis retail outlet on the first floor and offices on the second floor. Forty-four parking spaces are proposed.

Traffic was the major concern; Fratalia called the numbers “staggering” and requested a peer review of the submitted traffic report, below, noting that the Residence Inn and a condo complex will be opening next year.

The report from Hazarvartian asserted that the change from a restaurant to a retail cannabis development program would not result in a significant change in tabulated peak hour trip generation — a conclusion member Jim Duffy disputed. 

“So I read that, and then I went back and looked at the numbers, and I said, okay, the fine dining restaurant was gonna have, daily, 377 trips versus a marijuana dispensary at 973 trips,” Duffy said. “I know you put a nice spin on it there, but that’s a difference of 596 trips per day, five days a week, and it’s an additional 785 trips on Saturday. That’s not an inconsequential amount.”

Members also questioned the proximity to the Learning Experience daycare at 1593 Andover St, which accepts infants through preschool.

Tewksbury’s zoning bylaw, page 98, states that “no marijuana establishment shall be located on a parcel which is within 300 feet (to be measured in a straight line from the nearest point of the property line in question to the nearest point of the property line where the Marijuana Establishment is or will be located) of a parcel occupied by a pre-existing public or private school (existing at the time the applicant’s license application was received by the Cannabis Control Commission) providing education in kindergarten or any of grades 1-12.” It does not prohibit siting a retail outlet near a daycare.

Before opening the floor, Fratalia asked residents to limit their remarks to the location. 

“Don’t bring it up whether it’s allowed or not, because it is allowed by the Select Board,” he said. “We have no control over that.”

John Luciano of 41 Deering Drive called out significant changes in that stretch of Rt. 133.

“At one time, that strip held 11 single family homes,” said Luciano, a 32-year resident of the area.

Resident Shannon Doherty spoke on behalf of the Learning Experience, which currently enrolls 120 students with a capacity of 168. Doherty said the daycare did not receive an abutter notice, but that traffic is a worry.

“There is most definitely the concern of safety for the children as well of my teachers as they are getting the children off the bus” for an afterschool program, said Doherty. 

The hearing was continued to Jan. 8, when a peer review of the traffic study and an opinion from town counsel on whether a setback variance is required may be presented.

A cannabis cultivation and product manufacturing operation is proposed for 686 Clark Rd., a 6,300 square foot, industrial-zoned building that currently houses Chuck’s Tree Service. No external alterations are planned. This is a separate license from the one remaining retail cannabis license; cultivators may not sell to the public. The Cannabis Control Commission regulates cultivators with stringent security and odor control measures similar to those at retail outlets.

Attorney Phil Silverman appeared with 686 Cultivation LLC principals Jeff Derby, who owns Derby Auto Body in Dracut, and Michael Sacchone, owner of Tewksbury’s MDR Construction.

The working timeline for opening is about 14 months, Silverman previously told the Select Board, as they need to clear the Cannabis Control Commission. They expect about five employees to start, with minimal traffic impact. Hours will generally be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Member Jonathan Ciampa pointed out that there is also a daycare close to this location, but there were no residents in attendance.

“I find it interesting that this facility is also within 500 feet of a preschool, and yet we don’t have quite as much concern out there,” said Ciampa. “So maybe it’s not the moral fight that we’re led to believe.”

The Planning Board unanimously approved the special permit with a few caveats. Next stop, Select Board.

With the remainder of the scheduled items continued, Fratalia wished the rest of the board and the community at large a merry Christmas and happy new year. 

The next Planning Board meeting will be January 8.