Commission hears detailed presentation on proposed 9‑lot subdivision at 82 Brookwood; wetlands and fire-protection plans under review

Developers seeking to subdivide 82 Brookwood Lane into nine residential lots presented a detailed engineering, stormwater and wetlands mitigation plan on March 25; the commission continued the public hearing to allow the wetlands commission and town staff to complete reviews.

Amy Zapotakis, the applicant’s counsel, summarized the proposal: nine single-family lots ranging from roughly 2.15 to 4.79 acres on a 31.79-acre parcel in the two-acre residence zone, with approximately 19.1 percent of the parcel currently mapped as wetlands. The plan includes over two acres of open space and an additional conservation-easement area; applicant representatives said the protected acreage, combined with wetland areas to be restored, will total roughly 8.79 acres of permanently protected land. The proposal uses an existing eastern driveway as a shared private access to reduce new upland disturbance and locates the legal frontage for two rear lots on a narrow strip that provides record frontage at Brookwood Lane.

Engineer Leonard DeAndrea outlined lot-by-lot feasibility (housing envelopes, well/septic test holes and 6-bedroom septic designs were discussed) and described the shared driveway dimensions: mostly 16 feet of traveled way, with short segments narrowed to 14 feet to reduce wetland impacts; the commission was asked to consider a waiver for the 14-foot stretch because subdivision standards call for a 16-foot traveled way for private roads serving more than two lots. DeAndrea emphasized that the applicant proposed vegetated bioretention basins, catch-basins retrofitted with inserts and vegetated swales in multiple locations along the accessway to treat and infiltrate runoff rather than relying on subsurface infiltration in areas with shallow groundwater.

Wetlands consultant William Kenny described a package of wetlands restoration measures intended to offset prior disturbances and, on balance, increase wetland function and flood storage on the property. Those activities include removing historic fill in a northern area and restoring roughly 20,000+ square feet of wetland area, creating, expanding or reconnecting watercourses and planting native wetland vegetation. The applicant said the goal is to avoid any new wetland losses while substantially increasing wetland area and ecological function in targeted locations.

The fire marshal, Paul Payne, supported the applicants’ approach to fire protection after reviewing a proposed dry-hydrant draft-and-pump approach: a buried pipe would allow a pumper to draft from an on-site pond and pump water to a hydrant located on Brookwood Lane, creating a live, testable hydrant system that benefits the subdivision and the neighborhood. Payne asked for final turning-radius plans demonstrating large-apparatus maneuvers; applicants agreed to provide apparatus templates and turning movements for staff review.

Town engineering staff said the drainage approach has been revised to replace most subsurface infiltration with vegetated micropools and add catch-basin inserts upstream of micropools to improve water quality; staff noted that all future lot-level development will require separate drainage analyses and that credits taken in the common-driveway analysis cannot be applied to future individual-lot drainage submissions.

Because the wetlands commission hearing remained open and the project involves multiple technical disciplines, the Planning & Zoning Commission kept the public record open and scheduled a special meeting for April 10 to continue the item; the applicant agreed. No vote was taken on March 25.