Cary Collette from Amec, the engineers for the proposed Milton CAT project at 30 Industrial Drive, and Brad Farrin, Corporate Facilities manager for Milton CAT, presented their site plan to the Planning Board for a two-story warehouse, and the board gave its unanimous approval.
Milton CAT is the authorized dealer for Caterpillar products, including heavy equipment, heavy trucks, marine power and stand-by generators, in six Northeast states.
At the Wednesday, Aug. 13 meeting, the applicant also requested several waivers, all of which were granted. They include: requiring easement deeds, protective covenants or other legal documents to indicate that the owner of abutting Lot 34 (Public Service of New Hampshire) has agreed to proposed driveways and grading located across their lot to enable the applicant to access Lot 20-5; a waiver to Section 2.7.2.5 of the Londonderry Zoning Ordinance requiring the incorporation of Transportation Demand Management techniques in the operation of the proposed facility and that the proposed development should meet the “Certified” level of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The ordinance allows the Planning Board to waive both requirements of this section where it is shown that the standards impose an unreasonable burden on development of the property within the GB (Gateway Business) district.
Staff supported granting the waiver to the Transportation Demand Management techniques because Milton CAT will implement the requirements informally. The nature of its operations is such that employees arrive and depart at various times, minimizing peak hour and overall trips to the facility.
Staff supported granting the waiver to the LEED certification because Milton CAT will employ responsible site design principles and energy efficient techniques where practical for this type of facility.
The applicant also requested a waiver requiring that all outdoor storage be visually screened from streets, arterials, and adjacent properties, and that no storage be permitted between a frontage street and the front of the building. Staff supported granting the waiver because outdoor storage of used equipment and equipment to be serviced will be located to the rear of the facility and will be adequately screened. Equipment display areas located at the front of the site well be intermittently screened to soften the views, while still permitting new equipment to be visible from the street. The adjacent business owner has offered input.
Other waivers were:
• Requiring a minimum pipe diameter in any storm drain system to be 15 inches – staff recommended granting the waiver because it enables the applicant to minimize fill quantities for the project site and to maintain New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) water quality standards;
• Requiring a minimum depth of cover for storm drain lines of 36 inches from the top of the pipe to finished grade, where a pipe cover of 21 inches at the most up-gradient storm water collection basins is proposed – staff recommended granting the waiver because it enables the applicant to minimize fill quantities for the project site and to maintain DES water quality standards;
• Requiring screening of outside storage. The Planning Board, at its discretion, is allowed to make adjustments to the location and density of screening depending on the proposed site plan. Staff recommended granting the waiver because the area is intended to be limited to the display of new Milton CAT equipment;
• Requiring a minimum of 10 percent of the overall interior area of a parking lot located in front of the principal building to be dedicated to landscaped areas. Staff recommended granting the waiver because the parking lot is set back 400 feet from the public right of way and is behind the display area, and landscaping is provided around the perimeter of the lot;
• Requiring a maximum plan scale of 1 inch equaling 40 feet. Staff recommended granting the waiver because the required information is adequately provided at 1 inch equaling 80 feet;
• Requiring a perimeter shade tree ratio of 1 tree per 20 feet of the lot’s perimeter. Staff recommended granting the waiver because the parking lot is set back 400 feet from the public right of way, and is behind the display area. A 6-foot-high berm will be directly east and adjacent to the parking lot, and the applicant has provided 40 of the 47 trees required.
• To allow light in excess of 0.2 foot-candles at the property line. The foot-candle limit will be exceeded at the shared driveway entrance to the site. Staff recommended granting the waiver because a lighted driveway intersection is safer, and the spillover does not impact any residential abutters. The waiver was limited to the driveway entrance only.
The board voted unanimously to grant the waivers.
Collette described the proposed building as two stories with an 84,019-square-foot footprint on the ground floor and 13,700 square feet upstairs for offices, locker rooms and work area.
Board member Al Sypek asked about methods for containing contaminated water.
“There’s basically a sludge pit,” Collette said. “The wash bay has a pre-wash bay and a wash bay so when the vehicles first come into the facility, they have dirt and mud on them and they knock down all the dirt and mud and that drains to a filter system, and that is either reused or discharged through a water separator.”
Farrin said the facility would employee about 100.
The board voted unanimously to grant the final approval of the two-story building site plan.