
A look down the Main Street near where the future entrance to QuattroSports Motors will be. (Photo/Laura Hayes)
HUDSON – The Planning Board approved the site plan for the QuattroSport Motors dealership at 538 Main St. at its Jan. 7 meeting.
The project last went before the board on Dec. 3. During it, Civil Engineer Tom DiPersio noted the location will be for the small, Worcester-based business that sells and services Audi model cars.
He said the building will be 15,000 square feet with a showroom and car repair and storage space. There would be 40 parking spaces, which will be mainly used for car showcases and not on a daily basis.
Planning Board Chair Robert D’Amelio asked where things stood in terms of the site plan as reviewed by the Department of Public Works. Director of Planning and Community Development Kristina Johnson said they had been waiting on the stormwater report from Land Design Collaborative Civil Engineer Mike Scott, which has since been completed.
DiPersio went through the site plan revisions that came about from comments received from the abutters, Scott and the DPW.
Details such as the location of residences in relation to the dealership and landscaping were added to the plans. In addition, a landscape architect was hired by the applicant, and guidelines will be for native plants to be placed in a “low maintenance landscape.”
The dumpster on site was moved further away from the wetlands and that allowed for more landscaping to be planned in the front of the property, said DiPersio. The tight tank septic system was also moved out of the wetlands buffer zone at the site.
The number of spaces remained at 40 because to protect the investment they are making, the spaces were needed. As it is a site that could not be expanded later with the proposed retaining wall built, the developer “liked the layout the way it is,” DiPersio said.
The current layout was the best option for the building being planned, he said.
The stormwater review yielded no changes to the site plans, but notes were received on the erosion control plan to put some fill in behind the retaining wall.
“All the stormwater from the site — the roof and the parking area — is getting infiltrated under the parking lot,” said DiPersio.
This requirement came from Hudson’s new stormwater regulations to ensure the stormwater system was sufficient.
DiPersio said there were “not a lot of changes from the plan from what we went over last time.”
Planning Board member David Daigneault asked about the size of the QuattroSport sign on the building and how it will be lit. The overall size could be shorter than five feet, DiPersio said, but that was not final. As for the lighting, he said it would not be backlit and could be a spotlight design.
Subject to a final permit that the owner would have to get, the sign would be 15 feet off the pavement from the right-of-way line for the site.
The site plan was approved with the conditions that there was a final closeout on the stormwater review with the Land Design Collaborative and all requests from the DPW are met. The vote was 3-0-1 with member Rodney Frias abstaining as he was not present at the Dec. 3 hearing.
D’Amelio stated at the Dec. 3 public hearing that the project would have to go before the Conservation Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals prior to being built.
The Planning Board also adopted the updated Housing Production Plan, which helps the Affordable Housing Trust manage and plan for continuing to meet the state’s 10% threshold of affordable housing for towns. By meeting the requirement of 10% of all housing units being affordable, unwanted 40B developments can be prevented in town, as Johnson confirmed for the Planning Board.
Frias made the motion to support the plan, and the vote passed 3-0-1.