Charlton commission approves order with conditions for 4 Oxford Road fire substation

The Town of Charlton Conservation Commission voted to close the public hearing and issue an order with conditions for a proposed two-story, roughly 13,000-square-foot fire substation at 4 Oxford Road.

Project engineer Chris Adi of Mich Engineering told commissioners the design was revised after peer review and town comments to pull much of the work out of wetland buffer areas. "We've actually pulled a lot of the, potential work that would have been in the buffer zone and that would have impacted the wetlands back," Adi said, describing reduced impacts to adjacent resource areas. He said the building will include apparatus bays and support spaces on the first floor and living quarters on the second.

Adi described stormwater measures to handle an increase of about 0.8 acres of impervious area: two on-site detention basins, treatment structures for phosphorus and total suspended solids, and flared end sections that discharge overland toward the wetland. He said groundwater at the site is shallow (about three feet) so infiltration is limited; the design emphasizes detention and treatment before discharge. Adi also noted a sewer pump station will connect the building to an existing main in the nearby intersection and that Heritage Drive will be regraded and partially repaved to provide access for emergency vehicles.

Commission staff recommended closing the hearing and issuing an order with conditions; commissioners moved, seconded and approved the motion on a voice vote. Staff said they will follow up with the project contact on recording and property-transfer details as part of next steps.

What happens next: project staff and town recording officials will confirm property-transfer documentation and any required registry filings, and the commission will monitor compliance with the order’s conditions.