Planning staff and commissioners review Blue Shore LLC storage proposal near Cambridge South Dorchester High School

Blue Shore LLC presented preliminary plans on March 3 to the Cambridge Planning Commission for a multi-building outdoor personal storage facility at 5225 Maple Dam Road.

The 13.02‑acre parcel is proposed to host four outdoor storage buildings and a gravel boat/RV storage area; Rauch Engineering and applicant Emmett Kauffmann described a layout that locates storage buildings behind a reserved "future build‑out" frontage along the Cambridge Beltway. Staff noted the proposal’s technical facts: the site’s limits of disturbance would be about 5.08 acres; proposed impervious surfaces amount to 129,067 square feet (about 23% of the parcel); and stormwater management relies in part on forebays and a submerged gravel wetland intended to meet required Environmental Site Design volumes.

Planning staff asked the commission to weigh aesthetic and screening measures because the site abuts a high school and a residential neighborhood across Maple Dam Road. The draft landscaping plan proposes a mix of evergreen screening (10 Thuja/Arborvitae), redbud street trees, holly specimens and preservation of existing forest stands along portions of the eastern and southern edges. Staff also highlighted forest conservation obligations (Forest Conservation Ordinance applies to parcels larger than 40,000 square feet) and recommended the commission consider whether existing on‑site forest should be preserved as screening.

Staff’s written analysis recommended approval if the commission finds the landscaping/screening and design elements appropriate. The meeting record contains detailed engineering and environmental reports prepared by Rauch Inc., including forest stand delineation and a stormwater management analysis showing Environmental Site Design volume provided; the minutes do not record a final vote on the preliminary plan at the March 3 meeting, and next steps remain with staff follow‑up and later formal action.