Abutters object to plans to clear property
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Northborough - The clearing of the property at 75-83 West Main St. and the desire by owner Dimitrios Voyatzis to remove about 40,000 yards of soil, gravel and other materials on the property are concerning abutters who fear their homes may face erosion issues if the town allows the plan to go forward.

The Earth Removal Board (ERB), which has a request from Voyatzis before them to remove the soil, gravel and other materials - including tree stumps - has continued a hearing on the matter until Wednesday Oct. 3. The ERB recently completed a walk-through of the land with Voyatzis, his engineer and concerned abutters, including John Fouracre, owner of Unisign, located at 89 West Main St.

"It's a little out of the ordinary to have a proposal like this," Northborough Town Engineer Fred Litchfield said. "Usually the process goes through the Planning Board or the ZBA [Zoning Board of Appeals], and all the permits are issued and then the applicant comes to the Earth Removal Board, after all the public hearings have been held and all the questions from abutters have been answered."

This situation is diff erent, Litchfield said, because Voyatzis is going through the process in the opposite order.

Voyatzis bought the land and while he doesn't know what he's going to do with it yet, Litchfield said, he knows that no matter what he does, he's going to need to remove about 40,000 yards of gravel and material.

"He has already found someone to take the material off his property so he asked the town what he can do to get the pro- cess moving," Litchfield said. "The bylaw allows him to go to the Earth Removal Board to get a permit to excavate the material out, but he must stabilize the site and at some point go to the Planning Board or the ZBA to have whatever project he's planning for the property permitted."

Litchfield defined stabilizing the site as the process of ensuring the land won't wash away, in this case, into Route 20.

"The bylaw allows trees to be cut but no stumps to be pulled. The stumps act as stabilization," Litchfield explained. "If he gets permission to take the stumps out from the ERB he will have to excavate the side of the hill and stabilize it by planting grass, or sloping it or embedding it with rock - something that will keep it from washing away."

At the Sept. 12 ERB meeting about 10 abutters expressed concern that what Voyatzis is doing on the property is going to create erosions and cause their houses, on the hill above the Voyatzis property, to become unstable.

As a result, the ERB requested the walk-through, which was held Sept. 18, the findings of which will be disclosed at the Oct. 3 meeting.

Fouracre, who took part in the walk-through, has concerns about the project going forward, including what the grade and slope of the property will be after all the materials are removed as well as what will happen after complete removal of all cover material.

Fouracre is also bothered by the curb cut that has been created from the property onto Route 20. He said he asked Litchfield about whether a permit was needed for a curb cut onto a state roadway.

"I have asked MassHighway about that and I'm waiting for their response," Litchfield said.