The Planning Board has granted Hickory Woods, an over age 55 residential community in the West Road area, two waivers and final approval of its site plan.
Hickory Woods is a 98-unit development under construction.
Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering John Trottier said the project sought a waiver for the driveway leading into the garages. Developers asked that the driveway be 18 feet for the entire length of the driveway, where regulations require 20 feet.
Staff recommended granting the waiver.
The second waiver requested that putting down the final layer of pavement or the “wearing course” on the street, required prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy, be waived because the heavy construction equipment for lots that are still being built will adversely affect the wearing course.
Trottier said it did not make sense to require that right now. He said that “if it was a Home Depot or a restaurant, we would want that site totally completed.”
Board member Lynn Wiles asked if the drains would be two inches higher than the first course of pavement and Trottier said they would not.
“Not necessarily. They are going to curb the road and flare the pavement so that the water runs into the drain,” Trottier said.
“So the water as it flows around the catch basin will flow into the basin?” Chairman Arthur Rugg asked.
“Correct,” Trottier said.
“This is absolutely nothing new; this is done on roads around town. In this plan you build the roads and construct the units and then you finish the roads when the construction equipment is done,” engineer Jack Szemplinski said.
“I have no problem with that, I just wanted to make sure the water didn’t just flow down to West Road,” Wiles said.
The board voted unanimously to grant the waivers and to grant final site plan amendment approval to allow phases 2,4, 5 and 6 to have access to West Road.