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Board grants site plan approval and a waiver allowing chain‑link screening for Radius Recycling stormwater upgrades after debate
Summary
The board granted minor site plan approval for Radius Recycling's on-site stormwater treatment upgrades and — over staff preference for a solid opaque fence — allowed an 8‑foot chain‑link fence with privacy slats along an internal processing area, citing site constraints and existing vegetative buffers.
The Planning Board on March 16 approved a minor site plan for on‑site stormwater treatment improvements at 25 Sanquist Street proposed by Radius Recycling and Pearlized New England Co., but the vote followed a sustained back-and-forth about what kind of screening to require along the south property line adjacent to residences.
Staff recommended denial of the applicant’s waiver request for a chain‑link fence with privacy slats and instead urged a solid opaque fence or PVC-style barrier, arguing it better meets the site-plan screening regulations because the equipment between the new concrete wall and the residential properties would remain visible with a chain-link assembly. The applicant’s engineer, Ross San Tulis with Woodard & Curran, said the existing vegetative buffer and the proposed concrete wall already substantially screen the facility from the south and that a chain‑link fence with slats (the applicant’s preferred option) provides the necessary security at lower cost and with easier maintenance.
Board members expressed concern that vegetation can be deciduous and that winter visibility could expose equipment; staff pointed to the letter of the regulation that screening must address the improvements the applicant is proposing — i.e., the tanks and treatment boxes placed between the fence and the wall. The applicant said the equipment is generally quiet and primarily below grade, and cited a shoreline permit and forthcoming state plan revisions; staff noted outstanding engineering conditions that must be met as precedent to final approval.
After discussion the board conditionally granted the waiver to allow the chain‑link fence with privacy slats, and then voted to grant minor site plan approval subject to the precedent and subsequent engineering and permitting conditions outlined in staff recommendations. The board included direction that maintenance plans be prepared for any slat system and that opaque screening might be required if vegetative buffers cannot be maintained.
Next steps: Applicant will finalize engineering responses to staff comments, provide the required operation and maintenance (O&M) information for the fence/slat system, and meet other precedent conditions before final paperwork is endorsed.
