Millis planning board approves special permit for private dog park at 1380 Main Street with conditions

The Town of Millis Planning Board on May 13 approved a special permit with site-plan approval for a private dog park at 1380 Main Street, contingent on submission of requested plan revisions and confirmation by town counsel of a legal opinion about a shared right-of-way.

Board members said the developer had addressed most peer-review comments and agreed to several technical revisions. The board also voted to grant six waiver requests related to parking, loading, paving and interior landscaping that the applicant said were necessary because of existing site constraints.

Jeff King of LAL Engineering, representing the applicant Lapdog LLC, summarized the outstanding engineering items. He told the board the project will move stormwater infiltration to the rear of the building with a stone trench and chambers that will capture runoff from about one-quarter of the roof and infiltration beneath the artificial-turf play area. For runoff from the new asphalt area, he said stormwater will pass through two deep-sump catch basins and a proprietary separator before connecting back to the municipal system at Main Street. "Between these two areas, we do capture the required volume that we need for infiltration," King said.

Mike Carter of GCG Associates, the board's peer reviewer, told the board the applicant had addressed all but two minor items and called the remaining items easy to change on the plans. "Really, the biggest thing is the waiver request," Carter said, adding that if the waivers are acceptable, the peer-review comments are otherwise resolved.

Board discussion focused on parking, the condition of a gravel access aisle, and the legal status of a driveway/right-of-way that functions like a private driveway. King said the applicant is proposing 42 parking spaces; he described a method used to calculate a notional requirement that produced 30 spaces and noted the design attempts to reduce impervious area by cutting the artificial turf and removing one parking stall. King also outlined six waiver requests: shared loading occupying two parking spaces, reduced stall length (9x19 feet instead of 9x21), elimination of a dedicated loading area, keeping an existing compacted gravel access aisle, eliminating interior curbing at one side, and meeting tree requirements on the perimeter rather than interior islands.

Town counsel Matthew Watzke (spelled in the record as Watzke) recommended the board could close the hearing and make approvals contingent on submittal of the final plan revisions. The board agreed to that approach but added a condition that the special permit be subject to town council confirming the attorney's opinion about how the right-of-way functions.

The board voted to approve the six waivers as submitted, to close the public hearing, and to approve the special permit with site-plan approval contingent on (1) the submittal of the requested plan updates (including drainage revisions and a short paved driving path shown on the plan) and (2) town council's review/confirmation of the attorney opinion on the right-of-way. The motions were made, seconded and passed by voice vote. Mike Carter agreed to draft the final decision for the board.

The board and applicant also discussed timing: members urged the applicant to proceed with needed utility work in the Route 109 right-of-way so site work would not be delayed. The board said the outstanding items were minor and that the conditional-approval process is a commonly used practice for limited plan refinements.

The decision requires the applicant to file a revised plan showing the requested changes and to obtain the county/town-counsel confirmation about the right-of-way before the permit is finalized. The board directed staff and the peer reviewer to confirm the final drainage calculations and the limited paving detail for the driving path on the updated plan.