WESTBOROUGH – It took some time, but the earth moving special permit for 25 Gleason Street has been approved.
The Planning Board approved the permit, with conditions, during its June 6 meeting.
The property totals about 55 acres. It sits near the Westborough and Shrewsbury town line and abuts Westborough Village and the Boroughs Family Branch YMCA.
The applicants — Mary Ward, c/o Walter Ward (landowner) and Milford Stone Inc. (operator) — applied for an earth moving special permit in order to restore wetlands and a buffer zone on part of the property.
In 2020, a portion of the property had been cleared without permits from the Planning Board or Conservation Commission.
The restoration is part of an enforcement order issued by the Conservation Commission in 2021.
In August 2022, an application was filed for an earth moving permit in order to remove the rocks and earth that had been stockpiled on the western edge of the wetlands.
According to the special permit, the applicant will use approximately 870 cubic yards of select soil materials, being a mix of topsoil and composted material as part of the wetland restoration. This material will be generated on site and moved to the work area.
As part of the restoration, the applicant is required to construct two sediment basins and a drainage channel. As part of this work, about 750 cubic yards of soil will be moved and deposited on site.
Conditions for 25 Gleason Street
During the meeting, interim Town Planner Jim Robbins went through the conditions for the permit.
As part of the conditions, the applicant will provide a project completion schedule to the Planning Board; a soil analysis of the stockpile materials shall be conducted by a soil scientist, paid for by the applicant; 56 Thuja “Green Giant” Arborvitae will be planted to help screen the site from the abutting residential neighborhood at Parc Westborough and a large pile of woody materials near the Parc Westborough property line will be moved.
The last two conditions are in response to abutters’ concerns about noise and odor.
According to Land Design Collaborative’s Mike Scott, the Ward family had long used the lower portion of the site near Gleason and a portion in the back of the property to process, remove and sell earthen materials.
The conditions also require that the restoration work will be overseen by a professional wetland scientist; a professional engineer will conduct regular visits to make sure the work is being done. A performance bond of $113,600, with a cash security of $20,000, shall be posted by the applicant to the town. The bond will help pay for the restoration work.
Use of the on-site cart path to access to Boston Hill will be prohibited until further notice, and construction or worker vehicles and their equipment can’t be parked along public roads.
Hours of operation include remediation work on-site from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon; on-site material crushing from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. No remediation work or crushing will take place on Sundays and legal holidays.
Gleason Street shall be swept clean of debris at the end of each work day.
The applicant shall obtain a stormwater permit from the town, including a stormwater pollution prevention plan.
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