Norwood planning board approves Subaru of New England warehouse expansion with stormwater and traffic conditions

The Norwood Planning Board voted unanimously to approve a major project special permit and a site plan for Subaru of New England's proposed 94,000-square-foot warehouse expansion at 111 Moore Street, the board decided at its June meeting.

The expansion will add to an existing roughly 130,000-square-foot warehouse, consolidate several curb cuts on Moore and Pleasant streets, and reconfigure loading so deliveries and shipping use separate docks. Matt Smith, an engineer with Norwood Engineering Company who presented the plan for the applicant, said the expansion will not add customers but will allow Subaru to stock a wider variety of parts to serve the same roughly 65 dealerships across New England. "We're not adding customers at all," Smith said. "They're only gonna need about two more employees."

The project includes a multi-component stormwater design the applicant says exceeds state requirements: tree-box filters, a large geostorage infiltration system and a rain garden that will grow from 1,448 square feet to 3,346 square feet. Smith told the board the design treats 1 inch of impervious rainfall in…