Rebirth of Old Stop & Shop Plaza Now Almost Certain

The Planning Board looked at some minor changes to the proposed new plaza that will replace the old Stop & Shop plaza on Boston Road, but it appears that new development’s site plan approval is all but certain at the board’s next meeting on July 24 with public hearing on the site plan now closed.

Perhaps the largest new change following additional modifications mentioned at the board’s last meeting was the movement of a drainage pipe to go beneath the front parking lot, a change from its earlier position behind the plaza heading into an artificial pond that has transformed into a wetland behind Harrington’s Liquors on Summer Street.

Representatives of Winstanley Enterprises and Stop & Shop have been in negotiations with John Harrington on coming to an accommodation on an agreement over pond, which was originally negotiated with Purity Supermarkets when it was located at the plaza in 1983.

Despite concerns from some members of the Conservation Commission a night earlier that changing the drainage flow may cause flooding along the brook separating the plaza from the town center, the Conservation Commission voted 4-2 to approve the pipe change.

Additionally, members of the Chelmsford Water District Commission, including Harrington himself, speaking in favor of the project as a whole at the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board meetings.

Other minor modifications included reducing parking by six spots, four of which were behind the building, allowing 1,500 extra square feet of pervious area to aid with drainage near the pond.

However, project engineer Katie Enright advised the board against any further reductions in parking due to possible parking strain if the plaza’s two proposed restaurants were successful and operating at the same time as a proposed fitness center which would anchor the plaza.

Enright also added that the developers hope that the parking lot can also be used as supplementary parking for nearby businesses in the town center, with the exception of overnight parking.

Other changes included a new window capping the end of the building, a few more decorative lightpoles to emulate those found in the town center and new signage requirements for tenants prohibiting box signs and backlit signs.

While the signage change will have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals at some point in the future, and any future changes to the drainage plan would require another visit to the Conservation Commission, project attorney Phil Eliopoulos gained a consensus from the board that a purchase and sale of the property to his client can go forward by the end of the week without any likely snags.

“I think you can walk out of here as a happy counselor knowing you represented your client well,” said Planning Board chairman Ann McGuigan.

Barring any unforeseen developments, construction at the site could begin as early as September.