SAUGUS — The Planning Board hit a bit of a snag Thursday night while discussing the Site Plan Review permit of 163-167 Hamilton St., which is where Psyclarity Health, a rehabilitation center, is located.
The plan review included increasing the building’s occupancy from 30 to 48 as well as other building plans.
The conversation began at the start of the meeting, when Board member Robert Long mentioned Article 12, Section 3, of the Saugus Zoning Bylaws.
“We should be formally requesting responses from the fire (department), police (department), the DPW, everybody. And we should be getting those within 21 days after the request,” Long said.
Long brought this up because he feels that, often, people go directly to the building inspector or other departments rather than to the Board. He brought it up during this meeting because he felt it applied to the Psyclarity permit.
“If we ever want to get things squared away, they have to come back here,” he said,
Board Chair John O’Brien said he didn’t think anyone on the Board would disagree with him.
Vice Chair Jeanette Meredith noted that Clerk Nancy Stead sends out request forms to the different departments and boards requesting their input on the plans.
“The plan goes to each department before the public hearing for comment,” Stead said.
There was discussion as to whether they need to put ramifications on not getting responses from departments, with one suggestion being that the meeting won’t go forward, but Meredith said that the applicant would then be punished for something a department didn’t get done.
She said that maybe once Stead sends out the form, O’Brien should follow up on it, asking for the department to fill it out with its comments, sign it, and send it back.
“Maybe they just need a boost from the chair. A reminder,” Meredith said.
Board member Philip Rando agreed that it is not the applicants fault if the Board doesn’t receive info from the departments.
“I don’t know what the ramifications will be. What’s happened in a lot of cases is we have the engineers going directly to some of these departments… That doesn’t give us any ideas,” O’Brien said.
Long raised his personal concerns regarding Hamilton Street. He stated that the road could be dangerous, especially if trucks were traveling on it to deliver materials.
“I was damn near killed going up the side of Hamilton Street, going toward Saugus Center on Thanksgiving Day with my mother and father. A car pulled out from that particular location… was making a turn into the driveway, came down the street, and hit us head-on… All three of us on Thanksgiving wound up in the hospital at the time,” he said.
Long continued that it was necessary for these forms to go out to the departments, especially for a street like this, for the sake of public safety, but Meredith again noted that the forms had gone out for comment.
Rick Salvo of Engineering Alliance then stated that he had gone to the fire department prior to filing with the Board to ensure that the plans they drew up reflected what the department wanted, which is most likely why the department sent its form back with no comment.
“The fire department is very involved… My understanding is the fire department is very involved with every project that goes on. They’re on the site. They’re going through it… They often ask for more stringent requirements,” Meredith said.
Discussion continued on the actual plans, involving a wall being built, the widening of the driveway, and the type of materials being used during the build.
At the end, Meredith went to make a motion to close the public hearing, though Long did not agree, feeling as though there was more information needed, including the wall certification to ensure the wall was safely built on the sloped property.
Meredith stated that she planned on making that part of her motion when it came to conditions. She then continued to make her motion, and O’Brien and Rando voted yes, while Long voted no. With the majority voting yes, the hearing was closed.
Meredith then moved on to a motion to approve the special permit with these conditions: flag the land during construction of the wall to ensure the work remains within the property, do not remove the asphalt as discussed without touching base with the Conservation Commission, provide the Board with a construction management plan including the trucking schedule when that begins, and give a copy of a certified plan for the wall to the Board.
Once again, O’Brien and Rando voted yes while Long voted no, approving the permit 3-1.
