Planning Board grants final approval, waives setback for Millennium Running site at 137 Bedford Center Road

The Bedford Planning Board voted Aug. 11 to grant a waiver to the town’s Land Development Control Regulations and to approve a site‑plan amendment for Millennium Running Properties LLC at 137 Bedford Center Road.

Becky Hebert, Planning Director, told the board that staff had reviewed the application and recommended the board accept the filing; she said technical reviews remain for traffic and drainage and sign‑offs by planning and public works staff would be required. Katie Weiss of Bedford Design Consultants and applicant John Mortimer described a plan that merges two lots, introduces a shared septic under the parking area, places two separate water service lines with separate meters and locates a bioretention area and large pond to mitigate flood‑plain filling. "This site is in the flood plain, so we are filling portions of that flood plain," the applicant’s representative said, describing the retention pond and mitigation approach.

The applicant also requested a waiver to Section 322.10.9 of the Land Development Control Regulations to allow parking and circulation closer than the 30‑foot setback required in the commercial district. Board member Chris Silva Malcolm moved to grant the waiver; the motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote. Malcolm then moved final approval of the site‑plan amendment—covering a 3,400‑square‑foot garage, 1,600 square feet of office space (5,000 square feet total) plus a 4,000‑square‑foot yoga studio—"in accordance with the following findings of fact" and subject to the 17 conditions listed in the staff report dated Aug. 11, 2025. Michael Strand seconded the motion and it carried by voice vote.

The board and staff noted outstanding technical items: confirmation of trip generation and completion of the traffic memorandum review, and final drainage sign‑offs. Hebert said those items are standard final conditions for site‑plan applications and will be resolved by staff review prior to permitting.

Next steps for the applicant are to satisfy the 17 staff conditions and secure the remaining technical sign‑offs. The board’s approval was granted with those conditions; no separate roll‑call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.