Applicant for 220 Turnpike Road seeks to close hearing after addressing stormwater and wetland comments

Patrick McCarty, principal at McCarty Engineering, told the Town of Westborough Planning Board that revised plans for 220 Turnpike Road were submitted July 30 and that the peer reviewer (CEI) returned an updated letter saying ‘‘almost all of the comments are addressed.’’ McCarty said the team dug additional test pits at the four proposed infiltration basins, sent soil samples to Yankee Engineering for infiltration analysis, and updated their calculations accordingly.

McCarty described a single remaining technical change: converting a low-spot standard catch basin to a water-quality inlet and updating the TSS removal worksheet and the operation-and-maintenance plan. He also said the applicant will ‘‘spot plant some wetland plants’’ to bolster an isolated vegetated wetland that had been stripped by a prior owner.

Director of Planning Jenny Dingrish advised the board that the plan would be prepared as a draft decision for the board to review and that her recommendation was ‘‘to close the hearing at that time to wait for any additional comments.’’ McCarty had asked the board to close the hearing at the meeting and make outstanding CEI items conditions of approval so construction could proceed this season; staff and board members instead agreed to continue the matter to the September meeting to allow review of a drafted decision.

The board moved and seconded a continuance consistent with that plan and confirmed the item will return on the agenda in September for the Planning Board and for conservation commission review, where the applicant expects approval next week at conservation, according to McCarty.

The board’s action was procedural: no final site-plan approval was granted at the Aug. 5 meeting. The next procedural step is for staff to circulate a draft decision and for the board to consider closing the hearing and a formal vote at the September meeting.