Planning Board asks for more documentation concerning Route 6 project.
EASTHAM — The Eastham Planning Board voted to continue its hearing on an application for a special permit to build six additional storage buildings at 4730 State Highway 6.
The property is the site of existing storage units as well as Willy’s World Wellness and Conference Center, which was shut down by the town’s building commissioner for safety concerns Dec. 12. Longstanding complaints about the cleanliness of the site, management of the storage units and building code violations brought many to public hearings on the proposed plans.
The public has repeatedly asked for assurances that the project will abide by regulations set out in the groundwater protection district.
Many have asked that site plans and drainage calculations for the property be sufficiently detailed.
And there have been calls for assurance that owner Barbara Niggel will keep the property clean and safe into the future.
Niggel had been asked by the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals to submit additional information before Wednesday’s meeting.
That included a maintenance plan for management of the property; a revised site plan with landscaping details; a swept path analysis for emergency and fire vehicles showing how and where they could turn around; and drainage calculations.
She also had been asked to clean up the property before coming before the boards again.
Niggel and her attorney, Benjamin Zehnder, did provide new material for the case Wednesday.
The vote to continue the hearing to Feb. 19 was made because important information was missing or unclear on the documents.
Town Planner Paul Lagg said the board should have and confirm documentation that the construction plans comply with the regulations in the groundwater protection district. Included would be confirmation that the project does not exceed 15% or 2,500 square feet of additional impervious surface.
It was not clear that the swept path analysis was done with 25-ton vehicles in mind, and the fire chief has asked for additional information about the length of the vehicle used to make the determination.
The public works director still has to review the drainage calculations provided.
During public comments, Steve Wlodowski raised questions about details missing from the drainage calculations.
He also questioned whether groundwater protection regulations had been sufficiently considered. Regulations require that drainage systems adequately filter out contaminants and that drainage doesn’t enter the recharge area.
“The burden of proof is on the applicant that nothing will migrate,” he said.
“I’d like to see all t’s crossed and the i’s dotted, especially in a groundwater protection area,” Wlodkowski said. “Everything is rushed.”
Before the board voted to continue the case, the applicant was asked to provide additional information before the next meeting. The board asked for a plan showing fencing around a triangular section in the front of the property and plans detailing the decommissioning of a well on the property that is in proximity to the proposed storage buildings.
Zehnder said he would provide the board with revised floor plans for the buildings.
Acknowledging that the board did not have time to review the documents submitted Wednesday, Zehnder promised to write a letter waiving the rights to a deadline for the case. State statutes call for the board to make a decision within 90 days of the opening of a public hearing or the case is automatically approved.
Niggel had been asked by the zoning board to fix broken doors and locks on old storage building units. She said that had not been done because the contractor she hired is from Georgia, and it wasn’t feasible to send workers up for minor repairs.
Follow Denise Coffey on Twitter: @DeniseCoffeyCCT.
