ConCom Continues Hearing for Multifamily Building at MacLellan Oil Site

Clarification on stormwater calculations for Tewksbury Dental parking proposal requested

The Tewksbury Conservation Commission met on Wednesday without members Evan Walsh or Dennis Sheehan.

While the hearing for the proposed addition of parking spaces at 1438 Main St., Tewksbury Dental, was continued, ConCom member Linda Darveau questioned a graph that was submitted with unattributed data on rain events.

“There are numbers on there that pertain to rain events — 100 year, 50 year, 25 year — and I was just asking where those numbers came from, because those numbers are not from NOAA, they’re not the numbers used by Holt & Bugbee,” said Darveau. “I think it’s important to know that those are accurate as they are an input into the rest of the calculation on the capacity of the stormwater system.”

Member Steven Gove pointed out, echoing Planning Board Vice Chair Vinny Fratalia, that this matter is dragging out because of objections by Sarina Way abutters who say drainage is not working properly now.

“Where are they getting these numbers?” asked Darveau. Conservation Agent Joe Fontaine will reach out to the applicant to find out. The hearing was continued to Feb. 7.

MacLellan Oil Hearing Also Continued

Meera Cousens of Civil Design Consultants appeared for the proposed 24-unit apartment building at 1167, 1177 and 1187 Main St., the MacLellan Oil site. While the Planning Board has signed off on the plan, the ConCom’s review is focused in part on Darby Brook, which is one of a number of streams in town that eventually flow into the Shawsheen River. The question at hand is whether this stream, which is on the property, is intermittent or perennial.

An intermittent stream flows only during certain times of the year, typically during periods of rainfall or snowmelt, and may completely dry up at some points. A perennial stream flows continuously throughout the year, regardless of the season. Tewksbury previously ruled that Darby Brook is intermittent, but it’s shown as perennial on the USGS map.  

“We have new information from MassDEP,” said Darveau, referring to a letter sent by MassDEP in regard to an unrelated project that questioned the validity of 2017 photos; the photos presented to support the nature of Darby Brook as intermittent were from 2015.

“What it comes down to is that somebody from the state said, photos from seven years ago were not sufficient,” said Chair Dan Ronan.

Two owners of business condos at Cottage Place, at 1147 Main St., spoke and expressed concern about increased flow of water next to their property and the potential for flooding. 

Given that two ConCom members were absent, Cousens opted to request a continuance to Feb. 7.