By K.B. Sherman, Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – The Shrewsbury Planning Board approved modifications to a site plan for the White City Plaza during a public hearing held at the board's July 12 meeting.
Attorney Karen Johnson, a representative of Charter Realty and Development Corp., the owner of the plaza, showed the board drawings of engineering modifications for the plaza. Johnson explained how the proposed modifications would involve changes to a drive-through lane at a bank and a change in the number and configuration of parking lot spaces.
Johnson noted that 25 parking spaces would be eliminated and showed how traffic flow through the center would be improved. She reiterated that drive-through lane changes were necessitated by changes in roads adjacent to the shopping center and because of changes on the property regarding the movement of lot waste management facilities. She also presented how the Route? 9 access to the shopping center would be changed, including modifying a shoulder configuration, which would improve traffic flow into the center without creating a choke point on Route 9.
The board closed the public hearing and then unanimously voted to accept the plan. Details regarding several periods of construction outside of the normal hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. remain to be resolved with the state Department of Transportation.
The night's other site plan public hearing was postponed after attorney Richard Ricker indicated that representatives from St. Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church, 1 Industrial Park, were not ready to proceed with their plan to enlarge both the church building and the adjacent parking lot to accommodate a new church sanctuary. Unresolved engineering issues were stated as the reason, and the board agreed to reschedule the start of the public hearing to its regular August meeting.
The board also discussed determining a permit fee schedule for a new type of construction in town – solar farm developments. The board agreed that that the existing structure would be acceptable: a $2,000 standard filing fee with an additional $4,000 fee for final review.