Nantucket ZBA hears fire, traffic and water-quality concerns on Surfside Crossing modification; hearing continued

The Town of Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals on Jan. 15 heard extended remarks from town department heads and outside consultants on the Surfside Crossing modification, with fire, police, transportation, sewer and water officials raising concerns about emergency access, traffic mitigation funding and whether the project’s stormwater plan will prevent groundwater degradation. The board continued the hearing to Jan. 24, 2025, and recorded that the Housing Appeals Committee had granted the applicant an extension to Feb. 21, 2025.

The discussion matters because the Surfside Crossing site lies in a Zone 2 recharge area for the island’s drinking water supply and the modification increases concentrated impervious surface and residential units on the parcel — factors town officials said could raise the pollutant load to local groundwater. Multiple department heads said the project also strains traffic and emergency-access assumptions the town used in prior reviews.

Fire Chief Mike Cranston told the board the department’s principal concern is access: fire apparatus must be able to reach all buildings and the site plan should meet 527 CMR 1, the Massachusetts comprehensive fire code. “The roads need to be at least 20 feet wide…and that’s unobstructed,” Cranston said, adding the department prefers more than a single primary entrance and that any secondary access be remote from the primary entrance to preserve alternative routing in an emergency. Cranston said the site’s proposed reinforced-turf emergency access “meets the requirements of the fire code,” but he warned maintenance of that material can be problematic.

Chief of Police Jody Casper said the police department likewise “would have preferred to have one [access] come in a different way from a different end,” citing scenarios in which a crash or spill at the primary entrance could block access. Casper also warned the board to expect parking pressure and additional traffic at the existing three-way intersection of South Shore Road,…