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Developer wins fee waiver and agrees to provide floodplain calculations for daycare and playground project at 335 Washington
Summary
Applicant for 335 Washington/28 Cedar told the commission the project reduces impervious area within a 12,400‑sq‑ft disturbance and converts parking to a fenced daycare playground; the commission waived the local 50¢/sq ft disturbance fee and continued the hearing to Nov. 21 for compensatory storage and runoff tables.
WOBURN — Representatives for 335 Washington Street and adjacent 28 Cedar Street told the Woburn City Conservation Commission on Nov. 7 that their redevelopment would convert part of an existing parking lot into a fenced daycare playground, reconfigure loading, and reduce overall impervious area in the local floodplain.
John Paul Martinetti, speaking for 335 Washington Street Holdings LLC, and engineer Ben Minox of Eagle Brook Engineering presented plans showing a 12,400‑square‑foot disturbance within the local floodplain. Minox told the commission the existing impervious area within that footprint is about 11,800 square feet and proposed conditions would reduce it to about 8,200 square feet — a net reduction in impervious surface achieved by converting paved parking to turf and adding infiltration measures.
Commissioners asked for detailed cross sections and elevation‑by‑elevation tables to confirm compensatory flood storage and asked the applicant to show exactly where net fill and cut occur. Minox said the project would be essentially net zero fill on a construction‑scale basis and that the redesign keeps most grading changes within an inch or two to preserve flood storage; he agreed to produce the requested charts and to survey the site during grading to verify compliance.
Separately, the commission considered a request to waive the local floodplain disturbance fee (50¢ per square foot) for the project. Commissioners debated precedent for waiving the fee on parking‑lot resurfacing versus projects that fill floodplain. After discussion the commission voted to waive the 50¢ disturbance fee for this application. The commission opened the public hearing, took questions about runoff, water quality improvements and playground safety measures (deep‑sump catch basin, turf rather than loose fill, fencing and bollards), and then voted to continue the hearing to Nov. 21 so staff can review the requested floodplain charts and stormwater calculations.
The applicant agreed to produce the requested compensatory storage cross sections, a runoff comparison for key design storms and a pest‑management note for landscaping and to coordinate on snow‑storage and temporary stockpile locations outside the floodplain during construction.
