Blue Sky Towers proposes about 120-foot wireless tower off Bond Road; hearing continued to May 13
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Summary
Jeff Mason of Lucas Environmental presented a notice of intent for a Blue Sky Towers wireless facility at 103 Bond Road, describing a 75-by-75-foot lease area, a roughly 120-foot monopole and buffer-zone impacts. The commission continued the hearing to May 13 so planning-board peer review and a land-disturbance permit can be completed.
Jeff Mason, a consultant with Lucas Environmental presenting on behalf of Blue Sky Towers, asked the Town of Charlton Conservation Commission to approve an order of conditions for a proposed wireless communication facility on a roughly 63-acre parcel at 103 Bond Road.
Mason described a 75-by-75-foot lease area containing a 60-by-60-foot fenced compound and a galvanized steel monopole about "119, 120 foot tall" that would host wireless antennas. "We respectfully request the commission to approve and issue an order of conditions for the proposed project," Mason said during his presentation.
Mason said the project will reuse an existing logging road for access, minimize additional tree clearing and locate the compound to avoid direct impacts to regulated resource areas. He told commissioners the project will have buffer-zone impacts related to the access road and a stormwater infiltration basin; he reported project wetland buffer impacts of roughly 5,909 square feet in the 0–50-foot band and additional buffer impacts in the 50–100-foot band and said total construction disturbance is about 64,000 square feet.
Staff (S2) flagged that because the project disturbs more than one acre it triggers the town's stormwater rules and "will require the final of a land disturbance permit application," and that the planning-board prereview and peer review remain in progress. "So we don't overlap or request additional prereview," staff said, explaining the commission typically waits for planning-board review before finalizing local orders and permits.
Commissioners and Mason discussed design details including stormwater BMPs, sediment controls and a proposed infiltration basin. Mason said the stormwater design meets design storms up to the 100-year event and is sized to attenuate about 80% of total suspended solids; he also described silt fences, wattles and reinforced erosion controls around the wetland crossing.
Given outstanding planning-board peer-review comments and the need for a land-disturbance permit, the commission voted to continue the 103 Bond Road hearing to May 13 to allow the applicant to complete permit filings and for staff to receive peer-review responses. Mason said the applicant expects planning-board matters to be addressed concurrently and that they will coordinate timing.
Next steps: the hearing was continued to May 13 for follow-up on planning-board peer review and a land-disturbance permit application. The commission did not approve an order of conditions at this meeting.
