It was smooth sailing for the Marion Planning Board at their regular meeting on Monday, July 6. Before adjourning, the board extended a site plan approval for Johnson Family Investments, as well as concluded the pre-submission conference for the Gas Station Allied Ventures property located at 439 Wareham Street.
Arnold Johnson appeared before the board in order to reiterate his request for a one-year extension of the approval for his property, 806 Mill Street, the former site of the Frigate Steak House. Johnson’s site plan review was approved by the board in 2013 but expires on July 25, 2015.
“A number of us were not here when this was originally approved,” Chairman Robert Lane said. “We have the right to extend the site plan review for one year or to not extend the site plan review.”
Lane cautioned that if the board granted an extension, the resulting extension would not address the applicant’s right to use the property as specified in the original site plan.
When Johnson took to the microphone, he explained the steps he had already taken to bring the property to its current state. Multiple family illnesses in the past year had stalled Johnson’s plans, but now Johnson is ready to move forward upon receiving a final cost estimate for part of the proposed year-round produce store.
“Being a small, family-run operation of what we were trying to do, that put 2014 into the backburner,” Johnson said.
“Coming into 2015, I’ve done research and have a contractor lined up. I have everything the Building Department requires … I could go in tomorrow and file a building permit; I’m just waiting on this one last price,” he concluded.
After brief deliberation, the board unanimously voted to extend the site plan approval, with the understanding that Johnson will return to the board with a new application if a high final cost estimate forces him to revisit his business plans.
Johnson clarified that in such an event, he would scale the building back from a year-round produce store to a seasonal farm stand, although he would keep the building’s footprint and look the same in order to keep the floor plan spacious for customers.
“This would be a desirable development for the town, and I think if there’s anything we could do to help that, we should,” board member Jennifer Francis said of the project.
Lane began the continuation of the pre-submission conference for Gas Station Allied Ventures by explaining the next steps of the application process. Upon conclusion of the pre-submission conference, which would inform the applicant about the necessary paperwork in order to file a formal application with the board, the board would review the submitted materials, hold a public hearing, and make its final decision. The sole purpose of the pre-submission conference, Lane said, was to identify the necessary materials that the applicants must compile for the board to review.
Francis, who had earlier been appointed as the coordinator for the project, listed the following necessary materials: a major site plan review, an environmental assessment (although Francis noted that many items under the environmental assessment fall under the Commonwealth’s purview given that the project is a gas station), a stormwater management assessment, a public hearing, a list of abutters to the property in question, and a mailing to those abutters informing them of the project and the public hearing. The board also requires an application fee. Finally, Francis noted that the board is not going to waive the site plan details.
After reviewing this information, the board voted to conclude the pre-submission conference and adjourned for the evening.
The next meeting of the Marion Planning Board will be on Monday, July 20 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
By Anne Smith
