Gardner City planning board approves West Mini Storage site plan with conditions

The Gardner City Planning Board on May 13 approved a definitive site plan for West Mini Storage, allowing the self-storage development to proceed with five conditions, including submission of a stormwater management permit and annual operations reports.

The project proponent, Wesley Fliss of McCarty Engineering, told the board that soil testing requested at the prior meeting had been completed and that soil logs were submitted for the record. "We finished that soil testing and brought soil logs this evening," Fliss said, noting the Conservation Commission had already approved the project.

Why this matters: the approval clears a key local review step so the developer can prepare building plans and seek building permits. Conditions attached to the approval are intended to protect stormwater resources, limit on-site storage to within buildings and require ongoing maintenance oversight.

Board members and staff said the outstanding technical concerns had been addressed. Rob, a city staff reviewer, told the board he had reviewed the soil logs and the drainage basins and found the results acceptable: "I saw the test results, checked them against the basins. Everyone looks fine." The board reviewed a drafted site-plan decision with five conditions for the record: 1) submit a complete stormwater management permit application to the City of Gardner before any site work begins and obtain the permit under the city stormwater management ordinance; 2) install and inspect erosion-control measures such as silt fencing before site disturbance; 3) secure completed phases with perimeter fencing to protect finished sections; 4) submit operations and maintenance reports to the city engineer annually within 30 days of completion; and 5) prohibit external storage of debris, vehicles and trailers — all storage must be inside the self-storage buildings.

The board moved and seconded approval after hearing that soil-testing conditions requested earlier were satisfied and that the project engineer had reviewed revised plans. The motion passed; the board chair said all members present voted in favor. After the vote the board planned to sign the site-plan decision so the applicant could file it the following day and proceed toward building-permit submittal.

The transcript shows the applicants will next prepare building plans and apply for building permits from the building inspector; the board did not take any additional land-use or zoning variances during the meeting.

Local officials and applicants can provide the signed site-plan decision for public inspection at the Planning Department.