DRB Ponders ‘$’ Store,
And Rock Extraction
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch

The Randolph Development Review Board will consider three new applications at its Sept. 25 meeting, and will likely also be ready to release its decision on last month’s hearing on a proposed "dollar store" on Route 12 south.

In that application, landowner James Sault and developer Flat Rock Partners LLC, are seeking a variance from the minimum front-yard setback requirement. Should the variance be granted, the project would also need conditional use and site plan approval.

New on the agenda will be a request from Sprague Farms, LLC, to extract ledge rock from its Ridge Road property.

Since rock extraction is not listed as a use in Randolph’s zoning regulations, the DRB will first conduct a "use review pursuant to section 2.4.3" of the zoning ordinance. To be approved under 2.4.3, a proposed use must not be "injurious, obnoxious, or offensive," and it must be "in keeping with the purpose and character of the district," Zoning Administrator Mardee Sanchez explained.

The district in this case is RU5 (rural use, 5-acre-minimum).

Sanchez noted that Randolph’s zoning bylaw has regulations governing the extraction of topsoil, sand, and gravel, but none for rock.

Gordon Sprague’s rock extraction proposal also needs site plan and local Act 250 review.

Also on the Sept. 25 agenda is a variance request from the minimum front-yard setback requirement, from Bruce and Sandra White. The property is on Central Street, in the AR (apartment/residential) district. The Whites have just torn down a building on the site, and plan to rebuild a larger residence there. The setback is an issue because what appears to be a driveway past by the building is actually a public road, Sanchez said.

The DRB is also scheduled to review Michael Salls’ request for a two-lot subdivision at 2727 Fish Hill Road, in the RU5 district.

Blakeman Pending

Not on the Sept. 25 agenda, but hanging over DRB, is a recent decision by Environmental Court Judge Meredith Wright on an application by Kevin Blakeman of Sharon.

Judge Wright has remanded the application—turned down by the DRB last fall—back to the board for reconsideration. Blakeman wants to build a nine-unit apartment on Sunset Hill Road.

Chair Joel Tillberg advised Blakeman at the DRB’s August meeting that the board will take no action until it receives counsel on how to proceed from Town Atty. Peter Nowlan. Sanchez said this week that she has not yet seen any report from Nowlan.