LYNNFIELD — The Fire Department has written a letter expressing their concerns about the subdivision plans for a property at 109 Lowell St.
The property, also known as Vallis Way, proposes to create five additional building lots by dividing the rear lot, allowing for the existing home at 109 Lowell St. to remain as is.
Some of the concerns that the Fire Department listed in their letter involve having two access points to the property, an update to the turning radius at the cul-de-sac, fire hydrants, the length of the dead-end street, and the landscape at the cul-de-sac.
According to the plans, the street is about 1,000 feet long, which the department said would require two hydrants.
The first hydrant would need to be between lots four and five, while the other one is already set to be in the correct place by the cul-de-sac.
“The water down the street should be looped so that we have water coming from more than one direction to avoid a dead-end main,” the department said.
The department also said that the length of the street raises concerns regarding water and access.
“For example, should we have a significant fire emergency at the end of this roadway and we lose water from the new hydrants on that new roadway, it would create challenges/delays to getting water on that fire,” the department said.
In this case, the department would have to run a hose supply line through Lowell Street down Vallis Way, but the engines only carry 1,000 feet of these hoses.
“So when you lay out more than 700 feet of hose, you need to place a fire pumper at that point to relay the pump,” the department said. “On that street, that pump and hose would restrict access to future arriving emergency apparatus.”
In regards to the landscape, the department said there should be no plantings in the cul-de-sac because it could disrupt the ladder truck, and the entrance to the roadway needs to be wide enough to fit that type of fire truck.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
