Route 1 Walmart gets green light in Saugus

SAUGUS – The Saugus Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the Route 1 Walmart project at its meeting Thursday night.?Everything went really smooth,” said Planning Board Chair Mary Carfagna. “The union showed up again and spoke in favor. They met all the requirements for approval and it was a unanimous 5-0 decision. They really went out of their way to really please the town with a lot of the offset improvements.”Developers must now wait for a 20-day appeal period before applying for building permits, and must also present some minor modifications to the Conservation Commission.Caleb Perrin, Project Manager for WS Development, said he hopes to start construction as soon as that period is over.?As soon as we clear all appeal periods and finalize state approval? we could start applying for permits,” said Perrin. “We?ll wait to see what comes with the appeal period, hopefully nothing.”Planning Board member Peter Rossetti said he thinks construction could begin as early as October, and anticipates the store opening within a year.?Next Labor Day we could actually be seeing shopping at Walmart,” said Rossetti.Chris Buchanan, Director of Public Affairs for Walmart, said the new store will provide 125 “mostly full-time” jobs, while Perrin estimated around 300 construction jobs will be generated.?This Walmart will provide needed jobs to a town that currently has over 1,100 unemployed people,” said Buchanan. “We will also provide much-needed tax revenue and, of course, fresh, affordable groceries and a wide selection of general merchandise.”In addition to the Walmart, developers agreed to construct 1,000 feet of new water main along Route 1, a new pumping station with 400 feet of forced sewer main and a generator.?That?s almost $1 million worth of work there,” said Town Manager Andrew Bisignani. “I?d say that?s very important. Especially the sewer pumping station. The system that we have there now is in real danger of failure. I?m very, very pleased. The whole process has gone very well.”On Thursday, WS Development presented two new modifications, a wider turning radius in the parking lot to accommodate emergency vehicles and an extension of the 640-foot acceleration/deceleration lane to accommodate the neighboring McDonald?s entrance.These modifications were two of many made to plans previously approved by the Planning Board in 2007 for a potential retail store at 770 Broadway. That designed called for an 80,000 square-foot store, so the approval on Thursday was for modifications to allow a 114,000 square-foot store.?The original plans were for what could be put in, not what would be,” said Rossetti. “They didn?t have a specific store but were planning for what you could fit.”The new Walmart will be on the second floor of an elevated structure, with parking located underneath at ground level.Perrin said the public hearing process was much easier than usual because the bulk of the plans had already been approved.?It went very smoothly because of the design and the previous ground work from Northbound LLC,” said Perrin. “And of course the professionalism of the board and the open and constructive process of working with Mary Carfagna and her board. I wish Mary worked in every town where we had projects. She?s very good at what she does.”Selectman Scott Crabtree declined to say whether or not he supports the project, but said Saugus residents will benefit from Walmart?s traditionally low prices.?I think the residents will be happy having more competitiveness with the supermarkets,” said Crabtree. “I obviously have concerns with traffic, hopefully it won?t have a significant impact.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @MattTempesta.