Board continues Westmeade Storage site plan to public hearing after technical review

Justin LeClaire of McCarty Engineering presented a preliminary site plan for Westmeade Storage on March 11, 2025, proposing a self-storage facility on a roughly 9.7-acre parcel on Manca Drive zoned Industrial 2.

The applicant described seven buildings with a total of 169 units on slab-on-grade foundations, two gated entrances from Manca Drive, perimeter security fencing, and three stormwater collection/treatment basins including an underground concrete-chamber system. The project team said solar-mounted, motion-activated lighting would be mounted on buildings, the facility would not include sprinklers because the largest unit is 6,000 square feet (below the 7,500-square-foot threshold discussed for sprinklers), and two fire hydrants exist on Manca Drive near the site.

City review comments raised technical items the applicant agreed to address. The city engineer asked the applicant to relocate certain drain manholes that were sited too close to building slabs and questioned the currently shown pipe cover (2.5 feet) versus the city's typical recommended cover (about 3.5 feet). The conservation commission had previously reviewed and issued conditions for the proposal; the applicant said ConCom approved the project in December. The applicant also acknowledged an omission in the soil logs — high groundwater information was not recorded — and said soil logs and testing locations would be updated.

Board members questioned erosion and sedimentation controls on steep 2:1 slopes near wetlands. The applicant and a board member debated physical erosion-control blankets versus heavy-duty hydroseeding; the applicant's landscape designer recommended hydroseeding with site-appropriate seeding and application rates while the board expressed willingness to require additional measures in high-risk areas.

Operational details discussed: the owner said the site would be locked at night, entry would be keypad-controlled with magnetic exit sensors, cameras would be solar-powered and remotely monitored, the owner maintains other facilities and an office at 161 Chelsea Street where rentals and applications are handled, and there would be no on-site dumpster — tenants are expected to remove their trash and the owner would periodically monitor and contract removal if needed.

After discussion, the board moved, seconded and voted to continue the application to a public hearing and requested revised plans and a formal comment-response letter from the applicant. The applicant agreed to provide a revised plan set and responses addressing the engineer’s items, corrected soil logs, and a construction/sequencing and erosion-control narrative showing phasing and required infrastructure for each phase.