Reeds Ferry Sheds came to a recent Planning Board meeting to share their conceptual plan for an expansion of their operation on Tracy Lane. Reeds Ferry has been operating out of 3 Tracy Lane. In April they purchased 5 Tracy Lane from MaryTim LLC for $1.55M. 5 Tracy Lane is the former site of New England Gymnastics Training Center (NEGTC). In 2017, Reeds Ferry purchased 7 Tracy Lane. The Londonderry-Hudson town line bisects the properties with most of 3 and 5 Tracy Lane in Londonderry and most of 7 Tracy Lane in Hudson.
Jason Hill, Project Manager from TF Morin and Tim Carleton, a co-owner of Reeds Ferry, shared their plans to make use of the two additional properties. Overall, their goals are to gain outdoor storage space to display sheds. Part of that involves moving parts of manufacturing into 5 Tracy Lane to free up space at 3 Tracy Lane. The plan also calls for parking and traffic flow improvements.
Reeds Ferry plans to expand the 10,000 sq. ft. building that housed NEGTC. In the early 2000s, the town approved a 2000 sq. ft. expansion of the building. NEGTC never executed the expansion, but Reeds Ferry intends to do so as part of their plan.
The applicant is also looking to install driveways that would connect all three parcels. With the shed walls and roofs built in different buildings, a truck needs to visit each building to pick up all of the parts of the shed. Connecting the buildings with a driveway would improve the traffic flow and keep more truck traffic off Tracy Lane.
On the 7 Tracy Lane parcel, eighteen truck storage parking spaces would be created in the current parking area. There would be twelve employee parking spaces, but overall the number of parking spots would be less than were at NEGTC which had a need for lots of parking.
Reeds Ferry does not anticipate asking for any major waivers, but they may ask for relief from some interior landscaping requirements in parking areas and between parcels when they present the formal site plan for approval.
Board Member Al Sypek asked where plowed snow would be stored. Hill mentioned a few places that it might go and said that it would be spelled out on the final site plan. Sypek also asked whether sheds would still be displayed on the property across Rt. 102 that is also owned by Reeds Ferry. Carleton said that those sheds are finished inventory sheds built for specific customers that are stored there until they are delivered. That would continue to be the case going forward.
Reeds Ferry is hoping to submit the full site plan and come for approval in the next two months with a goal to complete construction this year.
In other business, Town Planner Colleen Mailloux brought up the topic of 55+ housing. She said that she had heard concerns from a few board members about the proliferation of this type of housing. She asked the Board if they wanted the planning department to look at the topic. A couple of Board members shared that they had also heard from residents on this topic.
Chairman Art Rugg expressed that the high housing density allowed in this type of development seemed like a problem. He was also concerned that the volume of 55+ housing units could be a long-term problem because baby boomers are buying them now, but there may not be enough people in the next generation to buy them which would end up causing a glut.
Rugg and other members also shared that residents who may want to downsize to 55+ housing are finding the units currently being built to be too expensive. In the end, the board gave Mailloux the go ahead to research the topic and bring information back to the board.