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Board allows BCP Properties to proceed to preliminary plan while requiring hydraulic model before decision
Summary
BCP Properties LLC was permitted to file its preliminary plan while the board kept in place the requirement that a hydraulic model showing adequate water and fire flow be submitted before any decision; Stonebridge Water District expects modeling work to be complete in 30—45 days and said a pump station may be required.
The Planning Board on Oct. 7 voted to modify conditions attached to prior master-plan approval for BCP Properties LLC to let the developer submit a preliminary plan even while a hydraulic model for water service is finalized — but the board required the model and related technical materials be presented before any preliminary-plan decision is issued.
Attorney John Mancini, representing BCP Properties LLC, asked the board to permit preliminary-plan submission while the Stonebridge hydraulic model is being finalized. Mancini said the applicant remains bound to deliver a model and that the board should not take a decision on the preliminary plan until the model is presented. The board accepted that approach and recorded a motion that the board's time clock on preliminary-plan decision-making will be stayed and will not begin to run until the hydraulic model and related items have been submitted to the record.
Robert Ferrer, president of Northeast Solutions and the consulting engineer to the Stonebridge Fire District, told the board a hydrologic/hydraulic analysis and field calibration have been underway and that Stonebridge's system-wide model has been completed and calibrated with recent hydrant tests. Ferrer said initial field testing found an approximate maximum yield of about 750 gallons per minute at a point near the development, and he said his expectation is that the combined modeling work will show that a pump station will be required to meet fire-flow and maximum-day demand simultaneously — “which is not an unusual circumstance for a rural system,” he said.
Ferrer and others said the applicant has engaged a consultant to dovetail the project-level model into the Stonebridge model. The consultant team expects to finish their portion of the modeling work in roughly 30 to 45 days, after which the combined report and presentation will be made available to the board and the public.
Residents who spoke during the public hearing expressed concern that neighborhood water-supply problems could be aggravated by a large new development. Jason Osborne, who lives nearby, asked whether the forthcoming model would address impacts to surrounding properties; Ferrer said the modeling exercise is intended to test concurrent maximum-day and fire-flow demands and therefore will analyze neighborhood impacts.
The board also approved, by separate motion, a set of limited waivers to allow certain checklist items to be submitted and reviewed during preliminary-plan public meetings rather than as prerequisites to filing for preliminary-plan certification; the board stressed that statutory items (for example, certain state-level permits) remain required and that the board will not start its decision time clock until the hydrologic modeling and other agreed materials are submitted. Both motions passed unanimously.
The board additionally asked staff to invite Stonebridge and the neighboring North Tipperton water-district representatives to present interim findings at an upcoming board meeting so the broader town-level water modeling that will combine both districts can be explained in public.
