Plaistow ZBA continues hearing on proposed Amazon trailer parking after noise and traffic concerns

The Plaistow Zoning Board of Adjustment on Sept. 26 continued a public hearing on application 24-8, a request by Strategic Real Estate Management LLC to use 45 Westfield Road as a private parking facility for tractor-trailers leased to Amazon. The board asked for additional noise-monitoring data and other information before taking a decision; the hearing was continued to Oct. 31.

The applicant’s representatives, including attorney Patricia Pansiaco and civil consultant Jim Hanley, told the board the site is a roughly 3.8-acre parcel with about 2.2 acres of paved area formerly operated as a state park-and-ride. They said Amazon would use the lot as a satellite parking area, with the company estimating 10–14 trailer exchanges per day and a peak of no more than two per hour. "They have modified their business plan and have agreed that there won't be any truck traffic going in and out of the site between 12 at night and 5 o'clock in the morning," Pansiaco said.

As mitigation, the applicant added a screening fence (poly-coated chain link with screening), a 12-by-12 guard shack at the entrance, onsite porta-potty, and a stormwater…