LeBaron Hills project paused: ZBA conditions engineering approvals on DEP water and wastewater findings

The Lakeville Zoning Board of Appeals continued the LeBaron Hills LLC site-plan review on May 15 after detailed legal, engineering and resident testimony about the subdivision’s municipal water connections, wastewater treatment capacity and outstanding peer-review engineering items.

Robert Mather, legal counsel for the applicant Residences at LeBaron Hills LLC, and project representatives said they will not proceed with construction of Phase 6 or complete Phase 5 until issues with the municipal water supply and state review are resolved. Mather told the board the applicant would accept a condition that no building permits be issued for further phases until MassDEP confirms whether the development must be treated as a public water supply under 310 CMR 22 or is eligible to be a consecutive (distribution-only) system under department rules.

The board heard an analysis from Matthew Watzke, identified as special counsel and a former deputy general counsel at MassDEP, who described the regulatory test under 310 CMR 22 and the role of the intermunicipal agreement between the City of Taunton and the Town of Lakeville. Watzke said the regulations exempt a consecutive distribution system that gets all water from a public supplier, has no collection or treatment facilities, and is covered by a written agreement assigning ownership and operational responsibilities. “In my view,” Watzke told the board, the department should determine that LaBaron Hills is a consecutive system and therefore not subject to the full public‑water‑supply permitting regime under 310 CMR 22. He said he had begun discussions with regional DEP staff and expected a response but could not predict exactly how long DEP would take.

Beals & Thomas, the board’s peer-review engineer, summarized outstanding engineering items in a May 7 supplemental review: the applicant has requested multiple waivers (setbacks, number of stories, impervious coverage and road/drive widths), has not yet provided a metric plan and certain construction details (dumpster pads, fencing), and the board needs a stormwater pollution-prevention plan (SWPPP) before construction. The review also asked for confirmation of wastewater treatment-plant capacity. Project representatives said the on-site treatment plant is currently using roughly one-third of its design capacity (about 18,000–20,000 gallons per day on average versus a design volume reported as 66,000 gallons per day) but that DEP has requested two years of usage history to confirm available capacity and that DEP review could take many months to a year.

Beals & Thomas asked for a swept‑path analysis for fire apparatus and noted minor parking-count and turning-radius corrections; the applicant said the parking-table discrepancy was a typographical error and submitted a revised turning-radius plan for fire-department review. The Fire Chief submitted a memorandum raising concerns about fire‑department connection locations, hydrant locations, fire apparatus access and said occupancy permits should not be approved if fire-code conditions are unmet.

Residents at the hearing raised separate but related concerns. Several described ongoing problems that stem from a single master water meter for the subdivision and higher per-unit billing tiers charged by Taunton, and they said individual meter reads and an open connection to the Town’s distribution would improve water flow and fairness in billing. The applicant said infrastructure would be built so a connection to Precinct Street/Berlin Boulevard could be opened by Taunton if the water supplier chooses to do so; Taunton has proposed a gate/valve the city would control, while residents and the applicant said the meters and connections are compatible with Taunton’s reading equipment.

Given the outstanding DEP determination, outstanding engineering items and the need to coordinate with Fire and Conservation, the board continued the LeBaron Hills hearing to July 17. The applicant and its counsel said they will continue to pursue DEP engagement, engineering revisions and the other peer-review items in the meantime.