Planning board approves major-project permit and site plan for Norwood Commerce Center with use caps and multiple waivers

The Norwood Planning Board on Oct. 1 granted site-plan approval and a major-project special permit for the Norwood Commerce Center, a long-running industrial/commercial complex on Endicott Street, subject to use limits, landscaping requirements and multiple design waivers.

Attorney David Hearn Jr., representing Norwood Commerce Center Limited Partnership, told the board the ownership submitted two memos outlining proposed permitted uses and parking calculations. Hearn said the application proposed maximum square-footage caps by use category so tenants would not have to seek separate zoning relief for routine changes in tenancy. He described categories including retail, studios/offices/service establishments, public assembly and a food-processing category.

Hearn reported updates to the plans filed with the planning department: a corrected places-of-public-assembly parking calculation (81 spaces instead of an earlier, erroneous 19), snow-storage areas kept at least 50 feet from Haws Brook per conservation requirements, and removal of 12 parking spaces after consultation with the fire department…