Select Board closes Primrose site-plan hearing after residents raise traffic, tree and historic-house concerns

The Acton Select Board closed a continued public hearing on a proposed Primrose Schools childcare facility at 457 Mass Ave after residents and town boards raised sustained objections about traffic safety, the loss of trees and the fate of a historic house on the 1.4-acre parcel. The board voted 4–1 to close the hearing and directed staff to draft conditions for approval and to require the applicant to return if MassDOT requires plan changes.

The application calls for a two-story, roughly 14,134-square-foot child-care building that exceeds the town's floor-area ratio and open-space thresholds; staff noted the project would seek relief from a 0.10 FAR limit and a 35% open-space requirement. Planning staff told the board that child-care uses are protected under state law, which limits the municipality’s ability to impose use-denying conditions.

The applicant’s civil engineer, Adam Drake of Stonefield, told the board his team received a 75% review from MassDOT and will update traffic analyses and plans as needed. He said off-site snow removal by private haulers is standard at other Primrose sites and offered to add that practice to the operations and maintenance manual: “If by chance we don't have enough room for snow storage, it's standard at multiple Primrose sites in the area to have private haulers bring off any excess snow,” he said.

Residents and board liaisons pressed the applicants on multiple points. Kim Castens, speaking as an individual and referring to earlier board discussions, said she was most concerned about traffic circulation and sight-lines near the junior high and the Prospect Street intersection, and that the project as drawn “drastically alters the landscape” and “raises ramifications on traffic circulation.” Other commenters questioned whether the historic house on the property — subject to an 18-month demolition-delay imposed by the Historical Commission — had been fully evaluated, and urged additional outreach to preservation advocates and possible relocation or rehabilitation options.

Board members debated whether to continue the hearing while awaiting final MassDOT input or to close it and add conditions that require the applicant to return if MassDOT’s permit imposes changes. The board’s suggested conditions, as discussed at the meeting, include requiring off-site snow removal when on-site snow storage impedes parking, lowering driveway slope to meet MassDOT guidance where feasible, installation of a no-left-turn sign at the driveway exit, a requirement that the house not be damaged by any permitted site work during the demolition-delay period, review of landscape plans by the Design Review Board, and a return to the board for amendments if MassDOT requires changes to the approved plans.

Applicant representative Matt Taylor said the Primrose operating and proforma model requires a certain size to remain viable and that a substantially smaller facility would not be workable for his franchise model, though he declined to provide detailed financials in open session. Town staff noted the project includes a contribution to increase sewer capacity and that Primrose has offered some subsidized child-care seats as part of prior negotiations.

The board closed the public hearing by voice vote, 4–1, and directed planning staff and town counsel to produce a draft decision that incorporates the discussed conditions and to include language requiring a return to the board if MassDOT or other regulatory reviews modify the approved plans. The board did not make a final approval or denial of the project at the meeting; next steps will include staff drafting the decision language, incorporating peer-review recommendations and circulating the draft to the board.