BRUNSWICK

Plans for a 10-lot subdivision at the end of Boody Street have hit a delay.

During the planning process, neighbors have noted seasonal standing water issues and flooding during inclement weather resulting in property damage. Disturbing the water table with new construction may only make matters worse, they warned.

It was those concerns that prompted the town to order a consultant to review storm water and groundwater plans in so much detail, said Charlie Frizzle, planning board chairman.

“Those details now need to be incorporated into the plan,” Frizzle said in an interview on Wednesday.

The board voted 4-3 on April 14 to table its review, according to Town Planner Jeremy Doxsee. The alternative was to approve the final plan with about 21 conditions attached.

“That’s a lot of conditions to hang on approval,” said Frizzle. “Normally we see half a dozen.”

According to Doxsee, most conditions would be engineering related, and tabling the review gives the developer, Coastal Building Investments, time to work out the issues.

Frizzle said there isn’t any one issue “that looks like a threat to the project,” but rather were “loose ends.”

The storm water and groundwater management plan is being developed by the developer, the town’s environmental consultant, and Town Engineer John Foster.

Foster is also looking for the developer to produce a performance bond, related to the construction of the subdivision’s access road and utilities that would, at some point, be accepted by the town, according to Doxsee.

“I think the board is, partially in acknowledgement to the level of interest and concern of the neighbors, being cautious with the application,” said Doxsee.

One of those neighbors is John Portela, who said he is concerned about the water table in the area.

“My property now, in this last rainfall, is flooded,” Portela said on Wednesday, adding that a recent walking tour of the area showed “water everywhere.”

However, Portela said that the developer and its engineer, Sitelines PA, are starting to clue in to neighbors’ concerns.

“I think there’s beginning to be some realization that that’s a wet property, and while there’s only a very small footprint that is classified legally as a wetland, there’s a high water table there,” Portela said.

Doxsee compared the groundwater problem to a water balloon. Squeezing one side of the balloon shifts water to another. Placing new foundations in the area is essentially squeezing the balloon, shifting water onto other properties.

“Water tends to migrate and move around when these things happen,” said Doxsee.

While there will always be storm water and groundwater, the town is satisfied with mitigation plans, said Doxsee.

“We feel comfortable that this will alleviate issues of the impacts of the development,” he said.

The planning board in February approved a sketch plan review to ensure that basic dimensional requirements were met under the zoning ordinance.

Chamberlain Woods was initially imagined as a 17-lot housing subdivision, but was scaled back to 10 lots on about 7.5 acres owing to construction costs. One lot is already subdivided into two lots, one of which has a house on the corner of Belmont Street, leaving eight lots to be developed in total.

The 17-lot version of that plan came before the board in October 2014, at which time neighbors began raising concerns about flooding.

That’s still significantly smaller than a 330-lot condominium project approved in 2006 by the planning board on the same site in 2006, but never materialized.

The planning board will review the project again April 28, according to Frizzle.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

Review tabled

THE BRUNSWICK Planning Board voted 4-3 on April 14 to table its review, according to Town Planner Jeremy Doxsee. The alternative was to approve the final plan with about 21 conditions attached.