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Rochester Planning Board approves 4-lot plan for 1494 Rod Road after denying long‑narrow lot relief
Summary
The board denied a request to create two long, narrow lots at the back of a proposed five‑lot subdivision and approved a revised four‑lot plan with two technical waivers. Planning staff and neighbors raised concerns about wetlands, steep slopes and lot usability; the applicant will submit revised plans to planning staff for final sign‑off.
The Rochester Planning Board on June 2 denied a conditional‑use request and a waiver to allow two long, narrow lots at the rear of a proposed five‑lot subdivision at 1494 Rod Road, and approved a revised four‑lot subdivision with two technical waivers and standard conditions.
The decision matters because planning staff and several board members said the two back lots would be largely unusable — encumbered by wetlands, 50‑foot wetland buffers and steep slopes — and approving them would set a precedent for similar splits in the city’s agricultural zone.
Jace Gregoire, an engineer with Civil Works New England representing the applicant, described the original proposal as a five‑lot frontage subdivision with private road, stormwater improvements and two treatment ponds. “We meet all the stormwater regulations in the city of Rochester,” Gregoire said, and noted the design includes detention and treatment ponds and retaining walls, and that third‑party and technical review group (TRG) comments had been addressed.
Plann…
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