Planning board approves preliminary plan for Fairgrounds Road subdivision despite community concern over restaurant site

The Nantucket Planning Board on a unanimous vote approved a preliminary plan from Fairgrounds LLC to subdivide 25 and 27 Fairgrounds Road — the site that formerly housed the Fairgrounds restaurant — into nine lots, eight intended to be buildable, and a roadway lot.

The proposal, presented by Paul Santos of Nantucket Surveyors LLC on behalf of the applicant, calls for a 25-foot paved roadway, a cul-de-sac designed for fire apparatus, underground utilities, municipal water and sewer service, and a combination of surface swales and subsurface infiltration for stormwater management because the site lies in DEP Zone 2 and the Nantucket Public Wellhead Recharge District.

Board members and public commentators urged the applicant to consider preserving or relocating the existing NRTA bus stop on Tacoma Way, to reserve an easement at the cul-de-sac terminus for future interconnections, and to weigh sidewalk, bicycle-path and lighting needs in later, definitive-stage filings. Several speakers praised the restaurant operators and expressed mixed emotions about the redevelopment; at least one resident asked whether units would be market-rate and encouraged the applicant to explore affordable or town-employee housing options.

“While Brad is the applicant, he is not the current property owner,” said Paul Santos, describing ownership of the two lots and the site constraints, and noting that the plan would be subject to the board’s subdivision regulations and state/local stormwater rules at the next stage.

Board members asked staff to confirm sewer capacity and coordination with the sewer department during the definitive-subdivision review. The applicant said the plan includes catch basins discharging to a water-quality unit piped to a vegetated swale and subsurface infiltration; staff and the town engineer will review those systems in detail before definitive approval.

The board voted to approve the preliminary plan “as proposed with the discussions that we’ve had,” with comments that the applicant and staff should follow up on transit stop placement, potential easements for future connectivity, and detailed stormwater and fire-access engineering. The vote was recorded as four “ayes.”

The board’s approval advances the project to the definitive plan stage, where waivers requested for sidewalks, bike paths, right-of-way width and cul-de-sac radius, as well as any contribution discussions, will be considered along with technical engineering reviews. The applicant and staff said they expect to return with those details at the next hearing.

The board’s action does not authorize construction; it clears the preliminary-plan procedural step and triggers filing of definitive plans, required agency reviews and condition-setting.

Planning staff and the applicant will notify abutters and post the next hearing date when the definitive application is ready for the board’s review.