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Chelsea planning board approves minor modification for Eastern Avenue battery site with design conditions
Summary
The Chelsea Planning Board on Feb. 25 approved a minor site-plan modification for Energizer Storage/Flatiron Energy at 284 Eastern Ave, replacing a proposed enclosed building with independent external battery enclosures and imposing revised conditions for screening, safety and as-built certification.
The Chelsea Planning Board voted Feb. 25 to treat a proposed design change at 284 Eastern Ave as a minor site-plan modification and approved the project with conditions. The petitioner, Energizer Storage LLC and Flatiron Energy, is replacing an originally proposed enclosed building with separately sited metal-clad battery enclosures and new perimeter walls.
Planning staff told the board that the zoning board and conservation commission had already reviewed the revised design and that staff recommended removing three conditions (Nos. 8, 9 and 12) that applied only to the originally proposed enclosed structure. Staff also recommended changing the timing of the “as-built” certification in condition 14 so the required certification would be submitted prior to issuance of a building permit rather than prior to an occupancy permit.
Flatiron project manager Hunter Prange described three screening options for the wall facing Willoughby and Eastern Avenue — a precast gradient with rotating panels for bird and anti-climb control, a decorative form liner, and a perforated lattice wall — and presented security measures including badge-only gate access, a Knox box for fire-department entry and central-station camera monitoring tied to police dispatch. Prange said the team abandoned a living-vegetation wall after consultation with their fire and safety director because of fire-safety concerns: “we did explore the living wall option and it was deemed unacceptable from a safety standpoint by our internal fire and safety director,” he said.
Board members pressed for specifics on fence height and gate access and raised vandalism and train-sightline concerns for the commuter-rail side of the property. Staff noted MBTA zone-of-influence constraints near the rail line that limit the placement and size of screening near the tracks while also recommending an opaque treatment on the rail-facing side where feasible. On contamination and site legacy questions, the petitioner cited a prior California runoff study and said the site is not expected to be hazardous after the project’s lifetime; the petitioner characterized battery life at the site as roughly 25 years and described containment for transformer oil.
After clarifying debate about counting votes, the board moved and approved the minor-modification determination and attached the staff-recommended edits: delete conditions 8, 9 and 12 (applicable to the removed building), renumber the remaining conditions, change the timing of the as-built certification (condition 14) to before issuance of a building permit, and retain all other previously imposed conditions about wall design and screening (with option 3 the stated preference and an additional opaque treatment required on the commuter rail side where feasible). The motion passed by a majority of members present.
The board also directed the petitioner to return for department design review to finalize façade/screening details and to coordinate annual training and emergency procedures with the Chelsea Fire Department. The petitioner is expected to follow up with final design submittals per the revised conditions.
The planning board’s approval is limited to the minor modification and its stated conditions; any substantial future change to the site plan would require re-evaluation of the modification status and, if deemed major, a public hearing process.
