Technical Review Committee
Pre-application review of a proposed multi-building housing development at 27.5–29 Clarks Road covering site layout, wetlands buffer, utilities, traffic, trails, and conservation restriction; informal discussion of redevelopment plans for 5 and 9 School Street including restoration of the Ordway building and proposed residential units.
The Technical Review Committee held a work session focused on two development matters. The first was a pre-application presentation by Minco for a multi-building housing project on a roughly 10-acre parcel including 27.5–29 Clarks Road. Presenters described a compact cluster of residential buildings sited on the upper four acres, a larger rear building angled to follow contour lines, an amenities building, and proposed informal woodland walking trails that would cross the conservation buffer. Committee members discussed utilities (sewer and water capacity and the age of the sewer pipe), the need for a traffic study and potential traffic calming and sidewalk extension on Clarks Road, dark-sky-compliant lighting, snow storage, stormwater compliance, landscaping and tree growth, EV parking infrastructure, fire-department access and sprinkler coordination, handicap parking layout, and the form of permanent protection for open space (staff recommended a Chapter 184 conservation restriction under the care and custody of the Conservation Commission). Applicants were asked to coordinate a sidebar meeting with DPW, provide grading and limit-of-work plans, perform site walks, and refine parking, drainage, and trail crossing details. Residents' traffic concerns at the Clarks Road / Main Street connection were noted; committee members emphasized the importance of a traffic engineer report and said the team should show the 50-foot wetland buffer on plans and confirm building placement outside it.
The second discussion involved developers of 5 and 9 School Street (the Ordway building and a single-family house). The developers described plans to remove a 1980 addition to the Ordway building, restore or replicate historic windows and brick, and create six residential units including one affordable unit; the single-family house will be restored if structurally feasible or reconstructed to match the original. Questions raised included construction hours (no work on Sundays), parking logistics during construction, coordination with stakeholders such as the library, removal or reuse of existing equipment (generator, power), and next steps post-approval for handling on-site contents. Design-related items from the Design Review Committee—screened dumpster and trash areas, plantation buffers especially adjacent to Birchwood Meadow, broader sidewalks, improved cul-de-sac surfacing, landscape islands, and potential tot-lot near the amenities building—were summarized for the applicants. No formal votes or final actions on either project were recorded in the minutes.