Planning Board is cutting close to deadline on Worcester Street warehouse
The Planning Board postponed a final decision on the proposed warehouse in front of Wyman-Gordon, with members requesting more time to mull through proposed adjustments.
A 375,000 square foot warehouse, proposed by Providence-based Churchill and Banks Companies, LLC, would service more than 600 tractor-trailers a day. The Planning Board seeks to require that the warehouse will not be a “last mile facility,” where delivery drivers would pick up goods, and has discussed limiting hours of operation, as opposed to the 24-hour shifts in the original proposal.
“I do not want neighbors to be hearing truck traffic all night,” Planning Board Chair David Robbins said. “Even one or two trucks an hour — that’s going to make it hard for people to sleep.”
The Planning Board has until April 6 to make a decision and the process has not been hasty — the public hearing on the proposal has been active since September 2021.
The warehouse is being built on spec and the end user is still unknown, although developers have declared it will not be Amazon.
Opposition from the surrounding neighborhood was immediate, with concerns about increased truck traffic on both Worcester Street and residential streets, air quality, noise, pollution of wetlands, and the effect on their quality of life.
Of the 104 exhibits documenting the process on the Planning Board’s site, 52 letters are from residents, many of whom have shown up to testify during the months of public hearings.
“I’ve been on this board for over 30 years and I don’t remember seeing the quantity of comments before,” Planning Board member Bob Hassinger said.
The Planning Board cannot provide one neighborhood request: the banning of tractor-trailer traffic on Hilltop Road, Brigham Hill Road, and other nearby residential streets. That is a decision that could be brought before the Select Board.
The Planning Board will meet Monday, April 4 to close the public hearing and make a final decision.
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