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Inland Wetlands Commission reviews Bethel church addition, parking and stormwater plan
Summary
At a special April 7 meeting and site visit at 67 Turkey Plane Road, the Inland Wetlands Commission reviewed plans for a gym addition at Bethel church that would enlarge parking. The project's engineer said underground detention galleries and two‑foot sump catch basins are designed for a 100‑year storm so runoff would not increase to adjacent wetlands; health department review of the septic is pending.
The Inland Wetlands Commission held a special meeting and on‑site review April 7 at 67 Turkey Plane Road to examine plans for a proposed gymnasium addition at Bethel church and a reconfigured parking area.
Harry Roville, an engineer who identified himself as "with Engineering," led the walk‑through and described how the project would regrade part of the rear yard to add parking and place underground detention galleries beneath the new asphalt. "It'll essentially be at the same level that it is now...designed for the 100‑year storm," Roville said, and added, "there's no increase in runoff to the wetlands as a result of this project." He told commissioners the design includes catch basins with two‑foot sumps and orifices at a discharge manhole to slowly siphon off stormwater during large events.
Roville said the plan keeps roughly a 50‑foot separation between the edge of new parking and the wetlands line, and that upland review flags (100‑foot line) are spray‑painted on site. He also described replacing invasive brush and some trees within the work footprint with native plantings, seeding a meadow area and adding trees in the parking lot and along the property edge as mitigation. A staff member named Kate, referenced by Roville, has a planting plan intended to meet buffer and zoning requirements, he said.
On utilities and safety, Roville pointed to an existing well and a 10,000‑gallon water tank/dry hydrant retained for fire protection, noted the existing B100 septic reserve area on the property and said the septic is under review by the health department. He said current ADA spaces up front will be maintained and three more accessible spaces will be added in the rear to meet requirements.
Commission members asked site‑specific questions about existing parking, the extent of tree removal and how roof leaders and footing drains will be tied into the proposed underground system. Roville said multiple catch basins will collect roof and surface runoff and route it to the galleries; treated flows would slowly overflow to the wetlands in extreme events, as they do today, and the redesigned system should improve water quality compared with current concentrated discharge points.
Some numerical details were unclear on the record: Roville stated that parking computations are based on building square footage and spoke of required additional spaces but the transcript contains two inconsistent numbers (the speaker said "we would need 11 and uh 110 spaces, I believe"), so the exact parking requirement is not specified in the meeting record and remains subject to plan review.
The presenter said much of the existing paved surface cannot be salvaged because regrading and new aisles are required. He also noted the project will be engineered so detention galleries in deeper sections are four feet deep where needed and two feet where constrained. Roville said he would meet with the Commission's reviewing engineer to go over comments and that relevant materials were submitted in the project packet.
A commission member moved to adjourn at 4:29 p.m.; another member seconded and the chair called for a vote. The transcript does not record the vote result.
Next steps identified during the site visit include follow‑up review by the Commission's engineer and the town health department; the Commission did not take a final regulatory vote during the site walk.
