SHREWSBURY – On Dec. 18, Pulte Homes went before the Shrewsbury Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) to provide an overview of Emerald Run, the proposed 300-unit 40B development that would occupy 33-69 Green St.
At the December meeting, Pulte promised subsequent meetings would dive into further detail, and on Jan. 29, the developer returned to the ZBA to discuss the project site plans and stormwater runoff.
The meeting started with Jeff Walsh, the vice president of Graves Engineering, Inc., reviewing the project. Graves Engineering performed the peer-review process for the ZBA prior to the meeting.
“[Our findings include] a few pages, a lot of engineering, discussion, but not many comments. The comments we have are essentially minor in nature. There are a few points that I would like to point out to the board… No fatal flaws in the plan with respect to engineering,” Walsh told the ZBA at the meeting.
Walsh’s comments included critiques of parking design, the lack of space for solid waste storage, and concerns about flooding. Pulte Homes received the peer-review information just hours before the ZBA meeting and thus did not make any substantial comments regarding Graves Engineering’s assessment of the project.
Walsh voiced concerns that if there’s a “100-year event” — flooding so severe it likely only occurs once every century — the intersection of South Street and Brook Street may be especially vulnerable. Emerald Run would result in a nine percent increase in runoff during extreme storms, Graves Engineering’s report said, and several homes are close to the intersection of South and Brook.
“The area you are referencing at the bottom of Brook Street… It’s a major issue. I’m up on the hill a bit, but any time there’s even a small rainstorm, you can hear it gushing from my kitchen if you have the windows open,” said Alex DeVivo, an Appaloosa Drive resident who spoke during the public participation section of the meeting. Appaloosa Drive abuts the proposed project.
Other abutters reported that the flooding was so bad in the Brook-South area that it destroyed their cars. Some neighbors alluded to how intense flooding is a regular event, not a “100-year event.”
“There has always been a stream in our backyard. Always,” said Joyce Smith, another Appaloosa resident.
Graves Engineering also recommended on-site sidewalks along both of the project’s two entrance ways.
