On December 13, 2001, the Waterford Development
Corporation presented a conceptual plan for their Countryside
Boulevard residential development at a public meeting of the City's
Planning Board. Although the Planning Board meeting began at 7 PM,
the presentation did not occur until more than 31/2 hrs. later.
(Another major city issue - the construction of a Shaw's Supermarket
on South Willow St - consumed a great deal of time.) Needless to say
the Waterford plan was heard by very few members of the
public.
The discontinuance of Millstone Avenue was discussed first and Attorney Lazos, representing the applicant, noted that the developer planned to ask for a discontinuance for a portion of the street's length.
George Matarazzo then presented the design for the luxury apartment area. He noted the plan calls for 8 three-story buildings and a club house building, with an entrance off Countryside Boulevard. He noted that "a fair amount of wetlands surround the site" although "not one part of the site plan encroaches on the wetlands." Much emphasis was placed on landscaping, with "early Spring blooms" and birch trees. The fact that massive deforestation must take place in order to create such a community, which will probably be similar in appearance to the nearby Countryside Village apartment complex, was masked by the comment that the developer will "minimize the impact of cutting trees".
Members of the
planning board proceeded to question the proposal. Mr. Dodd felt that
the applicant's projection of 131 students was low. (It was noted
that the single family homes that would also appear on the site will
not be constructed for 4-5 yrs, but the apartments - which the
applicant plans to begin building in the fall of 2002 - will be
completed in about 21 months.) Mr. D'Amato replied that the
projections were based on other apartment projects completed by
Waterford Development in other locations. He noted that payment of
impact fees would commence with the start of construction in
September.
The
impact of the development on wetlands was brought up by Mr.
Boutin,who was concerned both about a plan to protect the wetlands
"in perpetuity" and during the development. Mr. D'Amato assured him
that a wetlands management plan that would deal with this situation
would be arranged with the Board or the City and that a conservation
easement would be put on some of the land that is undeveloped. Rick
Fink, a member of the development team, said that the project's
construction would occur in phases and that only initial contacts had
been made with the DES concerning construction requirements.
It is
curious that plans showing the relationship of the wetlands to the
planned development had previously been sent to the Manchester
Conservation Commission, but no one from the development team
appeared before the MCC to respond to questions about the plans. In
addition, concerns of the MCC about possible wetlands impacts and
effects on Millstone Brook were sent to the Planning Board, but this
information was not mentioned at the December 13 public hearing.
There was an exchange about traffic considerations between Mr. Capano and Mr. D'Amato, with D'Amato noting that $50,000 would be contributed towards traffic control by the City.
At the close of the presentation, near 11:30 PM, no one appeared to testify for or against the plan, or to make a comment about it. The hearing was declared closed, meaning that no further public commentary on the project could be heard by the Planning Board.
The plans were subsequently approved by a 7-0 votes on February 28.