Disagreements Continue in Morgan Farm Hearing

The Westwood Planning Board Tuesday night continued discussions regarding an application by Wall Street Development for proposed subdivisions called , with modification to Powissett Estates.

The will continue Oct. 11 at 8 p.m.

At a Planning Board meeting last week, Town Planner Nora Loughnane recommended that the Board entertain a plan proposed in 2010 which was an upgrade from a previous plan in 2007.

The 2010 plan included 11 buildable lot subdivisions known as Morgan Farm Estates; the creation of a roadway between Little Boot and Shoe String Lane was also discussed.

However, after a series of meetings, the plan was lessened by one lot and Wall Street Development Corporation President Lou Petrozzi was asked again to try to bring the number of lots as close to one as possible.

Petrozzi brought three alterations to the original proposed subdivision, but the Planning Board and members of the public weren’t happy with any of them. The lowest number of lots in the proposed alternative plans was six, with the other two calling for seven.

The Planning Board denied the plans, but Lougnane said the court found there were insufficient reasons for denial.

Petrozzi submitted a new plan on Friday for the board to review. Several abutters were present at Tuesday’s meeting, where Petrozzi presented the proposal that involved 10 lots and a cul-de-sac without a thru way.

He asked the board for 14 variances, with the most notable relating to the minimum length of a dead end street. Westwood’s minimum is 500 feet and the variance called for 1168 feet.

Chair Steve Rafsky noted that while the 500 foot minimum has worked well for Westwood, it is low compared to most other communities. However, the abutters voiced their displeasure about extending the road by this much. Other abutters said that they would prefer not to have a thru-way road through Powissett Estates and that 10 lots seemed to be too much.

Rafsky explained that something needs to be worked out by Oct. 24, which is 90 days after the application was submitted in July. He said that the board has three options: to deny the plan outright and rely on the courts, vote in favor of the 2010 plan or deliberate the current proposal. Rafsky said that he would rather not rely on the courts due to the previous outcome that did not go in favor of the town.

Rafsky and members of the board, aside from Vice Chair Steven Olanoff, who was against granting waivers and overall displeased with the proposal, said they felt that deliberating the current proposal over the course of the next two weeks would be the best option.

“There’s work to be done here,” said Rafsky. “This is not a one meeting session.”

Petrozzi will be working with Loughnane, the Westwood Department of Public Works and an engineer. However, Petrozzi said he did not have enough information from the Planning Board to devise a plan.

“In order for us to present a plan that is reviewable by an engineer, we need to design a subdivision,” said Petrozzi.

Petrozzi explained that in order for them to get to a plan that’s reviewable, a major component is for the board to grant the waiver regarding the dead end street. Rafsky said that based on a straw vote by the board throughout the meeting, at least four members were willing to work out a way to do this.

“If the board is not willing to do that, we are wasting our time,” said Petrozzi.

Olanoff said that he was displeased with the proposal because there was no compromise on Petrozzi’s end. He said that he wanted compromise in the number of houses and the length of the dead end street, otherwise he did not know how he could approve such a proposal.

“We are looking for compromise, and I don’t see any compromise here,” said Olanoff.

The Board will continue the hearing Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Champagne Meeting Room of the Carby Street Municipal Building.