EMC development appeal denied
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - The town's decision to deny EMC Corporation's plans to build an office park on 445 acres of land that stretches between Westborough and Southborough was upheld recently by the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Serving as the representative of the Westborough Conservation Commission, Derek Saari, Westborough's assistant conservation officer and assistant town planner, denied EMC's request in October 2007 in a 29-page report.

Saari's report detailed concerns that the 10-building development, which would be able to house up to 6,000 employees, would harm the wetlands and increase the flooding in and around the areas of the proposed development.

In his report Saari also detailed several instances when the Conservation Commission requested specific information from EMC regarding how the proposed development would affect the surrounding area and that information was not provided.

In its appeal of the Conservation Commission decision, EMC Corporation, in a letter dated Oct. 30, 2007, said EMC was mindful of the wetlands in the area as well as the potential for flooding and that every precaution would be taken with those issues in mind.

The appeal, however, written by EMC Corporation's attorney Leigh Gilligan, took the Conservation Commission to task for what she called a "self-serving denial" that was rife with "misstatements, irrelevant information and incorrect facts."

Saari took issue with Gilligan's comments.

"The denial was solely based on the law," Saari said.

The DEP agreed, Wetlands Section Chief Phillip P. Nadeau writing in his denial of the appeal, "to approve this project the department needs additional information, much of which was requested by the Conservation Commission during the hearing process and which has served as a basis for their denial."

Gilligan did not return messages left for her asking her to comment on the DEP's denial of EMC's appeal.

EMC has 10 business days from the Jan. 29 date of the denial to file an appeal with DEP's Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution for a hearing. Another option for EMC is to resubmit its proposal to the Conservation Commission and include the impact information that was previously requested.

The proposed development would be off of Flanders Road near Gilmore and Washington streets. The undeveloped land has an abundance of shallow ponds and streams and is thick with tree growth. Streams and brooks in the area work their way into an expansive nearby watershed.

There is a flooding problem in the area already, Saari said, a circumstance he believes will be exacerbated by the development.

"The road already gets closed for periods three or four times a year because of flooding," Saari said. "What's going to happen in the future if you put a development in there?"

That concern prompted Saari to ask for EMC's plans for the flooding, a request to which EMC did not reply.

"It's a large project," Saari said. "There are a lot of complicated parts to it and those parts lead to a lot of concerns, especially ones of an environmental nature."