Boxborough ConCom Continues Codman Hill Storage Hearing, Seeks Turtle Nesting Mitigation

BOXBOROUGH — November 7, 2024 — Boxborough Conservation Commission continued two wetlands hearings to November 20, while pressing the applicant for a Codman Hill Road industrial storage project to provide ecological mitigation. At the November 7 meeting, the commission voted unanimously to continue a Notice of Intent filed by Sancti and McNary on behalf of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District for work on Massachusetts Avenue, pending a DEP file number and additional stormwater materials. The commission also continued a Notice of Intent for Astro Crane Service's proposed two-warehouse storage complex at 340 Codman Hill Road, where engineer Bruce Salek of Bruce Salek and Associates described a stormwater system designed to achieve 96 percent total suspended solids removal across 1.35 acres of new impervious area using eight deep-sump catch basins and a central infiltration system. A commission member, citing a comparable recent project on Codman Road, called for a compensatory turtle nesting area "as mitigation — some kind of return for the commission allowing this project," identifying a gravelly southeast section of the site already covered in invasive species as the likely location. The commission also asked the applicant to confirm whether the industrial use triggers a higher potential pollutant load classification and whether a multi-sector general stormwater permit from the EPA is required.