Planning Board approves Pond St. development
Published on June 30th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA -Roadway work can begin on a new subdivision in the Pond Street area following approval by the Planning board on Wednesday night.
Attorney Charles Houghton, who represents petitioner Marie Conserva, presented the plan for a five-lot subdivision which would extend Murdock Road from where it now ends in a cul-de-sac.
Murdock Road is located off of Skywood Road in the Skywood Acres subdivision off of Pond Street. The extension of Murdock Road will now end in a cul-de-sac.
The property, owned by the Conserva family, has had various uses through the years, including a turkey farm and a green house. The land has now been cleared in preparation for the subdivision.
While a couple of issues did concern the board, in particular designation of land from the existing cul-de-sac as well as existing access and utility easements, no waivers were needed and approval was fairly straight forward.
Houghton verified that, as required by law, once the current Murdock Road cul-de-sac is eliminated, and the roadway strip is extended further, the arcs of either side of the cul-de-sac will be granted to the appropriate abutters. The plan complies with this requirement, Houghton assured.
With regard to the easements, the board stated that it would require the access easement, a 15 foot strip which provides passage to the Conserva's land from Pond Street, to be eliminated for safety reasons. It acknowledged the need for the utility easement, however, and that will remain.
Andrew Bramhall, engineer for the plan, confirmed that the easement is no longer needed.
"There's no way you can drive up it," assured Houghton; he agreed to including the stipulation in the subdivision plan.
Board member Frank Federico called for a temporary fence to be installed at the foot of the easement at Pond Street to prevent access. In addition, he suggested that trucks and equipment access the subdivision construction site via Murdock Road.
The petitioner has already obtained a fill permit, and the land has been raised appropriately. No blasting is required on the site.
In consideration of recent concerns voiced by a resident regarding construction of the Summer Hill Woods subdivision, the board specified that no heavy trucking could take place on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.
Determination of a bond amount and filing of a notice-of-intent with the Stoneham Conservation Commission must still be addressed before any building permits can be issued.
Following review of the various town department concerns, the vote in favor of the subdivision was unanimous among the four sitting members.
Planning Board member Stephen Catalano excused himself from the hearing to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest since he has worked previously with a member of the petitioner's family.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!