Bay State Commons work on Brigham Street delayed
By Catie Foertsch Community Reporter

Westborough - The Aug. 13 meeting between the Bay State Commons development team and the Planning Board was tense, as the board expressed frustration at the delay the developer asked for. At issue is the work on Brigham Street that will insulate local residents from the impact of early morning deliveries at Bay State stores, especially the Roche Bros. grocery store. That work will not be completed until June 2008, and the Planning Board reluctantly adjusted store delivery hours to try to minimize the impact to residents.

The project's original special permit called for no occupancy permit to be issued until all off-site work, including work on East Main, Union Street, the rotary and Brigham, was completed. But, Town Planner James Robbins said, after the Planning Board approved the special permit with its conditions, the Board of Selectmen added more improvements through the site plan review process. One of those improvements was a more extensive reconstruction of Brigham than required by the special permit.

Project Manager Lou Petra told the board that all other off-site work would be done before the first store opened, except for some work on Union. That opening would probably happen around the end of October, Petra said, and Union and Brigham would be open to traffic at that time.

Town Engineer Carl Balduf agreed that the developer needed extra time to complete the Brigham work, which will include an eight-foot sound-reducing wall and extensive landscape plantings to shield the adjacent neighborhood.

Balduf also said the delay was necessary to make sure the work was "done the way the town wants it."

Michael Dowhan, of Waterman Design, told the board that three to four weeks of survey work would be followed by four to five weeks of design work, and review of plans by the town would add more time. All in all, he said, about 12 weeks would be required to complete the engineering before construction could begin. Although construction would take just 11 weeks, winter would probably have closed the asphalt plants, making the work impossible until April 2008.

"If you'd started this work four months ago we wouldn't be doing this now," Planning Board member Augustus Ashton said.

While the landscaped berm between Brigham and the development will be completed by the opening, Petra said, the wall will not.

"This is doing exactly what we didn't want," Ashton said. "We understand the issues but we didn't want the residents to have to deal with" the noise of early-morning deliveries.

Although the wall will not be in place, concrete Jersey barriers will continue to separate the neighborhood from Bay State Commons.

The original special permit prohibited deliveries between midnight and 5 a.m., although that prohibition applies only to trucks over 45 feet long. The Planning Board voted to allow occupancy permits for Bay State Commons once all off-site improvements except for Brigham and Union were completed. It also voted to extend prohibited hours to those between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week. Once the remaining work is done, the hours will revert to those in the special permit.

Stores slated for

Bay State Commons

Stores currently expected to occupy Bay State Commons include the Paper Store (Hallmark), Stein Mart, Boston Sports, GNC (lease pending), Ted's Montana Grille, Bass Shoes, Van Heusen, Bath and Body Works, Ann Taylor Loft, New York & Co., Lillian August (lease pending), Claire's Accessories, Glow Tanning (lease pending), Corner's, Unnamed bedding store (lease pending), Linen's 'n' Things, Roche Bros., Paul Mitchell salon and school, Panera Bread, Stride Rite, and BankNorth.