Date: Fri 28-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

xxxSand-Hill-Plaza-expansion

Full Text:

P&Z Approves Sand Hill Plaza Expansion

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Sand Hill Limited Partnership has gained Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z)

approval to build an expansion wing at Sand Hill Plaza at 266 South Main

Street.

The P&Z's July 20 approval of construction plans caps several years of

planning for a 21,450-square-foot addition to the existing 160,000-square-foot

shopping center. The planned addition is to be built at the northern end of

the plaza. Access to it will be provided by an improved section of Washbrook

Road. With the Washbrook Road access way in place, there will be three access

points to the plaza from South Main Street.

The developers received construction approval for the expansion project under

the special exception provisions of the zoning regulations which allow P&Z

members much discretion in deciding on the specifics of the project.

Following the approval, Brian Corson, representing the partnership, said the

partnership hopes to start site development work for the expansion later this

year. At the earliest, construction of the shopping center expansion wing

could start next spring, he said.

How soon the expansion gets built hinges on how soon the development

partnership can find a tenant or tenants to occupy the new space, he said.

Ideally, the new space would be occupied by a single tenant, he said.

Letter

In a letter to P&Z members, the legal firm which represents the Crick family

explained that the Cricks have resolved their concerns over the planned Sand

Hill Plaza expansion project with the developers and therefore withdraw their

objections to the construction project.

At a June 15 public hearing on the expansion project, Attorney Francis J.

Collins, representing property owners Joan and James Crick of 7 Glover Avenue,

listed various concerns the Cricks had about the plaza expansion. The Cricks

own a house and 1.7 acres on Washbrook Road. At that hearing, Mr Collins said

the Cricks oppose the expansion project for various reasons including

increased traffic in the area, increased noise, artificial lighting and

decreased property values. Mr Collins then urged that if the P&Z approves the

expansion project, strict conditions should be placed on it.

The law firm's letter to the P&Z read July 20 didn't specify how the

developers resolved the Cricks' concerns. Mr Corson declined to comment on the

matter.

Security

P&Z member Todd Richardson said he has concerns about shopping center

security. Mr Richardson has urged that shopping center security be beefed up

because the plaza has one of the highest crime rates of any place in town.

The small-scale sewage treatment plant which now serves the plaza will handle

the additional wastewater generated by new businesses in the plaza expansion

wing. Such treatment plants are subject to monitoring by the state Department

of Environmental Protection.

Approximately 78,000 cubic yards of earth materials will be removed from the

shopping center property as part of site development work. The Conservation

Commission, acting as the town's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission,

in August 1992 granted the developers a license to do construction work in a

wetlands area.

Some 170 parking spaces will be added to the plaza for the new retail space.

The large storm water detention basin at the northern end of the plaza will be

reconfigured as part of the expansion project. The developers plan to keep the

basin cleaner than it has been in the past and to always have water in it. The

basin is used to store water which has run off the plaza's parking lot after

it rains and after snow melts. The water storage prevents sedimentation

problems downstream of the basin.

The expansion planned for the plaza will have the same architectural look as

the original shopping center. The 37.4-acre shopping center site is in an M-6

industrial zone.