SHREWSBURY – A new warehouse is coming to Route 20.
On July 6, the Planning Board approved the site plan for a 134,000-square-foot warehouse building. The warehouse would be located at 440 Hartford Turnpike on property that encompasses roughly 10.5 acres of land.
The warehouse will border YRC Freight and the southernmost entrance to Stoney Hill Road. The area, which is also near Route 140, is currently undeveloped.
What is proposed at 440 Hartford Turnpike
The applicant is Shrewsbury Land Property Owner LLC. This site had been previously permitted as part of a 40B project called The Pointe at Hills Farm.
According to the site plan, the property would include 100 parking spaces for employees. The plans call for porous pavement meant to minimize the project’s total impervious area. One fire access lane will loop around the perimeter of the building.
According to the presentation at the Planning Board meeting, the project will not have any substantial light pollution. Studies show that light from the warehouse will not spread into nearby properties.
The developers will plant vegetation around the building. There will also be various shrubs and trees planted around the property to strengthen existing wetlands and account for the elimination of two smaller wetlands where the building will stand.
The warehouse has one main driveway that connects to Route 20; there are no entrances or exits connecting to the more-residential Stoney Hill Road. The driveway to Route 20 will have an island in the center, forcing outgoing traffic to turn right.
The island will also make the building accessible only to vehicles driving east on Route 20. The developers designed a “slip lane” for slow-moving trucks and vehicles turning right so traffic can pass as they pull into the warehouse lot.
Residents – many of whom live nearby the project – were concerned about the potential for truck traffic down Stoney Hill Road. Residents questioned whether trucks might cut through the residential area to be able to turn left on Route 20.
“We have trucks right now. Not too often, but on occasion semi-trailers [come] through the neighborhood. What they’re doing – I don’t know. I’m assuming they’re turning around and making a left,” resident Steven Lagomarsino said. “How do you mitigate that?”
Lagomarsino said signage – or some sort of communication with truck drivers – is needed.
Residents also voiced concerns about sound generated from the warehouse.
“We’re talking middle of the winter, windows closed – you still hear [noises],” Lagomarsino said, referencing similar warehouse buildings in the area.
The warehouse is designed to have all 23 loading docks facing toward the street. This way, the building can stand between the trucks and residential areas, muffling many of the sounds that would be created, according to the presentation.
The developers acknowledged that residents would likely hear sounds, but they said that efforts were made to reduce noise pollution.
“The applicants are not representing that no one is ever going to know the facility is there,” said Mark Donahue, a director at Fletcher, Tilton P.C., who represented the developers at the meeting. “There will still be sound that emanates from it, [but] the building will reflect significant portions of it.”
The Planning Board approved the site plan; Stephan Rodolakis abstained. The approval passed with language that called for the town to consider a “transportation demand management plan” specifically regarding the Stoney Hill Road truck access.
The warehouse does not currently have a tenant, but the developers mentioned that they hope to begin construction next spring. Construction is expected to take roughly one year.
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