Posted by Dennis Herrick [pool-64-223-179-236.man.east.verizon.net at 64.223.179.236] on July 08, 2008 at 06:55:10:
Thank You Eagle Tribune and Reporter Meghan Carey for keeping us up-to-date. And kudos go to Plaistow Planning Board's new member Peter Bealo for giving us the pure facts well in advance of the meeting. Remember Plaistownians, businesses are not people, we don't have to be nice. Now, is the Planning Board's lawyer up for the challenge? I think we need a bulldog on this one. Has anyone contacted the Local Government Center for advice? Time is getting short. Don't blindly trust the Plaistow Planning Board on this one. You trusted them on "elderly housing" and they brought you a flawed plan virtually written by local developers and the Board is the one that gave an OK to Testa to begin with. Don't count on them to get us out of this, it's time for a citizens petition.
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Published: July 08, 2008 05:55 am
Concrete company still interested in old Chart site in Plaistow
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
PLAISTOW — Fabcon Inc. may not have gone away.
The concrete barrier company e-mailed the Planning Department last month, expressing interest in withdrawing its application to lease space at the old Chart site.
But the company has not formally withdrawn and is still on the agenda for July 16, according to Town Planner Leigh Komornick.
The Fabcon vice president who sent the e-mail is the same person who signed the application on file, Komornick said. Therefore, that person can withdraw the application.
Testa Realty LLC, which owns the property at 146 Main St., does not have a say in whether the application remains or is withdrawn. But Testa's lawyer sent a letter to the building inspector last week, asking for Mike Dorman's opinion on whether Fabcon met the requirements for the permitted uses at the site.
Selectmen decided last night to direct Dorman to acknowledge to Testa's lawyers that he received the letter and that the opinion can only come from the Planning Board.
So at the board's next meeting, July 16, a public hearing that began June 18 will continue and the people who attended the first session should go again, Komornick said.
About 30 residents attended the first hearing. Many voiced concerns about cement dust, noise and truck traffic at the site.
The e-mail from Fabcon acknowledged that the concerns would be difficult to alleviate, and that the business would prefer to seek another site in town not in the middle of the village center.
But board member Peter Bealo said Testa wants to go forward with Fabcon's application.
"I don't know if people should be concerned," he said. "But if they care, they should have some notice."
Testa's attorney, Bernard Campbell, said yesterday he couldn't comment on the application's status. But he did say that July 16 would be too soon for the application to be back before the board.
He said he is awaiting "rulings" on the questions he sent to the town.
In October, the Planning Board gave Testa the OK to move into 134 Main St. The approval was for the company to use about two-thirds of the property, and rent the rest to three or four other light industrial tenants.
Campbell said at the public hearing last month that Testa's business plan changed, and it now wanted to lease a majority of the building — 112,000 square feet of the 180,000-square-foot building — to Fabcon and Green Machine of Hampstead.
Green Machine, which refurbishes large conveyors and balers, is also scheduled to return to the Planning Board on July 16.