Date: Fri 18-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Conservation-Volpe-Avance

Full Text:

Conservation Panel Consid ers New Application From Local Spa

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The owner of a local day spa is again seeking Conservation Commission approval

to relocate the business from Sand Hill Plaza to Washbrook Road, just north of

the plaza.

The application for wetlands construction work from Judith Volpe, proprietor

of Avance Esthetiques, is pending before the commission.

Conservation Commission members plan to visit the site proposed for

development, said Conservation Official C. Stephen Driver.

Attorney Francis Collins and engineer Larry Edwards presented the development

proposal to commission members December 9.

Commission members turned down a similar, but less intensive version of the

development proposal early this year, citing a host of environmental concerns.

Commission members rejected the earlier proposal due to the extent of

earthmoving which would have been needed to develop the property.

Members also turned down that proposal due its proximity to the Pootatuck

River and the wellfield for United Water Company, the public utility company

that supplies drinking water to more than 1,000 local addresses.

Mr Driver said the pending wetlands application indicates "a very intensive

use of a very fragile piece of land...The commission is going to be very

thorough."

"It's a marginal piece of land in a very fragile neighborhood," he said.

The application must be thoroughly reviewed in terms of potential water

pollution hazards, Mr Driver said. He said he will review the latest

application keeping in mind the reasons for which the earlier application was

rejected.

"The goal of the Conservation Commission is to protect the Pootatuck," Mr

Driver said.

The development site lies within the aquifer protection area delineated by the

town's preliminary aquifer mapping.

Although the septic system for the proposed development has been moved farther

away from the United Water wellhead than in the original proposal, the general

area proposed for development is within 200 feet of the well, Mr Driver said.

He said he expects Conservation Commission members will hold a public hearing

on the Volpe application. The commission conducted a public hearing on the

initial application.

Plans

Construction plans call for excavating a hillside near the Pootatuck River to

create a suitable area to build a 9,000-square-foot building and adjacent

parking lots for 53 vehicles.

In a letter to Conservation Commission Chairman Donald Lawrenson, engineer

Larry Edwards, representing Ms Volpe, writes the proposed building would be

smaller than the structure proposed earlier. Also, development would occur

farther from wetlands than was proposed in the earlier version, according to

Mr Edwards. Earth excavation would be limited to 5,300 cubic yards of

material, not the 12,000 cubic yards proposed in the earlier version.

Additionally, the spa's septic system would contain a holding tank for wastes

originating from the spa's health and beauty rooms, Mr Edward writes.

"The choice of a less intensive development scheme would not be economically

feasible and therefore (is) not considered a viable alternative," Mr Edwards

writes.

In an environmental report on the development proposal, Richard Jacobson, an

environmental analyst working for Ms Volpe, writes the current proposal

compared to the past one reduces the potential for indirect negative effects

on wetlands. Water quality issues and wildlife concerns are addressed in the

plan, he adds.

In unanimously rejecting the initial application last January, Conservation

Commission members said the plan involved too much excavation and provided

inadequate erosion and sedimentation plans. Commission members then suggested

that the plans be scaled down to reduce environmental risks.

If Ms Volpe, obtains a wetlands construction permit from the Conservation

Commission, she also would need a site plan approval for the project from the

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

In June 1997 at Ms Volpe's request, P&Z members unanimously approved a zone

change for the land from Residential-1 to Business-1 to allow her to proceed

with the wetlands construction application.