Planning board hears proposal for two three-unit buildings at 0 Emerald Street; public raises stormwater and parking concerns

A developer presented a site-plan application April 8 to the Gardner City Planning Board proposing two new lots at 0 Emerald Street with a three-unit building on each lot, for a total of six residential units.

The project proponent, Steven Senay, said the applicant may either hold or sell units after construction; "if we sold them they would be sold as individual units and not as a rental property," he said. Engineer Greg Roy of Duluth and Roy Civil Design Group told the board the 0 Emerald Street parcel is roughly 22,000 square feet and that the proposal includes two three‑unit buildings, with two off‑street spaces per unit (one in‑garage, one in front of the garage), on‑site stormwater infiltration, grading work and a retaining wall to manage the site slope down toward Timpani Boulevard.

The project requires a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals for the proposed use, Roy said, and the team has filed concurrently with that board. Roy described a stormwater design that will capture runoff from new roofs and driveways and route it to on‑site infiltration basins; he said no test pits have yet been performed to verify separation to groundwater or bedrock.

Residents at the hearing raised multiple substantive concerns. A number of speakers asked whether soil testing had been done to determine contamination risk on a property that a resident reported previously contained a foundry that burned in the 1960s; Roy said no soil testing has been completed to date. Several neighborhood residents also asked about erosion and construction‑period controls; the applicant said silt fence and staked straw wattles would be used and that the team would follow conventional erosion‑control practice. The applicant said stormwater operation and maintenance would be assigned through an association (HOA or covenant) recorded on the deeds when lots are separated.

Other recurring public concerns included on‑street parking pressure on Emerald Street, pedestrian safety where sidewalks are irregular, snow‑storage impacts, and whether the new driveways would worsen access for emergency vehicles. Roy responded that driveways are designed to allow vehicles to pull entirely off the street and that the project team expects to continue an existing sidewalk along the property frontage. On elevation, Roy said the new foundations would be set slightly higher than Emerald Street (top of foundations near elevation 1,027–1,028, compared with existing grades roughly 1,026–1,027).

Board members and staff flagged two matters that must be resolved before final site‑plan approval: (1) verification testing (test pits) in the proposed infiltration basin areas to confirm groundwater and soil conditions and (2) coordination with the zoning board on the single‑driveway zoning provision and the pending special‑permit application. Rob Alva (city reviewer) had earlier noted the residential zoning allows a single access driveway and that the ZBA will need to address that issue for this form of development.

Because the applicant has not yet completed soil/test‑pit work and the ZBA special‑permit process remains pending, the planning board voted to continue/suspend final action on the site plan to a future meeting so the testing and cross‑board coordination can be completed.

Next steps: the applicant will perform the recommended soil/groundwater testing for the infiltration basins, provide any revised drainage calculations if conditions differ, record the proposed shared O&M and easement language for stormwater in deed paperwork when lots are separated, and return to the planning board after the Zoning Board of Appeals acts on the special permit.

The project record in this article is drawn from the planning board public hearing on April 8, 2025; the hearing was continued by vote of the board to a later meeting for submission of test results and coordination with the ZBA.