Planning Board reopens Bradley Greens hearing, continues preliminary review to April 15

The Saco Planning Board reopened public testimony Tuesday on the Bradley Greens condominium project at Bradley Street, heard technical updates from the applicant and consultants about stormwater, buffering and tree surveys, and then closed public comment and continued the application to April 15 to allow staff to prepare draft findings of fact and conditions of approval.

Board Chair Matt Provencal convened the continued public hearing on the 32-unit condominium project presented by Bradley Greens, LLC and consultant Sebago Technics. The applicant, represented by David Ehrenstam, described neighborhood meetings, a new tree survey and revisions to landscaping and grading that the team said addressed prior peer-review comments.

"We did a tree survey to really identify where some of the trees are," applicant representative David Ehrenstam said, and described follow-up discussions with neighbors and with the project engineer about locating plantings away from underground utilities.

The board and the applicant spent most of the discussion on stormwater. City planning staff reported the applicant had submitted a landscape response and additional correspondence for the record; the city engineer had recommended conditions of approval in a memo. Sebago Technics engineer Chris Taylor told the board the project team and the city engineer had worked through details and that the latest plans show lined basins and outlet-control structures designed to ensure runoff rates do not increase under the proposed condition.

"The basins are actually going to be lined, so that it won't allow groundwater or water the runoff water that gets held in the basin to go down into the groundwater," Taylor said, adding the design directs treated runoff through sized outlet control structures.

Board members repeatedly said they had been thorough in reviewing the project's technical materials. Member Jeff (Planning Board member) said the drainage design and the city engineer's peer review had convinced him the team had reached an acceptable approach, while also noting the site's high groundwater table and the ongoing need to address similar infill projects across the city.

After reopening the public hearing for the item and receiving no new public speakers, the board closed public comment and directed staff to prepare draft findings and conditions. The board voted 5-0 to continue review of the application to April 15 and asked staff to present draft findings of fact and conditions of approval at that meeting. The board also recorded votes earlier that evening to reopen and later close the hearing during the continued review process; both motions passed 5-0.

The next steps are for the applicant to respond to any remaining comments from the landscape peer reviewer and the city engineer, and for staff to prepare the draft materials for the board's April 15 meeting.