Planning Board delays action on Shaw's distribution center after site‑walk finds unpermitted work

The Town of Wells Planning Board on Sept. 22 voted to delay action on a site-plan amendment for Shaw's distribution center after a site walk and staff memo documented items constructed without required approvals.

Jason Haskell of DM Roma Consulting Engineers attended for the applicant, Shaw's Realty Company. Planning staff said a site walk on Saturday observed a newly installed truck scale, expanded truck parking along Spencer Drive, storage containers not shown on the approved site plan, and a widened entrance with an extended culvert. Staff told the board that the scale and certain parking areas were installed without required planning‑board site‑plan amendments and without building permits.

Staff recommended the applicant submit after‑the‑fact building permits for the scale and container units and suggested reestablishing a vegetative buffer along Spencer Drive. The memo flagged that a 40‑foot buffer is required in the LI (light industrial) zone and that the applicant’s consultant had asked to reduce that to 35 feet; staff advised the planning board that it cannot grant variances to that section of the ordinance.

At the meeting board members discussed options including setting a deadline for revegetation and requiring submittal of building permits and contractor affidavits to verify how the items were built. One board member argued the review should stop until the violations were corrected; the board voted unanimously to delay action on the site‑plan amendment until staff can confirm the required corrections have been made and required permits submitted.

Staff said they would re-inspect the site after the gravel is removed and vegetation established, and that after‑the‑fact permits for prefabricated containers are typically straightforward to submit; the truck scale and electrical connections would require additional documentation (including whatever state approvals exist for electrical connections). Staff noted the applicant indicated plans to revegetate the impacted shoulder and planting area and that October and early autumn planting is possible, with a tentative target of completing revegetation by mid‑October or by spring if weather prevents survival.

The transcript records that the board indicated it expects building‑permit applications and fines where applicable before the board will advance the applicant's site‑plan amendment.