Planning Board
Pre‑application review for a proposed synthetic practice field and 51 additional parking spaces at 12 S Hunt Rd.; the Board approved a modification at 130 Market St. permitting a $300,000 payment‑in‑lieu for one required affordable unit (to be paid $30,000 per unit sale) and voted to send recommendations to the Amesbury Housing Trust on use of those funds.
The Board opened with a detailed pre‑application review of a proposal at 12 S Hunt Rd. to add a single synthetic practice field, an additional light pole, a 5–6 foot retaining wall, and 51 new parking spaces along the existing drive aisle. Applicants described a proposed new subsurface stormwater system to detain and treat runoff from the new field, parking and diverted Munter’s site flows (potentially two separate systems given site elevations), and noted connections to the existing drain network as an overflow. Board members and staff focused on stormwater modeling and ownership/flow routing, anticipated fill quantities (roughly 15,000 cubic yards), grading changes compared with prior approvals, lighting and netting details, snow storage, retaining wall construction and aesthetics, landscaping/stabilization above the wall (including tree planting rather than solely meadow mix), and the need for additional design details and peer review ahead of a formal filing. The applicants said they aim to build this spring and plan to provide additional details on snow storage, retaining wall details, lighting and landscaping in the next submission; Stantec was noted as the likely peer reviewer.
On 130 Market St., the Board considered a request to modify a previous approval that required one affordable unit, with the applicant proposing a payment‑in‑lieu. After discussion about development cost increases, the Housing Trust’s capacity and potential uses for funds, precedent concerns, and how an in‑lieu sum was calculated, the Board first voted unanimously that the requested change qualified as a minor modification. The Board then approved accepting a $300,000 payment‑in‑lieu (to be paid as $30,000 at each sale of the 10 units) in place of the affordable unit by a 4‑2 vote, with two members dissenting. The Board also voted 5‑1 to send a memo with recommendations to the Amesbury Housing Trust on potential uses for the funds and discussed forming a working group to develop a formula or approach for future developer discussions. No public comments are recorded in the minutes.