Littleton Planning Board Closes Foster Street Hearing, Advances Gas Station Case to June

LITTLETON -- May 18, 2023, Littleton Planning Board reorganizes, closes one hearing, and advances three development cases to June 8. The board unanimously reelected its chair and named a new vice chair at its May 18 meeting, with members noting the vice chair is positioned to assume the chairmanship next year. A member identified as Bartlett was reappointed clerk in absentia. The board closed the public hearing on 265 Foster Street, where engineers from Beals Associates and GID revised a rain garden stormwater design to standard infiltration basins after test pits revealed higher-than-expected groundwater, and agreed to the four remaining conditions proposed by peer reviewer Green International, with a final decision vote scheduled for June 8. For the proposed 254-260 Air Road gas station redevelopment, Green and Peterson project manager Chris Tumula and traffic engineer Heather Monikup walked through peer review comments including a disputed $5,000-$6,000 pretreatment device for a 338-square-foot drainage area; the board directed the applicant to formally request a waiver and to add no-idling signage throughout the property. On 555 Newtown Road, the board reached informal consensus supporting a three-lot residential configuration incorporating the adjacent 305 Tehadawan Road parcel, raising lot frontages from 18, 24, and 47 feet to 43, 70, and 100 feet, while declining to support a fourth lot; multiple abutters raised drainage and groundwater concerns about the hillside site. The board approved a Wellington Drive bond release contingent on Green International confirmation, tabled a Croft Lane bond release for lack of information, and approved four sets of minutes and a $2,000 consulting invoice tied to the town's MBTA Communities compliance work.