The Hudson Planning Board met on May 15 and saw a delay for an expected continuation of the hearing for the Central Gas Plan at 77 Central Street. The Board voted to defer a presentation for the Gas Plan to their next full meeting.
Another continuation of a past application went forward as scheduled. Bridget Souza from Keach-Nordstrum was at the meeting to continue a presentation to change the use of the property at 321 Derry Road from a church to a private gym.
“Since our last meeting, there have been some minor site plan changes. We just adjusted the parking stall depths and aisle widths as discussed at our last meeting,” said Souza.
Property owners also added “Do Not Enter” and direction signs at the south end of the parking lot and removed a few parking spaces to meet landscaping requirements, although concerns over meeting the required shrub count meant a waiver request for landscaping requirements.
“We tried to put these shrubs in the best locations possible,” Souza explained. “We submitted the waiver request for an unreasonable cost.”
The revised site plan included 21 shrubs and 11 trees on the property.
“I’m still having issues with this landscaping request waiver,” said Board member, Victor Oates, who was willing to compromise on the landscaping rule, though not to the level requested by the applicant. “I don’t think the waiver as a whole should be granted, because I do find that there’s enough space that could accommodate the landscaping requirement over time.”
Other members disagreed, noting that wetlands in the area made it difficult to expand the landscaping without running into different issues.
“I feel the applicant has been doing good working with what they have,” said member, Timothy Lyko. “They didn’t build the parking lot, so they couldn’t design it the way they wanted to.”
“A third of the property is off-limits,” member, Ed Van der Veen, agreed, with the space issue. “My only argument is that I don’t think it’s a financial hardship thing, I think it’s a space issue.”
Alternate, George Hall, added that the land already lacked green space, as did many of the surrounding properties, although Oates saw this as a failure of the Planning Board to do its job in enforcing landscaping regulations.
“They’re stating a financial hardship, there’s no financial hardship,” said Oates. “I think we continue to grant waivers that shouldn’t be granted.”
In response to a direct question on the matter, Souza conceded that the issue was less of a “financial hardship” and more of an “unreasonable cost” considering the shape of the property.
“Is their cost worth more than the product? Is it even going to be worth it to build? I call that a financial hardship,” said Lyko.
Oates responded by saying the “hardship” law should be changed, rather than granting a full waiver if that’s the case.
There was also disagreement as to whether shrubs and trees naturally growing in the wetland area might count as “landscaping” for the purpose of zoning criteria. Interim Town Planner, Jay Minkarah, implied this could be okay, although he did not have a solid answer.
The Planning Board eventually voted six-to-one to grant the waiver request and unanimously approved the overall site plan.
The next meeting of the Planning Board is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at 7 p.m. in the Buxton Room of Town Hall.
