Planning board grants waiver and deems 5 Parker Street application complete

The Newburyport planning board voted to grant a requested waiver of the community impact statement and to find the 5 Parker Street site‑plan application complete, despite no representatives appearing at the meeting.

Staff told the board the applicant had requested a waiver under 'section 15E' and supplemental materials had been uploaded; a board member then moved to grant the waiver and to proceed with a completeness determination. The motion carried on a roll‑call vote, with Brian Balcom, Alden Clark, Charlie Palosano, Jamie Pennington and Rick Tinker recorded as voting yes.

Board members questioned the date and source of the survey used in the applicant's materials, noting discrepancies between the surveyor's figure and the assessor's measurements (the assessor's record in the file listed an area expressed alternatively as 1.36 acres, 1.51 acres, and 1.62 acres in the applicant materials). Staff said the board typically defers to the surveyor's information and that the GIS assessor map is an approximation.

Members also flagged site constraints that will be reviewed during plan review, including wetlands near the rear of the parcel and a proposed crosswalk on Parker Street. Staff said the Conservation Commission and other boards may raise issues in their separate reviews and that some items had already been flagged with the applicant for additional detail.

Because the applicant was not present, the board emphasized that the scope of any approval would be limited to the plan area before it and that unresolved items flagged in the application would be addressed through the standard plan‑review process. The board took its formal votes during roll call and closed the item.