Board reviews subdivision plan for Main Street site
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Northborough - If there is to be a life after the proposed Stop & Shop supermarket for 77 Main St., it may be as a subdivision of four lots, two of which will be earmarked for industrial use, one for residential and one for open space.

That was the alternative proposal for the use of the property, should Stop & Shop's appeal of last year's denial of its site plan by the Planning Board not be upheld by Land Court. The appeal was filed last year and heard in May. A decision on the appeal is pending.

If Stop & Shop's appeal is not granted, the current owners of the property - Paul Gallagher and Edward Flynn, operating as Riverview Realty Trust - would like to subdivide the property, more than 400,000 square feet, into four parcels.

Gallagher, Flynn and Riverview Realty appeared before the Planning Board at its Sept. 18 meeting, submitting a proposal for a definitive subdivision plan approval. The definitive subdivision plan includes changes that were not part of the preliminary subdivision plan submitted to the Planning Board at its April meeting.

As presented, Lot 1 would be a 96,000-square-foot parcel, Lot 2 would be 155,000 square feet, Lot 3 would be 64,000 square feet and Lot 4 would

" be 89,000 square feet. The biggest changes between the preliminary subdivision plan and the definitive subdivision plan include the property being split into four lots rather than five and having all traffifrom the two industrial plots enter and exit onto Hudson Street rather than Main Street (Route 20).

Both industrial lots would have a 20,000 square-foot building, while the open space lot would fulfill the requirement for a 50-foot buff er.

The change from five to four lots pleased Planning Board member Donald Hewey.

"I brought up the issue of open space because I thought it was a good use for part of the property, given the topography of the site and the proximity to its residential neighbors," Hewey said.

The industrial lots would be situated on a cul-de-sac that would begin and end on Hudson Street, while the residential parcel (the fourth plot of the subdivision) would be accessible from Route 20.

As it's currently situated, there is a driveway that leads from Route 20 to the industrial lots. Members of the Planning Board, including George Pember, are worried, however, that if that roadway stays, it could be used as a back way into the industrial lots. Pember said he would like to see that road eliminated, but is concerned that since it already exists it would be allowed to stay as part of the property, even after it's subdivided.

"What I'm trying to do, and make very clear, is that traffic from the industrial area is not going to enter and exit onto Route 20," Pember said.

Rick Leif, the Planning Board chair, asked Town Planner Kathy Joubert if there was a way for the board to require - should the subdivision plan be approved - either that the road be eliminated or that industrial traffic not be allowed to use it.

Joubert said she didn't know if that was an option, but that she would research the issue and have an answer to that question for the board at its next meeting Tuesday Oct. 2.

The Planning Board voted to continue its discussion on the matter at that meeting.