City plan commission approves Panema Landing site changes, requires engineer sign-off on bond

The Commission on the City Plan on May 20 approved a site development plan modification for Panema Landing at 555 and 575 Norwich Avenue that will allow conversion of part of the historic mill into a restaurant, with parking and access improvements, subject to conditions including review of the posted bond by the city engineer.

The approval follows a presentation by Phil Biano, who said the project team has coordinated remediation and testing after soil excavated from the Panema site was identified in tests as exceeding residential standards at several off-site locations. “This was material that was thought to be clean...this was over burned material that was excavated, removed from the site, and then subsequently tested and found it exceeded some of the residential standards,” Biano told the commission. He said two Norwich sites have been remediated and that work is ongoing at a Franklin site with EPA coordination.

Why it matters: the site sits in the Mill Reuse Overlay District and…