Approved Warehouse Parking Lot Plan Includes Removal of 900 Trees

Engineer Brett Skapinetz describes the warehouse parking lot plan to the Planning Board.

A plan to provide for tractor-trailer parking at a Clyde Road warehouse – including the removal of about 900 trees from the property – won Planning Board approval at its Oct. 16 meeting.

The 40-year-old warehouse at 60 Clyde Road needs tractor-trailer parking to remain competitive, the applicant’s attorney, Peter Lanfrit, told the board.

“He’s trying to establish long-term tenancy with a large trucking company, but they all say they need trailer parking,” he said.

The plan is to create 55 12-foot by 55-foot trailer parking spaces on the nine-acre property, said Brett Skapinetz, engineer for applicant Davanne Realty.

The existing 74 automobile parking spaces would be reduced to 72, he said.

The trailer lot would be illuminated by 25-foot tall light fixtures, eight of which would be placed at the front of the building, he said.

Skapinetz said that while an estimated 900 trees would be removed from the property, a new line of screening trees would be placed along the front of the new parking lot to shield it from view.

“I have a problem with taking all those trees down,” said board member Robert Thomas.

Most of the board’s conversation revolved around Davanne’s plan to not fully enclose a detention basin with a fence. The reason, Skapinetz said, was that the basin is not located near any homes.

Board member Bob Mettler said that may be so, but that would not stop a child from wandering into it.

“I’d like to see the fence all the way around,” he said.

Board member Ted Chase said a full fence wasn’t necessary because of the nature of the basin; he noted that it would rarely be filled with water.

Skapinetz said that the applicant would be willing to put a fence in between the basin and the parking area, which satisfied the majority of the board.

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