New Subdivision Planned for Fairhaven Road

The Mattapoisett Planning Board heard a proposal for a new residential subdivision to be located off Fairhaven Road.  The extensive project would include the construction of several new homes and the expansion of the existing roadway.

At Monday night’s meeting, Randy Gagnon was the engineering representative for the hearing on behalf of the applicant, David Nicolosi.
“We have land here down on Fairhaven Road,” said Gagnon, who further identified the area as Deer Woods.  “What we’re proposing is an eight-lot residential subdivision. We’ll extend Deerfield Road approximately 700 feet,” he said.
Five houses would share a common drive, with the other lots receiving individual driveways.
The lot will use an open drainage system that will discharge to a catch basin and the local wetlands.  He said that a conservation restriction will be placed on almost 30 acres of land as the area is a habitat for the eastern box turtle.
Karen Field was concerned about the lack of space for on-street parking but Gagnon said that they were not anticipating the use of the road as a parking space by residents or neighborhood guests.
“So what happens when we need to get emergency vehicles down there?” asked Field after giving a hypothetical situation illustrating vehicles parked on the common drive.
“They will have to move their cars,” said Nicolosi, who added that he was in contact with the local police and fire departments regarding the matter.
 With lots measuring between three and five acres, Nicolosi was confident that each property would have adequate space for extra vehicles without impeding movement around the neighborhood for other cars.
Board member Mary Crain read aloud the letter of approval submitted by the fire department, which found no issues with the proposal, despite the fact that the closest fire hydrant is located over 2,200 feet away, across Route 6.
“Before they installed that one, the closest hydrant was on Mattapoisett Neck Road,” said Nicolosi.
Since there is no town water service in that area, Chairman Thomas Tucker suggested that the new homes may have to be constructed with individual sprinkler systems in the event of a fire emergency.  Similar systems were installed per order of the fire department for homes near Brandt Beach, which also has no town water service.
When the plan was proposed at the Conservation Commission, Nicolosi said the commissioners preferred to see less impervious material used for the road and driveways and thought that the placement of a berm would impede the movements of the box turtle.
The hearing was continued until December 17 so that the town could organize a peer review of the plan.
In other business, the Planning Board spoke informally with Town Administrator Mike Gagne regarding the possibility of updating town zoning bylaws to make them more amenable to modern development such as the installation of photovoltaic solar arrays to the extension of the South Coast Railway system.
The Planning Board also ruled in favor of a plan to resize two lots off Bay Club Drive and Split Rock Lane so as to give one property owner more frontage along the pond.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board will be on Monday, December 17, at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall.

By Eric Tripoli

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