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Developer presents reduced New Boston Street plan; commission waives fresh peer review and grants continuance
Summary
Proponents of a downsized mixed‑use project at 216 New Boston Street/225 Merrimack Street said they removed a second building and garage, reducing wetland impacts and retaining stream‑daylighting, and the commission voted to waive an additional peer review and to continue the hearing to June 27 for final materials and EPA construction plan details.
Tom Schutz (Gautau Consulting) and Nick Delacavo (Allen & Major Associates) presented a new Notice of Intent on June 13 for a downsized redevelopment of parcels at 216 New Boston Street and 225 Merrimack Street (DEP 348‑869). The revised plan eliminates a previously approved second building and parking garage, leaving a single roughly 99,000‑square‑foot, two‑story mixed‑use building on Lot 1 and reducing disturbance to wetland buffers and intermittent streams.
Applicants emphasized continued commitments: daylighting portions of the intermittent stream, invasive‑species management, deep‑sump catch basins and water‑quality units, and provision of recorded easements to perform improvements on the adjacent lot. They also said the tenant that previously processed mulch has vacated the site and the mulch piles have been removed.
Commissioners questioned whether the change reduces environmental benefit compared to the previous, larger scheme that proposed more stream improvements; applicants responded that the project retains previously approved stream crossings where needed and includes an intensive invasive species management plan. Nick Delacavo said the proposal reduces overall buffer disturbance by about 20% compared with what was previously approved and increases intermittent stream linear footage in some places, while removing other previously approved crossings.
The site is a Superfund parcel and the project requires an EPA‑approved construction work plan (including dewatering and stockpile management) before construction begins; applicants said they are coordinating the draft plan with EPA and will submit the plan to the commission as a condition of approval.
After discussion about the prior year of peer review and four earlier peer review reports, Commissioner 9 moved to waive commission‑funded peer review for this revised NOI; the motion passed by voice vote. The applicants requested — and the commission approved — a continuance to June 27 to allow submission of revised plans, recorded easements, an updated utility/sewer plan and the integrated pest management and O&M clarifications requested by commissioners.
Next steps: applicants to provide updated existing‑conditions photos, any waiver requests (25‑ft no‑disturb where work remains), recorded lot lines and easements, the EPA construction work plan draft, the integrated pest management details and specific deicer/fertilizer materials in the O&M before the continued hearing on June 27.
