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Planning board conditionally approves 1 Smith Road site plan, grants buffer waiver
Summary
The Brentwood Town Planning Board conditionally approved the site plan for 1 Smith Road and granted a waiver to reduce the buffering distance after the applicant provided revised plans, a planting and buffering sheet, and a fire‑truck turning‑radii diagram. Conditions include showing the 25‑foot buffer to scale, an updated planting bond that includes installation, completion of plantings within six months and on‑site demarcation submitted to the town.
Ryan Lavelle, surveyor with Lavelle Associates, told the Brentwood Town Planning Board that the applicant updated the 1 Smith Road plan set to address comments from the Jan. 21 work session, including a clarified description of rear lease‑land use, a separate landscape and buffering sheet and a dust‑control note drawn from alteration‑of‑terrain standards. "Since the board reviews reviewed these plans last month, we have incorporated all the comments raised during the January 21, 2026 work session as outlined by the town planner," Lavelle said.
The board focused on a waiver request to allow a reduced buffer between the proposed commercial/storage area and an abutting residentially used parcel. A planner told the board they had contacted the abutter, Mr. Flagg, and that revised planting diagrams and a turning‑radii plan for fire apparatus had been distributed to address prior concerns. The board asked the applicant to show a 25‑foot buffer drawn to scale on the plan and to provide clearer labeling of screening elements.
Board members raised concerns about the site's history of noncompliance. One member said the "elephant in the room" was the property's prior noncompliance and asked how the board could ensure nothing would be placed inside the 25‑foot buffer. Lavelle responded that the planting plan, required as a condition of approval, would discourage storage in the buffer and offered additional on‑site demarcation such as rebar posts or green conservation fence posts with signage to make the setback visible.
Conditions the board read into the record required the applicant to provide a building elevation for the proposed 12x12 shed; to show the 25‑foot buffer clearly and to label it on the plan; to update the planting plan and bond to include installation; and to complete landscaping within six months of approval. The board also required that the proposed foam‑product storage be shifted outside the limits of the bio‑retention pond. The applicant agreed to submit a letter and photographs to the planner showing the demarcation and planting once completed.
The board voted by voice to approve the waiver and to conditionally approve the site plan subject to the listed conditions. During final action the board amended the conditional approval to specify a 90‑day limit for the applicant to meet outstanding requirements before the conditional approval lapses.
The board instructed staff to record the waiver and any variances on the approved plan set and to use submitted documentation and photos to aid code enforcement should the buffer be compromised. The conditional approval will remain in effect while the applicant completes the specified items; if the requirements are not satisfied within the 90‑day window the board indicated it would reconsider final approval.
