Gloucester Planning Board, Oct. 1, 2026

Rick Noonan simply. City Council. I know. Let's put the volume up a little bit here. Okay, okay. Somebody's losing. I'm muted. All right. Good evening. So I'd like to call a planning board meeting of October 1st, 2026. Does everybody… just check your computers, make sure everybody's muted. That was me. Progress. Yeah, you're not muted. Progress. There we go. All right.

Rick Noonan Oh, I don't know. Bear with us for a second. I mean, we're muted. I'm signed in twice.

There we go. All right. Think so.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Okay. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So I'd like to call the Planning Board meeting of October 1st, 2026 to order. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We'll introduce Planning Board members and staff. To my far right, Steve Yost. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Sean Henry, Beverly Bookins, Vice Chair Jane Remsen, I'm Rick Noonan, the chair, Greg Catamatori, our planning director, Doug Cook, and Eric Henderly. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And also, for the record, I believe the City Council has a quorum. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We have Council President Gross, Mary Ann, Mr. Benson. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Mr. Groh and Hannah. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And I'd like to recognize Safathia as well.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Hi, Sephora. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): First, next order of business is a forum invitation, the Powers of Arts and Cultural Planning, scheduled for October 6, 2026, in the Kurzweil Auditorium City Hall. Miranda Hayes is here from Arts and Cultural. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): to introduce that invitation. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Welcome. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And if you don't mind just stating your name and address for the record. Thank you. -Oh. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Also, for those of you sitting in the back, there's a whole row of seats up here if you want to sit down. All right. Testing, there we go. Great, I'll keep this brief, I know we're all here for something else.

Speaker 2 (Kyrouz Auditorium): what impact it can make for the City of Gloucester, and getting some questions from the public about what they'd like to see. So I hope you'll see you there. There's flyers in the back of the room. It's next Tuesday, October 6th, at 6pm. Speaker 2 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you very much. Thanks, Miranda. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So next order of business is public hearings in accordance with the provisions of Mass General Law 41, or Chapter 41 81T, the planning board to consider an application submitted by Energy North Incorporated. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): for approval of a definitive subdivision plan entitled Hefner's Way Definitive Subdivision Plan.

Joining with me is Chris Tymula and Bob Bollinger, engineers from GPI, who have helped prepare this package. Also with me is Gregg Hotchmith from Epsilon, who's been handling the wetlands and other environmental aspects of this subdivision plan. We were here before the board in April of this year on a preliminary subdivision plan. We received comments from Mr. Catamatori and other staff, and from the board and the certificate, and we have worked to address all of the comments and the conditions that were raised during the preliminary subdivision plan review process. There have been further comments from the City Planner and Board of Health and the public, and we're… we are addressing those tonight, and will as we move forward.

Road stub that ends at the property line of these properties that we are asking for approval of the subdivision. That area… that road from Schoolhouse Road to the property line. is an easement held by the property owner for the subdivision plan. And that is going to be the primary access, as the city has envisioned for a while, to this area. If we can now look at the plan number 4 of 6. And we'll show the parcels. that are here. Now, this has been… this is… this is from the… subdivision plan that's been submitted, and this is now rotated what we were just looking at. Schoolhouse Road is now at the bottom right-hand corner.

And there's a… there have been issues with squatters. In a report of a fire a couple of years ago, so years without use or productivity, and this is really the best opportunity For developing these properties and getting them into a developable state, to move forward and make good use of this land. This application seeks to create a two-lot commercial subdivision with the new access road from the Schoolhouse Road area. It's fully within the General Industrial Zoning District. And this will create two buildable lots that are fully compliant with Gloucester zoning dimensional requirements. They'll be buildable, developable, marketable.

There are some limitations on the scale of development, due to the presence of wetlands on Lot 2, and that also has kind of, influenced how we've been able to design the access road into the property. The applicant is not seeking approval or proposing any uses. We're here solely to create two lots with an access road that can later then be put to use and developed. We're aware of comments regarding a concept plan from a few years ago. That concept plan was used to explore the feasibility of the site and the nature of the property. That plan has not moved forward. We provided all of that information to the planning board so that they could see the nature of the soil and of the site, not to present a plan for future use.

That plan has not moved forward, and that plan could not be done on this two-lot subdivision. Any future use, whether it's proposed by the applicant, or a tenant, or a future purchaser of a lot. will be subject to the Gloucester zoning ordinances and site plan review by this board, and would be subject to this board's reasonable regulations. Since our April 26th, April 2026 preliminary plan review, we've submitted additional material, in response to the certificate from the board, environmental impact evaluation from Epsilon, a stormwater management plan. full traffic investigation report. We had already submitted a licensed site professional opinion on the activity and use limitations, and we also provided the notice of intent with the Conservation Commission.

Because the road construction will not be in wetlands, but it will be in the buffer 2 wetlands, and so that's going to the Conservation Commission and has been submitted, and my understanding is that it will be on the Conservation Commission's agenda for October 7th. And the Geotechnical Exploration Report. I want to just touch on a couple of issues that are on this site and it came up through prior comments and from the Board of Health. There is an activity and use limitation on this site due to the prior uses of this property. That area is depicted with, with a dotted line that, there. Thank you, Chris. And so the… the cul-de-sac end of the new access road does go into the AUL area, and the opinion of the licensed site professional, on the AUL is that if

more than 30 cubic yards of soil were disturbed during the construction of the road in that area, then we would need to get a, go through the release abatement measurement plan. with Massachusetts DEP. The engineers have now determined with this definitive plan that's been submitted that, it will exceed 30 cubic yards of land disturbance with the construction of that cul-de-sac. And accordingly, the applicant will file with the DEP a release abatement measurement plan. Before any work is done. the REM plan would go to the MassDEP, we would get approval, and all work would be conducted subject to the REM plan, including how to perform the work, mitigation.

Monitoring and reporting until, the project of the construction of the road is complete. Now, I want to turn to the access road, and… Chris, may have more to say about this, but, the access road, I'm just gonna talk generally about it, the access road. From Schoolhouse Road, measuring from Schoolhouse Road all the way to the end of the cul-de-sac, is approximately 753 feet. The property holds the easement, as I mentioned before, to use the existing portion of the road that's already been developed from Schoolhouse Road to the property line. That's approximately 288 feet that is already in existence from Schoolhouse Road to the property line.

a street that will serve 50-plus residences. But because it serves non-residential abutting property, it would be considered a collector street, or could be considered a collector street. And… Because of that, there are some… there are different standards for a collector street than a minor street, and so we will be requesting some waivers on the design of the road that I'm going to go through here, so that the existing road can remain undisturbed. And because changing the grade and changing the width requirements for the existing road and the new road would increase the fill on the property, and it would also decrease the buildable areas of the lots, in addition to needing to reconstruct the already existing road.

So I want to just go through specifically the waivers for this road that we are requesting, if it's considered a collector street. First is the grade. The current grade of the existing road and the as-designed access road is a maximum of 8%. This is consistent with the minor street standards. The maximum grade of a collector street is 6%, so we are requesting a waiver in the maximum grade from 6% to 8%, so a 2% change in the grade requirement. The width of the road, the current width of the existing road. and the access road as designed here is 50 feet. This is consistent with the minor street requirements. The width required for a collector street is 60 feet, so we're… we are requesting a waiver of 10 feet for the width of the road.

We're also requesting a width of the pavement requirement between sidewalks. The current width between the sidewalks of the existing road and the as-designed access road here is 28 feet. This is more than the minimum required by a minor street, which is 26 feet, but still, less than required for a collector street, which is 32 feet. So we request a waiver in the width between the sidewalks from 32 feet to 28 feet, a 4-foot change. The length of the, of this access road As I mentioned, is 753 feet. We had previously requested a waiver on the maximum length of the access road, because the maximum length for a minor street is 500 feet.

Yeah, sure, thanks, Harley. Good evening, everybody. For the record, Chris Tumula, I'm a professional engineer with Greener Peterson, here on behalf of the applicant as part of the design team. Yeah, I mean, Harley did a great job, kind of giving a brief overview, of a lot of the. high-level items. What I'd like to do, if the board wants, is I can get into some more of the specific design elements and kind of walk you through that. My presentation will be a lot shorter than Harley's. Umm. So right now, we're obviously looking at the definitive subdivision plan, and you can see that the, the new roadway and the new cul-de-sac along Hafner's Way is right here. This, this allows us to create those two lots that Harley had mentioned.

Lot 1 is about a 2.2 acre parcel here. Lot 2 is the remaining 6.6 acre parcel. Both lots have, in excess of 600 feet of roadway frontage, which far exceeds the, the minimum, allowed. As you can see, the roadway itself, we have a nice, gentle, curving roadway with a 300-foot radius. As Harley mentioned, it's about 460 feet… 465 feet long, and it terminates in a 120-foot diameter, cul-de-sac at the end. It's obviously designed along the northern side of the property, with the wetlands abutting this portion here, and that allowed us to have easier discharge from our stormwater treatment for the roadway, which is fully designed under mass stormwater policy for stormwater compliance.

From a design point of view, you can see that the new roadway is shown here. The existing roadway is 28 feet wide. We're continuing that same 28-foot-wide roadway to match the existing stub road. We have… we are extending the existing curb… the existing curbing all the way through the site. So there's new curbing along the entire new roadway system. There's an existing sidewalk that stubs at the property line. We're extending that sidewalk up along the right-hand side of the property. We have a closed drainage system, which consists of deep sump hooded catch basins, all draining and collecting all the new roadway runoff. into an above-ground stormwater infiltration basin, that also has a sediment forebay. And all of this stormwater design for the roadway system was designed to have no increase in the peak rate of runoff, for every, every design storm analyzed from the 2-year to the 100-year, storm event.

We provide… So, the roadway is along here, here's Sargent Street. To, get utilities into the site, we are connecting to the existing utilities that are on Sargent Street. They consist of water stubs, sewer stubs, gas stubs, and electric. Those will come through our site through an easement on Lot 2 to get up to the corner of Lot 1 and 2 to provide access and utilities for both developments for whatever ultimate future development is provided. During construction, we obviously want to make sure that the resource areas and the surrounding areas are protected, so we have a variety of stormwater and erosion controls. So we have a gravel construction entrance at the entrance, we have sediment control surrounding the entire limits of grading.

We have temporary stockpiling areas, erosion control blankets for any sloped areas. And catch basin inlet protection for any of the existing and or proposed stormwater controls that are out there. And then lastly, from a site plan point of view, this is just a rotated view of the plan, which identifies, as Harley had mentioned earlier, the existing roadway slopes. The proposed roadway slopes, it's just a planning profile of the existing… I'm sorry, the proposed drainage system that's in the cul-de-sac. As part of this, we have, we've added street trees along the southern side of the road. You can see that the sidewalk is here, located on the northern side of the road. There is a substantial grade difference from the road down to the wetlands, so we have implemented a retaining wall with guardrail and fencing.

We have new, street lights surrounding the entire site, and we've provided, driveway stubs for future, development on lots 1 and lot 2. And as part of those the developments on lots one and lot two, and what was discussed at the preliminary planning board meeting was what ultimately is going to be generated here from a traffic point of view. The only way we were able to generate any sort of traffic model was to come up with some sort of concept master plan. So, in the overall package that's submitted on the last page of the plan set. That's exactly what we've provided. It's a conceptual master plan. So we've identified two, two large buildings, industrial buildings with plenty of parking, some loading docks, etc.

And again, this was just to provide a basis for the traffic study, that Bob can discuss briefly, and get any feedback that the board may have tonight. So you can clearly see, if you looked at the geotech report in comparison to this plan, there's no similarity between the two of the previous development for the bulk fuel storage and what was, what's being proposed here. And as Harley mentioned, you can't build what was previously provided in the geotechnical report, and that was just provided for the on-site soils. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions from a technical point of view, from the subdivision and roadway point of view. Again, Bob Bollinger's here from our traffic group. He can discuss some of the traffic aspects if the board wants, or we can open up to other questions.

Yeah, go ahead, Bob, if you don't mind. I'm sorry. Thank you, everybody. Are you able to hear me? All right, thank you. Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board. For the record, Bob Bollinger, Greenman Peterson, engineer, from GPI on behalf of the applicant this evening. I'll give a very, very broad overview, and then I was always happy to take any, any specific questions that you have. But basically, our office undertook a full traffic impact and access study, predicated upon this hypothetical, industrial use, that Chris is displaying right now. So, in total.

Little over 35,000 square foot, between the two buildings, about 35,450 to be precise. And that sort of formed the basis for, for our traffic study. We did go out, collect new traffic, counts at the intersection of Schoolhouse Road. On Hafner's Way, as well as I'm sure board members know, the fourth leg of that intersection is actually the, the Cape Ann Savings Bank YMCA driveway, so we did focus our efforts on analyzing that intersection. We did, comport to all applicable, state standards for traffic studies, even though it's our understanding we will not need a DOT access permit for any future development, if and when it formally comes to the site plan stage.

So I think that one thing I did just want to stress, and I'll try to… Share my screen here, Chris, I don't know, I think… do you have to stop sharing before I can share? Okay. I do just want to give a brief overview, If you're able to see my screen, This is the anticipated trip generation characteristics of that hypothetical, you know, 35,000 and change industrial-type plan. I'd say… I'd go so far as to say it's kind of a de minimis traffic generator. Specifically, we looked at the AM and PM peak hour periods, which you would…

I think it's kind of ordinary for a site like this. It's mostly your employee arrivals in the morning and departures in the afternoon, but we're basically looking at 17 a.m. peak hour trips and 17 p.m. peak hour trips. And subsequently, I guess to maybe tie a quick bow around this, what our analysis found was that there is more than sufficient capacity at the Schoolhouse Road, intersection to accommodate traffic levels of this volume. And as the board is aware, from what is shown on the plan, the proposed extension, known as Hafner's Way, there is no connection beyond the cul-de-sac stub, so basically, in effect, this becomes a de facto driveway for whatever hypothetical development could ultimately be built there. So I would conclude by saying.

Traffic levels of, you know, this magnitude do not warrant any sort of site specific or project specific mitigation. There's no widening required. There is, no alteration to any form of traffic control. Stop sign control, which is out there now, as it is for the Cape and YMCA driveway is sufficient, to accommodate the additional traffic. associated with, again, this hypothetical build-out scenario. So I think I'll sort of tie it off there for now, but again, I'm certainly happy to take any questions that the Board or the public may have. Thank you for your time this evening. Thank you, Bob. And Greg Hotchmith, do you want to just briefly touch on the wetlands that are on site, and what's been submitted to the Conservation Commission? Don't go through the whole NOI, though.

Sure, I'd be happy to. Good evening, everyone. For the record, Greg Hochmuth, a project wetland scientist from Epsilon Associates. I personally conducted the wetland delineation on this, this property. I do just want to share my screen real quick. Let's see here… Just gonna pull up. Mass Mapper. This is a GIS program that's available to everyone. It's known as Mass Mapper. It shows our parcels down in here. This is the existing roadway stub, just to get your bearings. The YMCA is off the page. Top right, this is the bulk of the site here.

This is what it looked like. in 1990, So, a little different, but you can see it was… occupied with lots of cars. The buildings that are still on site today are down here. There's a long linear, metal structure that parallels the MBTA commuter rail down here. And this dark shading that you see in the black and white image here, this is the approximate location of the bordering vegetative wetland system that's on the property. The flags were very, very obvious. The delineation, it's a toe-a-slope wetland that follows the edge of fill when this site was created many moons ago.

Let's see, there's no streams, per se, but there is a ditch that parallels the MBTA commuter rail that does function as an intermittent stream during certain periods of the year, so this wetland system borders on that stream, which makes it a bordering vegetated wetland. I think Chris and Harley did a great job explaining the project, so I don't need to go into more detail there. But we did file a Notice of Intent permit application with MassDEP and the local Conservation Commission. as required under the Wetlands Protection Act and wetland ordinance in the city for activities proposed within 100 feet of those bordering vegetative wetlands. The project itself doesn't propose to alter any wetlands. All our activities are proposed within the buffer zone, and those activities are proposed in areas that have been historically turned over, built on, driven on. There is

wooded areas on site now, mostly pioneer species. That black and white photo I pulled up was from 1990, and there was no vegetation back then, so a lot of the growth has formed in the past 30 years or so. The wetlands themselves are wooded with healthy, mature trees and canopy, but as I mentioned, we're not proposing to alter any of those resource areas. During construction, Chris identified protections that will be put in place to protect those downgradient wetland resource areas. Erosion controls, and stabilization measures, which will all be implemented, prior to construction. But I'd be happy to talk more about wetlands if anybody has any questions.

Thank you, Gregg and Chris and Bob, and I turn back to the board now and welcome any questions or comments. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you, gentlemen. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Sure, I'll just, and I provided a link to anyone that wants to see the information submitted or the staff reviews or comments from the public. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): To date, I think we've received about 10 different communications from members of the public. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): They are very varied in their concerns, and I think a lot of those concerns are shared, by our initial staff review. It is obviously a very complicated site. It's also got a history of contamination.

land uses that could be accommodated with… within that… within that land mass, up to and including, I think, Christmas tree sales. So, depending on how you want to look at it, Christmas tree sales, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, that could be your most highest and intense use, but for that one month of the year, but from a practical perspective. the land would go unused for the other 11 months of the year. So, your question and your point are well taken, though, but that will require a little further digging on our part. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Oh, I just wanted to point out, with a hypothetical of For instance, tanker trucks. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Transporting oil,

Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That would be a very different traffic pattern, which would probably be more intense in the wintertime, it would… Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Have a different traffic pattern than normal. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Normal shipping trucks, or certainly commuter traffic. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And so, if that were to be a use, Possibly. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Then, Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The traffic patterns would be quite different, and we'd want to make sure that we're addressing it appropriately. One other point I would just like to make is that, you know, any potential future use will be subject to site plan review and its own traffic study, traffic analysis study, and so anything that were to follow

is going to be evaluated for that particular use and subject to planning board review and reasonable conditions. So, you know, this isn't the end of the discussion. But we, you know, we do understand the board's concern. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I think the primary concern about a definitive use for the property is that on Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Page 41 of the application. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You have a defined use as a fuel depot. And yet… Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You're stating that… That won't be done. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And you now have, defined use with just two commercial buildings, but I think the concern with

Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Approving a road layout. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And a plan, without knowing the exact use, is that Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This may be built, and you might come back in a future date. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): With plans for a fuel depot. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And… If we're not considering the totality of the project when designing this, then it's likely that, Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We're not actually doing everything we would need to do to make that Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): a safe subdivision, and I've been on the board Quite a while. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And I know with residential subdivisions, We don't do…

A. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): A generic approval for a subdivision, that there's… Okay. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): A developer would have to come in with, you know, a very defined Roadmap. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): For lack of a better term, of exactly what's being placed on the ground before we consider the… Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): before we'd even consider the application. And I think that's… Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That's the elephant in the room. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Is that… Three years ago, Your plan drafted as a fuel depot. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Fuel storage depot. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And… The application you're asking us to approve, though, is for generic undefined subdivision.

Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That basically might happen or not happen, but the question of the fuel depot Still hangs out there. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And I don't think… The process should be iterative. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You come in and get the road laid out, and the lots laid out. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And you come back at a future date. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And say, oh, by the way, we do want to consider the fuel depot again. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We're back, and you can do site plan review. Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): But we already laid out the roadway, and… Would probably not… Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Make you tear everything up and reconfigure the lots.

Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): At that time. So, it's, again, it shouldn't be an iterative process. We should be considering Speaker 7 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The process of the project as a whole, including what the ultimate use is going to be. Force is the subdivision. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Yeah, I mean, I think there is a difference, obviously, between subdivision and zoning, but to the extent that there are aspects of a potential future use that would impact the road design, it's important to know that at this point. So it may be that the approach that was taken was a little too conservative, 9 trucks a day. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): from a site of this size, given those uses, is kind of gaming it to a lighter intense use. I'm not sure if those trucks were in the tolerance of the review of the traffic analysis, just simple box trucks of a certain length.

Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So it… you know, again, I think this is something that would come out in peer review as well. I mean, they can review, the… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): kind of generic or other scenarios that might be more appropriate for the size of the land. Just because it's proposed in two lots, it could be recombined with a simple A&R application to be one lot. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So I think there's probably some other scenarios that, could be important to evaluate to make sure that the road is designed to handle the potential for a multiple of future uses. Thank you, Mr. Cametori, and I just want to say, I think that that is the correct analysis, that what we should be looking at is

Will the road support potential future uses, but not that, we… That anyone has to be. bound by a potential use. I mean, we did have a plan that is not moving forward and wouldn't move forward on this site, but that doesn't really change what is before the board here, which is a road. Essentially, this is a project for a road, and so, you know, what will this road, what will this road support, is the question that we all need to get to. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Any other questions from board members at this point? down here. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So I know everybody's excited to make a comment. We are in a public hearing here, and traditionally we ask for folks to come forward that want to speak in favor of it first.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So if anybody would like to come forward, state your name and address at the lectern, and keep your comments to 3 minutes. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, if anybody would like to speak in favor… Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This is your… you see what happens? Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You're the only one. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, seeing none. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, I did speak with Mary Ann. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So she's been appointed to represent, a group of the neighborhood. We're gonna allow her 15 minutes to make her comments on the record. Anybody else that would like to, share their comments, again, that's a 3-minute,

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the proposed application. Thank you for the time tonight. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I want to speak to the applicant's own filing of August 13th. That includes the board's April 16th conditions, which I know only as the applicant's cover letter quotes them. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I am in opposition of the application as it stands, with seven areas of concern. The site, the soil, fuel storage, hours of operation, environmental justice, traffic, and stormwater. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The site, the application describes this as vacant, neglected land. Its own documents say otherwise. The geotechnical report, Attachment B, Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Says the owner reports the site was used for many years.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): As an automobile salvage and recycling facility, and that the city used it as a municipal landfill. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The applicant's environmental impact evaluation confirms contamination from former industrial use. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It cites two Mass DEP release tracking numbers, 3-20653 and 3-10981. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And an activity and use limitation recorded at Book 18407, page 567. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The stormwater report also states that the AUL limits certain construction activities. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, this is not a clean parcel. It is a state-regulated contaminated site with fill of unknown origin beneath it.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The soil, the geotechnical engineers found highly variable, undocumented, man-placed fill over buried organic soil in a shallow water table. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): They state that their work did not include any environmental assessment for hazardous or toxic materials in the soil or the groundwater. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The geotechnical report tells us what the ground can hold up. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It does not tell us what is in it. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): According to the applicant's cover letter, the Board's April 16th memorandum required that environmental concerns about on-site contamination be addressed Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So that public health risks are minimized. What the application offers is one sentence that the AUL does not preclude further development, and a reference to oversight by a licensed site professional.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): There is no map showing where the AUL area sits relative to the proposed roadway, excavation, and infiltration basin. There's no soil management plan. There's no description of what contamination the AUL covers. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The fuel storage. Here is what concerns me most. The geotechnical report, Attachment B, was prepared for Energy North Inc, the applicant, in October 2023. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It was based on an earlier site plan, and it describes a redevelopment that includes an 80,000 gallon above-ground heating oil tank, a 20,000 gallon above-ground diesel tank. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): and three 30,000 gallon propane tanks, 90,000 gallons of propane in total.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That is in Section 1, with the foundation designs in Sections 5.4.2 through 5.4.4. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The current definitive plan does not show these tanks, but it is the same applicant, the same site, and the same attachment, and nothing in the application says fuel storage has been abandoned. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The report also says groundwater ground under the propane tank area is not suitable. In its words, building the tanks on existing ground will likely lead to excessive settlement of the tanks and fuel lines. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The test pitch showed significant deleterious material in exactly that area, and the engineers recommend major excavation and replacement of that fill. They add that relocating the tanks further east would likely reduce that work.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The EIE places residences in an apartment complex to the east, so I humbly and respectfully request that the board help us understand where would these tanks go, and how close would they be to homes. I know we share the goal of a safe decision for the whole neighborhood. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Digging out contaminated fill to build bulk fuel storage on a site with recorded releases and a shallow water table next to wetlands raises questions the application doesn't answer. Where does the excavated material go? Who tests it? Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What protects the underground water and wetlands? What is the emergency response plan next to the homes?

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The cover letter says there are no known or proposed uses, but the applicant's own consultant described a fuel storage build-out on the site. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I'm not asking the board to assume the worst, I'm asking the board to ask the applicant plainly, is Buke bulk fuel or propane storage intended for these lots? Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): If the answer is no, put that on the record in writing. If the answer is yes, the traffic, stormwater, and emergency access reviews are built on the wrong assumptions. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Hours of operation. The application states no operating hours for either lot. It proposes no limits on construction hours. It says nothing about when deliveries and trucks may come and go. The only related item is that street lighting will be installed along the new road.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Meanwhile, the plan shows loading docks in both buildings, and the traffic study counts only weekday peak hours, 7 to 9 in the AM. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And 4 to 6 in the afternoon. So we know nothing about early morning deliveries, evening or overnight operations, or weekends, which are the hours that matter most to the people who live beside the site. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Fuel delivery operations in particular can run early, late, and through winter emergencies. Without stated hours, the board cannot judge the full impact of what is being asked to approve, and no one can assume the impact on the people who live beside this site. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): environmental justice. There is something the application never mentions. This is an environmental justice neighborhood. In Massachusetts, that is a legal designation based on census data, reflecting communities with a high minority population, lower household incomes, or many households with limited English.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The state's 2021 climate law defines these populations in statute. The Commonwealth did this because communities like ours have historically carried more than their share of pollution, truck traffic, and hazardous facilities, with less voice in those decisions. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): State law treats that as a reason for closer scrutiny. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): For projects under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, projects within one mile of an environmental justice population require enhanced analysis of impacts and enhanced public participation. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I recognize this board is not the MEPA office, but the principle matters here. A burden that might be acceptable elsewhere can be an undue burden in a neighborhood that already carries a great deal.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And this neighborhood does. The applicant's own EIE places the site between established residential streets and Route 128, an MBTA rail line, industrial buildings, and commercial storage. The Halyard Apartments are to the east, and the abutters list includes the Gloucester Housing Authority. Now, at a contaminated site. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The possibility of bulk fuel and propane storage and industrial truck traffic. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Filling and dispensing fuel can release odors and fumes for the neighbors. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That means breathing them in their homes and yards, day after day, especially when hours of operation are unlimited and unstated. Hazardous materials, diesel trucks, and the risk of a release or fire fall hardest on the people who live closest, who do not choose to live next to this.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The application contains no environmental justice analysis, no identification of the affected population, no assessment of the burdens already borne, and no outreach beyond the legal minimum. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The traffic study evaluates 35,450 square feet of generic light industrial use, and estimates 128 vehicle trips a day, of which 9 are trucks. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Generic light industrial is not fuel distribution. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): A study of a different use does not tell this board what real Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Delivery truck traffic would look like on a road serving a neighborhood. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): and the road needs a waiver. It will be 750.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 3 feet long against a 500-foot limit for a minor road. If the land can't support a compliant road, that is information about the land. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): In stormwater, runoff is directed to an infiltration basin on a contaminated site on muck and fill soils with a shallow water table. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The applicant says that in large storms, overflow will leave through existing downstream drainage pathways. It never says where those pathways go, whether they're in good condition, or who owns them. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The applicant's cover letter says the board's memorandum required a demonstration of no downstream impact, saying existing pathways is not a demonstration.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What I ask the board today, I sincerely ask to require further information before it acts, so that its decision serves both the neighbors who live beside the site and the City of Gloucester as a whole. I'm asking for the following. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Keep the public hearing open until these questions are answered in writing. Compare the April 16th conditions against what was actually submitted, particularly in contamination and downstream impacts. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Require the applicant to state on the record whether bulk fuel or propane storage is planned for either lot, and whether this project triggers Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Require the applicant to state proposed hours of operation, construction hours, and delivery times, and condition any approval on limits of each along with lighting. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Require a map showing the AUL area and RTN locations against the proposed road, grading and infiltration basin, with the soil management and LSP oversight plan. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): requiring an environmental justice analysis and outreach beyond the legal abutters, including translation or interpretation where needed. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Require independent peer review of the traffic and stormwater submissions at the applicant's expense. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Condition any approval so that abutters receive notice and a chance to comment on further uses, with construction and truck traffic kept off Millet and Sargent Street. Include the applicant's geotechnical report, sections 1 and 5.3 through 5.4.4, in the record as documentation of what has been described for this site.

Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Over the last few weeks, I have worked hard to understand what is actually being asked of this board, and how it would affect not only my home, but the homes of my neighbors, friends and neighbors throughout the neighborhood. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): My husband and I and our neighbors care deeply about fully understanding what is being proposed, and whether this is the right development for our community. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This neighborhood has lived beside the site for a long time, and we want to work with this board, not against it. Speaker 8 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You are the ones in a position to protect the well-being of the residents here. I humbly and respectfully ask you to keep this hearing open and take the time to fully understand what is being proposed and what is in the ground before you act, so that your decision is one we can all stand behind. Thank you for your time.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you for that very concise. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Testimony. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Is there anybody else in the room that would like to come forward and speak?

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): God's site, including a road. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This land, as you all know, is heavily contaminated, probably the biggest in the city. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): From early on, trash was burned there when the city used it as a dump. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): After the dump at what is now the Costa High School and football field on Centennial Ave was closed. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): In 1939, petitioners in the neighborhood opposed this Sargent Street location as a dump. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So the city moved to Magnolia, now the site of the soccer fields. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): On July 30th, 1959, reported in the Gloucester Daily Times.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The North Pole Pond. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): and acres I repeat. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): acres of swamp. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): was filled in by the Linsky brothers. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): With tons of ash. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Cinder and other materials. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What was the water table depth listed in your report? Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 4 feet down. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Now you know why. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): reported in the GDT September 9th Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 1966, a fire that was stubborn to put out lasted a week. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): With the Linsky brothers hiring a bulldozer to dig up the area to help the fire department to put it out.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): From the GDT, May 21st, 1968, Fire Chief Carlton McKay ordered the halt Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): of dumping trash on the property by businesses, including Gloucester Engineering. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): GDT. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): July 16th, 1969, Rainey Linsky. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Well, Benny, as we… he was known. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Suffered burns at the junkyard when 55-gallon drums Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): from the D.L. Frost Corporation contained a residue of substance for coating rain gear exploded. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): and the barrel flying in the air and knocking Benny to the ground.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): In the GDT March 27th, 1975, the Conservation Commission allowed filling behind Linsky's junkyard. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Now, my personal knowledge Of what I witnessed. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And did, as a teenager, in the early… mid… early to mid-70s. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And when I worked at the junkyard. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): When I was a teen, Hobbit dredging was dumped at the back of the Linskys. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): How do I know this? Because my friend and I wore rubber boots. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): snuck into… the junkyard. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Where we were looking for.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Old bottles. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We snuck in from the railroad track side. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That dredging… The piles of it. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We're spread out. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Over the back of the junkyard. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Later, when I worked at the junkyard, I witnessed them stripping parts out of the cars. They did not collect any of the oils or fluids from the cars or trucks. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It was dumped on the ground. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And this was the… and this was the way they did it for decades. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): before and after I worked there.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 55-gallon metal drums brought up to the back of the yard, lids taken off, and the drums turned upside down to drain out what was in them. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): These drums later used to transport metals like copper and brass to be sold. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The electric company, Transformers. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): dumped up at the back of… dumped up at the back to drain the PCB-laden cooling oil out of them so they could be scrapped. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Asbestos from pipes and old oil burners dumped up back. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): During heavy rains, Sargent Street would have an oil slick on it, coming from the front of the junkyard, where we would crush cars.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Also, that part of the yard sometimes would catch fire. Due to the gas and diesel that was spilled on the ground during crushing. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You should ask yourself, Why would any company Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Want to buy such a contaminated wasteland. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Please… Don't allow any activity at this site. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Unless someone is going to spend the tens of millions of dollars. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): To clean it up first. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Now, I know what was mentioned here was about that trench along the railroad tracks. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Well, that used to be a stream.

Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Pete Alinsky, Dug that trench deeper to keep us hoodlums out of the junkyard. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And one other thing, the… road access. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Or the road, they call it, it's already there. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That was all Phil. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That was filled with everything from concrete, to hot top, to big boulders, to all kinds of dirt. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): To make that area flat and level. They pushed it over the hill into the swamp. Speaker 11 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you.

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You all know. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): past mayor, past administrations. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Foster Crossing would have been part of that if it was feasible, and if it was a good project, and if it wasn't contaminated. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We had it looked at Brownsville. We had it looked what we can change and what we can do. But she said it properly, the EJ communities. How much more can this neighborhood stand? Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Don't tell me about traffic studies, don't tell me about everything else. I sent from Dilling, I called all my friends, I pulled in all my friends from all over the state, environmentalists, traffic studies, everything I could do. It's, why am I here? It's not in my neighborhood. I live across the bridge.

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Look at everyone there. They are our neighborhood. It is our neighborhood. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We put enough on that neighborhood. We promised when we did Gloucester Crossing to those neighborhoods, we weren't going to do anything more. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We promised them when we did the Gloucester Crossing. I was part of that mayor. We promised them. And yet everybody can make their own promises. But I can't keep them. We promised them we weren't going to keep doing this to them. You know, I feel bad for Lenski's. Of course they want to sell. They have the storage. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): But… Erik Liakono. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): He brought Matheson Gas, that property. Why is he having all these storage there, and not doing affordable housing everywhere like we used to? Did you ever think what's underneath? Look what we did at the… look what we did at the high school, and what happened there.

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): At the same time, the proposal involves substantial physical changes to the site, includes new private roadway, two industrial lots, a cul-de-sac grading, excavations, drainage, infrastructure, stormwater, infiltration. The plan also identifies existing filling and test pits, and the stormwater package contains groundwater. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Mold and analysis. So my question is straightforward. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What exactly is beneath this property, and where is it now? Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And how will it affect this project? Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Before approval, I believe the board should have complete environmental history of this property, including the actual

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Actual AUL underlining chapter 21E records, NER 10 previous environmental investigations, and we know there's been plenty soil and groundwater testing and. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 2001 environmental report referenced in this property's history. I would like to ask the board to require clear determination whether any proposed excavation, roadway construction, utilities, or stormwater imputation facilities will occur while in the area covered by AUL. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And if contaminated or potentially contaminated soils enter county during this construction, we need to know before the construction begins and exactly where this material will be defined, where it will go. We have a waterfront that we cannot use and we can't identify. We stopped dredging CAD cells because it was in the ocean.

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We have it on all our waterfronts, Beanie's property. Everyone wants to do something, but it's contained, and as soon as my staff came out, they looked at a piece of property and said, brownfields, everyone freaks out. Why aren't we freaked out with this property? There's another important consideration. The cities Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): A BUDDERS report identifies a large number of property owners within 500 feet of this property, including many residential properties. This means this isn't happening in an isolated construction city. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Down, dust-off changes, drainage, potential effects surrounding neighborhood, and those also need to be protected.

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I'm therefore asking the board do not rely solely on stormwater management plan or general statements from the compliance. I'm asking for a complete site specific environmental record for clear conditions protecting the surrounding. neighborhood. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Before any project proceeds. That means a roadway. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We should know what is in the ground before we disturb it, where it is, the safe grounds. Remember. Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Greg, first of all, I want to thank you for all your questions, concerns, because you were with me when we had those questions and concerns when we were building. We had people that wanted to do

Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): are 100% environmentally sound, no electricity, no power, all solar housing. Why aren't they for it? All paid by the state. They didn't continue. Why? We're not going to put human people Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And these are what's out here. It's not a designated area, and he said it… Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Linsky's, he's worked there. You know what? Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I've said it before, we've all made mistakes, whether it was my administration's or everyone. We did that. Why wouldn't Gloucester Crossing continue that way in that beginning? Speaker 12 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That was a perfect piece of land they could have put in their sister living, or anything else they wanted to. Why did they subdivide it differently, and why did they go different ways? And why do we keep promising the same neighborhood over and over?

Speaker 13 (Kyrouz Auditorium): They don't know what's under the ground, and they want to disturb that area. It's right next to wetlands, and Speaker 13 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So there's so many things that are red flags about this project. And the other thing is, is… Speaker 13 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The way they talk to us very condescendingly that they might have a Christmas tree farm there, that is just Speaker 13 (Kyrouz Auditorium): really disrespectful to this town, and to who we are, and our concerns about what could be there. We don't know what could be there, because they're not telling us what could be there. Who knows? Could be a data center. We don't know. They use large amounts of fuel. So, because of what's happened to that land there before.

Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The City Council just approved the housing plan. Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And all I've heard from attending the many meetings that I go to is how they want to keep developing in town. Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And, Sean Henry, I agree with you 100%. We don't agree too often, but 100%, Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): These people need to know what is going to potentially go there before this is approved. Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I haven't seen this many people in this room. Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Since the school project, or the chicken project? Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You all said… That the constituents matter. Speaker 14 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Well, this is a time where you really need to listen, because I can guarantee you, if those fuel tanks go in that neighborhood.

Speaker 15 (Kyrouz Auditorium): When we moved into Gloucester in 2000, we had no idea we were buying a house that was right below all of the development that's gone on above it. Speaker 15 (Kyrouz Auditorium): up in Gloucester Crossing area. And I found, too, that even being aware of things like this has been hard, and I thank the neighbor who shared information on this meeting today so that we became aware. Speaker 15 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Our main concern is, if this is… if Energy North is a wholesale fuel distribution company, who's… that's their main business, and they're funding all of this work. Speaker 15 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Obviously, it makes sense that they would want fuel distribution to be done on this land. Why else would they be investing this kind of money, or they're gonna sell it for something else?

Speaker 15 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And my question. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): My question is really to this gentleman here, if he could answer. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And thank you for all your smoke and mirrors. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Unfortunately, I could follow very little of it. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Be it may be, if you can follow everything that is asked of you, in the end, whether are you or will you step forward Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And tell us what you're really going to do with this property. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I think… You are going to have a oil throughput facility of some type. Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And this site will be operated 24 hours a day by big trucks, lots of noise. You will impact the lives of every person in this room.

Speaker 16 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And hundreds more. So when are you going to tell us what you're really going to do with this site? Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you, David.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Kristen Prevolay, 18 Edgemoor. Speaker 9 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Our city planners Must not make the mistake. Speaker 9 (Kyrouz Auditorium): of allowing a road, which is a Trojan horse. Speaker 9 (Kyrouz Auditorium): to be built. Speaker 17 (Kyrouz Auditorium): by a company clearly looking to build something, quote unquote, in a climate or in this current climate of a diminished environmental protection agency that does not care about environmental justice. Speaker 17 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This company, looking to barrel through this project, probably a fuel storage facility on a matchbox. Speaker 17 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That will take decades to reverse, and there are other cities who have done similar… made similar mistakes, and, we don't want to do that. Thank you so much.

Speaker 17 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you.

Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): While engineering technology has made modern gas containment. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Secure under normal conditions, human error, vehicle strikes, and aging infrastructure can negate local zoning boards, and fire departments should regulate or outright ban bulk gas storage. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The proximity to the train, which nobody's brought up, this introduces a hazard known as cascading effect. Heavy vibration from the trains can compromise the underground piping, and Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the containment systems. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): As a, as an, resident of this city for my entire life, I think that Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The thought of an accident.

Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): On the line of the gas facility could directly impact. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the whole neighborhood. It affects more than just the director butters in the city. It affects everybody, because Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You all know somebody that's going to be living in that area. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Environmental threats to adjacent wetlands, influx of industrial truck traffic. I could go on and on, and I… if I've… what I've read online is true, they're talking about possibly 190,000 gallons. Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): of stored fuel is an accident waiting to happen. I implore the Board to consider this, and… Speaker 18 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Vote against it.

Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Anything that happens there would require a full cleanup, and I am of the opinion that the only appropriate use for the space Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Given the larger picture of the town, and the city, rather, is, a pedestrian thruway. Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Which would allow pedestrians access to the Gloucester Crossing site from the larger residential area. Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This is a… A proposal that I would propose for the city at large, Any pedestrian… increasing pedestrian access. Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Through, empty lots in a safe way, where pedestrians can… pass Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): neighborhood to neighborhood is a worthwhile development.

Speaker 19 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thank you.

Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): They have not definitively pulled it, they have backburnered it. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This gentleman here used smoke and mirrors. I… when I was listening to this, the first thing that came to my mind was spokescreen. You're skirting around the issue. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You talk about, traffic studies and how many cars are going to go, but if you don't know what is going to be built on a piece of property, how can you possibly know how many cars or trucks or any other type of vehicle would be delivering Christmas trees, or oil, or gasoline, or… Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Propane. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You know, as the former mayor, Safathi Romeo Taken said.

Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We've done enough to Ward 2 and Ward 3. They have done enough to these neighborhoods. Everything that is development that is done in this town happens in Ward 2 and Ward 3. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That land is profoundly contaminated. It has been contaminated for decades. It has never been cleaned up. There's never been any effort to clean it up. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The only suitable use for that land is to deem it unbuildable until such time as somebody steps forward with the money to do the right thing, whether that's getting state funding, federal funding, but that land needs to be cleaned up before any thought Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Of doing anything. Just turning over that soil in that… on that property.

Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Puts the people that live near there at potential risk. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): There are contaminants in there that you don't even know what it is. What is… what are the health risks? You know, is there anybody in this room whose child or grandchild, niece, nephew, cousin is expendable? Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): if we do something that causes or increases the likelihood of childhood cancers for these… for our residents. We owe it to the citizens of this community to do the right thing, and the right thing is to not go forward with any development that even remotely puts anybody in danger. They said it in their own reports. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Deleterious. Deleterious comes up over and over and over again in the only report that any of us have seen. It's a really fancy and melodic word for saying

Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Pollution. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Hazards. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): dangerous to human beings. That's all we know. So until they can definitively say that that is pulled. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You don't know. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It's smoke screens, it's skirting around the issue, it is hypotheticals. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): To build a road to nowhere, for what reason? If we don't know what wants… what they want to build there, then why do they need a road? Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We owe it to this community to do the right thing, and the right thing is to protect the citizens who live there, to keep them safe, to recognize that what they feel, their fears, their thoughts are valid.

Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): They matter. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): These are the people that make up this town. Speaker 20 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Not these people.

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And have Access Road extending to Schoolhouse Road. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): But one of my greatest concerns tonight. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Is what we do not know. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The applicant, Energy North, is now telling us Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What they do not know, what the ultimate use of these industrial lots will be. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That uncertainty should not lessen our concerns. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): In my view, it should cause us to look even more carefully at what approving this subdivision and roadway would make possible in the future. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Energy North is involved in fuel distribution, fuel delivery, fuel stations, convenience stores, car washes, and commercial real estate.

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I'm not saying tonight that any one of those uses will be built on this property. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The applicant is telling us that the ultimate use has not been determined. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And that's precisely the point. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Before pre-approving. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the subdivision that could facilitate future industrial development. I believe we need to understand the range and intensity of uses. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That could ultimately occur here. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And what those uses could mean for the surrounding neighborhoods. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And they would mean danger.

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I have serious concerns about the proposed road extending from Schoolhouse Road and the potential traffic and public safety impacts associated with future industrial development. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This area already serves the Gloucester Crossing, with significant vehicle traffic throughout the day, as well as large residential apartment buildings. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And surrounding neighborhoods. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Depending on the ultimate industrial use, we could potentially see additional commercial vehicles delivering trucks, heavy trucks, or other industrial traffic Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Entering and exiting this site.

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This raises legitimate questions about congestion, turning movements, visibility, pedestrian safety, noise, and overall quality of life. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): For the residents of this neighborhood. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That are going to be affected. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And tonight, we cannot fully evaluate those impacts because we don't know what the ultimate use will be. That concerns me. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And what you've presented tonight is, in fact, smoke and mirrors. It's a lot of… I won't use that word. I urge the Planning Board to think long and hard about this definitive subdivision plan. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And seek, as you have said, seek that independent technical and environmental review. And as you've said, and I respect it, as you've said tonight.

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): How can we actually, Actually review this. We don't know what they're gonna actually do there. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And those concerns of the land are vi… it is very concerning. This land is contaminated. What happens here? Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): is questionable. And as my call… as Count… as Marjorie Grace said, this land truly may not be developable. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): The fundamental question before us tonight. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): If the applicant cannot yet tell the community what these newly created industrial lots will ultimately be used for, do we have enough information today to fully understand the consequences of approving this project?

Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And we'll make future development possible in the impacts. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): If what they want to sell is. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): fuel, talk about a climate disaster. This land may be appropriately zoned. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): But we have to ask ourselves. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What is developed here? Is it appropriate for the surrounding neighborhoods? Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It is not appropriate for the surrounding neighborhoods, and not just for Wards 2 and Ward 3. Speaker 21 (Kyrouz Auditorium): It's not appropriate for Gloucester. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So there is Patti is online and I'm assuming that's Patti Page. I'd like to recognize her if we could.

And is… is… I'm sorry, I'm really not… Too good today. Considering it's an oil company, we know that. Okay, the regional storage and distribution fuel depot is absolutely not appropriate. Dropping that in the middle of a neighborhood. If you looked at the very first slide presented, you could see how it was This lot is completely encompassed in residential. It just… none of that fits. So. For them to try to compartmentalize their approvals, just shame on them. Shame on them.

Peer review. Who would be hiring, the peer review teams? That's really important, because if Energy North hires them, the results of those, peer review Reports would favor their outcome. Alan, let me see… The health hazards of these Storage depots are well-known, well-documented. They're not even risks. They are health hazards, known. Leukemia, asthma. serious, serious Conditions and diseases they expose these people to.

They're ghetto shopping. We understand that this property, and the, you know, the history and the property owners damaged the property. They damaged the property. They reaped the economic benefits of that. If it's now unusable or unbuildable, the property owner has to Accept that. There's property up in the Blackburn Industrial Park. that should be explored. If they really want to get a regional gas depot up there, maybe that is a more appropriate location, for that use. I think a lot has been said tonight, and I appreciate everyone's testimony, and I do hope that the Planning Board, the Board of Health, and anybody else that's in review of this would

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): He's our rock guy. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Rock solid, I'd say. Your review is… that there's been a lot of work in terms of acquiring this cloud. Okay. No. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So folks, we have a little bit left of the planning board meeting. So if you could take your conversation outside so we can finish up, that would be terrific. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 48. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Okay, yeah, College.

Camera. pointing. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): What? The camera was not pointing towards the people who were speaking. Yeah. Yeah, it's better. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Yeah.

Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Be out the room. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Okay, so under other business. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Proposed amendment to Section 3.2.2, dimensional requirements for multifamily dwellings and their accessory uses other than signs. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, we had a meeting last… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): spring, I believe, where this was recommended from the Housing Subcommittee. We had a discussion at the full board, and at that time, we decided to table the initiation of these amendments because of a pending application. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): This is essentially bringing parity between the structure of a building in the downtown, regardless of whether it's commercial or mixed use.

Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, Section 3.2.2 is specifically for multifamily, and the document that Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): was circulated, I think I put it in the folder, shows the dimensional requirements for just a commercial building in the CV district in the downtown along Main Street. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And then, the very stringent standards that are applied once there's residential use, in the building. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, this was a combination of, again, bringing parity to… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the commercial standards, but also taking a look at some of the past projects and doing almost a post-mortem of the density allowance, or the Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): the lot area per dwelling unit calculation so that 500 square feet per unit is fairly consistent with the three projects in the last recent history that were.

closed. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So again, it's more about the structure of the building downtown and not requiring it to have additional setback if it has residential use. explain it any… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Further, anyone wants to add anything to that? Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I have one question about it. And that's in the document of dimensional tables, the update, it has item E, which seems to be just a repeat of what's actually in the. the. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And then there's an item F. Is that intended as an insertion? Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Right after E? Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): No, it's just that there was, as part of the table, footnote F, and so when you're looking at this in a vacuum without the rest of the GZO around it, we just wanted you to know what footnote F said.

Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Okay, so this… So the only insertion was in red. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So F is intended to be a repeat of what's in the table. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And we also put in E because E is referred to as well, but there's no change to either E or F. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): As footnotes. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): That's correct. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Next under other business proposal. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So- Yeah, what do we- So if you wanna initiate this- We do. Then under section Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): 1.11 of the Gloucester Zoning Ordinance Planning Board. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): initiates amendment to section 3.2.2 multifamily Yes.

Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So I would like to move that we initiate the proposed amendment to Section 3.2.2 dimensional requirements for multifamily dwellings and their accessory uses other than signs. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Motion by Jane Remsen, seconded by Sean Henry. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): All in favor? Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Aye. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Opposed? None. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I was going to say aye. Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Thanks, Steve. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So the next one I'm actually going to suggest we table Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): just a little bit longer. The… this is still related to the same reason. We held off on initiating this for two reasons. One, because there were pending applications, at the time, and again, you don't want to, kind of.

Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): upset the apple cart. And while someone's midstream but the the reference point to the definition of the boundary of the district. I am still awaiting a map to be prepared to accompany it. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): it's not going to change from the concept of what it's going to be, but I think we need to have that to go hand-in-hand so that people will be able to view the ordinance and also view how the district has changed from what it was in the past. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, we can hold off a meeting or two, and as soon as that's available, then I'll put it back on the agenda. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And… You could also push minutes if you'd like to.

We can push minutes. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We did approve three other sets, so Alicia will be very pleased to get compensated for those. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Because I haven't seen them, so that would be helpful. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So we'll continue the review of the minutes to the next meeting. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And at this point, Do we have any ANR applications? Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Okay, barring the site visit that's scheduled, when we schedule it. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): probably next week or the week after. I'm assuming we want to do that before weather starts to turn. We may not have any new business for the meeting of October 15th.

Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I won't be here. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): You're not here? Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Oh, okay. So better yet. So we have. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Three members, for sure, that won't be available. Again, I don't think we have any pending applications, so we'll… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Cancel the meeting of October 15th. Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): We don't have to do it right now, but, I mean… Speaker 3 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Yeah, it does not look like we have any new, applications, everything… this has been continued out. One further meeting, ends. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): And we probably may or may not have a quorum. Speaker 6 (Kyrouz Auditorium): So, if we cancel this… the planning board meeting, can we still do the subcommittee, but do it on Zoom? Yes, we can. Yep.

Speaker 4 (Kyrouz Auditorium): I move we adjourn this meeting. Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): Second. Motion by Steve Yost very mysteriously, seconded by Sean Henry. All in favor? Speaker 1 (Kyrouz Auditorium): All right. Thank you.