Melmark signoff is imminent as Johnson apologizes for ‘off the rails’ comments from abutters
The Planning Board met last night with all members present. Vice Chair Vinny Fratalia reported that the Community Preservation Committee will meet today at Town Hall.
In her Town Planner’s report, Community/Economic Development Planner Alexandra Lowder advised the board that there are no new public hearings scheduled for the May 13 meeting. The Board will hear any continued applications from this meeting and from the applicants for a car wash at 402 Main St.
Have the Landscaping Our Way
Fratalia previously asked Lowder to check in with the manager of the Burger King at 85 Main St. about irrigation pipes sticking out of the ground and a general lack of maintenance and upkeep of landscaping. Lowder said she spoke with the district manager on Tuesday, April 9 and again on Monday, April 22.
“I’m going to be working with him closely to make sure that that gets cleaned up properly,” she said.
Lowder also spoke with the town’s Veterans Agent, Lisa Downey, about veteran memorials around town that are not part of the adopt-an-island program. These islands are maintained by Eagle Scouts, who go out a few times per year to mulch and do plantings, per Downey.
“They haven’t gone out for their spring cleanup yet,” said Lowder. If there are any questions about the maintenance of a specific memorial, folks can contact Downey directly.
Interested in adopting an island dedicated to a veteran? Check out the list here. There are many available. You can fill out an application here.
She also spoke with the Facilities Manager about maintenance of the Mico Kaufman statues. Those are on a regular every-other-year cleaning schedule, and they were cleaned last year. Any questions can be directed to the Town Manager’s office
Annual Town Cleanup
The Annual Town Cleanup hosted by the Beautification Committee is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents can pick up large trash bags, safety vests and gloves at Town Hall between 9 a.m. and noon, then return all materials and collected garbage through 2 p.m. to the DPW at 999 Whipple Road. There are additional services offered, such as clothing collection and shredding. Find more details and a signup genius here.
Annual Town Meeting May 6 & 8
Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 6 at 7:30 at Tewksbury Memorial High School, and continues on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00. The meeting warrant has been mailed to every household in Town. If you have questions, visit the information page or call the Town Clerk.
Brelundi Is Open
The much-anticipated redevelopment of 836 Main St., the old Mirabella’s site, is complete, and a soft opening is underway. The offerings are getting rave reviews on social media. Only a few punch list items remain, including a sidewalk.
“I want to congratulate Michael Colomba and his team,” said Lowder. “He is hoping to have a grand opening event in the coming weeks.”
Lowder will hold her final Office Hours today, Tuesday, April 30, from 10:30 to 12:30 at the Senior Center. The goal of these office hours is to help educate residents on the planning process, how zoning works and timely subjects such as MBTA Communities in an informal, conversational setting. If you can’t attend and have questions, please contact Lowder at alowder@tewksbury-ma.gov
Finally, Lowder reported that the Taste of the Town is being picked up by the Wilmington Tewksbury Chamber of Commerce. It will be May 15 from 5 – 8 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, and tickets are available at the Chamber website.
1973 Main St. Sign Special Permit
The board questioned the relocation of an electronic ordering menu board from its current location to the right side of the building, leaving more space between order and pickup, and the addition of a canopy at the Dunkin’s at 1973 Main St. Concerns over cars backing out onto Rt. 38 prompted the requirement that a “No Queuing Beyond This Point” sign be installed. With that, the sign special permit was approved.
1563 Andover St.
Stephen Lawrenson appeared to explain a number of discrepancies between the site plan and the reality of the townhouse development at the corner of North St. and Andover St. The five-building project on the 1.6 acre lot was initially proposed back in July 2018, but clearing the lot and approval of the final design took significant work.
One building is ready for occupancy, but if the applicants were hoping for a quick signoff on a modification of the special permit, they were disappointed.
“Back up one step — could you explain how they all ended up with patios?” said Chair Stephen Johnson.
Lawrenson explained that the building commissioner noticed that there was no second means of egress from the units. Instead of coming back before the board at that time, the developers decided to add back doors and patios.
Board members expressed frustration with issues including stormwater management, that the patios are of varying sizes, that sidewalks were replaced with fences and plantings that don’t resemble the plan on file.
“Why did you wait till everything’s done rather than coming and saying, ‘Listen, this is an issue, we need a modification?” Fratalia asked.
While members understood the egress issue and had sympathy for buyers of the units who are unable to move in, Ciampa said he would need to see restoration of some features that had been ironed out with the board before he could sign off, Duffy brought up the return of an invasive species, Japanese knotweed, and Lizotte asked about the planting plan.
“I cannot sign off on anything that doesn’t take as much of the plantings from the original layout as possible and put them back,” he said.
The site plan special permit modification will need to wait for at least a new landscape plan, a new drainage plan, information on what happened to landscaped islands in the parking area and photographic documentation of the site from both roads.
“My level of irritation has grown the longer I’ve sat here,” said Johnson. “Those plantings and the trees and whatnot, they weren’t put there by accident. This sits on the corner of North Street and 133 — we made a big deal about how it looks.”
The hearing was continued to May 13.
Melmark Close to Signoff
Melmark VP of Business Operations Bill Ahearn and architect John Caveney updated the board on their project at 910 Andover St.
At the front of the lot, Tessi’s, Enterprise Bank and the White Hen convenience store will stay and be joined by a boutique coffee shop run by Melmark to provide vocational training to students. Melmark, is proposing an educational housing development on the remainder of the 4.83 acre parcel.
Before proceeding, Johnson acknowledged out-of-line comments made at the March 26 meeting.
“From my own perspective, I think I owe you guys an apology for allowing our hearing to get off the rails with some of the questions and comments that were made,” he said, warning the audience that comments would be strictly limited to matters within the purview of the board.
Ahearn said he had a productive meeting with residents, and Melmark has added a six-foot composite fence as well as arborvitae so the Merrimack Meadows abutters who expressed concern would not inadvertently cross paths with the intellectually and developmentally delayed adult students served at the site.
Caveney presented updated traffic numbers that showed an overall decrease based on the coffee shop not being on the scale of a Starbucks or Dunkin’s; the estimate now is 214 trips, 107 in each direction daily.
Board members had questions about parking and signage and asked to see renderings that are in compliance, but overall were upbeat about the plan.
“Thank you for addressing the concerns we had at a previous meeting,” said member Jim Duffy. “It looks like you’ve added an ADA ramp to the sidewalk and a crosswalk from the parking area over towards the residential campus area.”
The project was continued to the next meeting, when Johnson expects approval.
Merrimac Drive
Dick Cuoco of Woodland Design and Tom Schomburg of Civil Design Consultants presented updated plans for two new single-family homes on Merrimac Drive; the hearing was continued from the last meeting.
Updates include a decrease in impervious surface from 13,200 to 8,200 square feet and the addition of a fire hydrant at the end of the cul de sac. The lots will remain compliant with R-40 zoning and, per plans filed with the board, a new sewer pumping station will be installed by the developer.
The board unanimously approved the amendment with revisions and review comments being satisfied.
2551 Main St. & 20 Glenwood Rd.
Cuoco and Schomburg stayed on for the continued hearing for 2551 Main St. Lowder informed the board that there are no outstanding comments from staff. One issue Johnson brought up is whether sidewalks will or will not be installed on Glenwood Rd. That decision is pending. The site plan review, land disturbance permit and special permit were approved unanimously with some conditions.
Tree House
Fratalia stated he would like to address issues with occupancy in Tree House based on reports of overcrowding and towing of customer vehicles that were parked illegally in neighboring lots — reportedly 25 cars this weekend alone.
“When they went to Tree House [about the towing] they said, well, it’s not our problem,” said Fratalia.
Johnson said an overcrowding issue would need to be raised by the fire department or building inspector.
“I am very leery of having those kinds of concerns come through us and out to departments that enforce them,” said Johnson.
As to the parking, Duffy pointed out that the board could have approved the overflow lot at Funland.
“In fairness to them, that issue could conceivably be resolved,” said Duffy.
Johnson cut off that discussion as it’s a pending legal matter and said the board would need to receive an official complaint about occupancy.
The board meets next on May 13.
Lorna Garey
Lorna is a past and current Malden resident, U.S. Army veteran, and longtime tech and community journalist who has written for organizations ranging from the DIA to InformationWeek. In her previous hometown she founded a hyperlocal news site, the Tewksbury Carnation.
Go figure. Fratalia – conveniently absent at the vote on the overflow lot – waits until after his election to start going after Tree House. Ciampa, who nixed the lot himself, has 2 years left. Now for the next 2+ years, these two can stick their agenda to the World Class brewery that made our town home.
If the voters knew Fratalia would act like this, they would have voted him out earlier this month. I smell a deliberate, coordinated effort to remove the voice of the residents.