DALTON, Mass. — After revisions, community comment, and deliberations that required three meetings to complete, the Planning Board voted last week to approve the special permit for Ray Robert Excavation & Trucking.  

 

Owner Ray Robert had requested a new special permit to improve clarity of its conditions and to extend his operating and crushing hours. 

 

The new special permit would grant heavy industrial use in the Planned Industrial Development District.

 

The board approved increasing Saturday's hours of operation, including screening, separating and crushing to 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. 

 

The hours of operation for the crushing of asphalt, brick and concrete are subject to the state Department of Environmental Protection requirements that do not allow them on Saturdays. 

 

The DEP only permits crushing of these materials on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Vice Chairman Zack R. McCain III said. 

 

During deliberations, the Planning Board reworded Section 6 to clarify the definition of the work being done on the property during hour of operations 

 

Residents said during the previous meeting that the wording was too broad. Board members agreed during deliberations and revised it. 

 

Section 6 now says heavy manufacturing operations are "defined to be the activities undertaken in relation to the applicant's heavy manufacture of earthen material products business and the related accessory uses; including but not limited to crushing, screening, moving of product or construction of structures to hold product." 

 

"Site maintenance and machine repair are excluded as operations. The maintenance and repair activities would nonetheless be subject to the Dalton Noise Bylaw."

 

The board revised Section 11 to say there shall not be interference with the current drainage of Green Ridge development and other adjacent properties. The wording did not previously include "other adjacent properties."

 

Planning Board member Jarred Mongeon recommended that the special permit include requiring the implementation of a camera system that would demonstrate that work is only during the permitted hours. 

 

This recommendation stems from previous comments made that it was unclear where the noise disturbances were coming from due to the operations of abutting businesses. 

 

Board members agreed that having cameras is best practice, but they did not include it as a requirement because it is an added expense. 

 

Based on site visits and the number of revisions to permit, Robert has spent a lot of money over the last few years to comply with the permit and "bending over backwards, in my opinion" to help the neighbors, Chair Andrew Perenick said. 

 

Board members also did not want to make the inclusion of cameras in the specials permit because although cameras, such as the Ring: Home Security Systems, are an added "layer of security," "fairly cheap," and user friendly, they are reliant on wi-fi, which can be another added cost. 

 

Although the board voted not to include cameras in the special permit Robert said in a follow up that he will consider implementing a camera system for his own security and peace of mind. 

 

The board also approved removing Section 8 of the special permit because board members felt it did not apply to the purpose of the special permit. 

 

Section 8 would have required that the entrance of the property be secured beyond the hours of operation, specifically to restrict access to the manufacturing area. 

 

According to the town's legal counsel, Joel Bard of KP Law, documents and comments were not permitted during the meeting on Wednesday at the Senior Center as public comment was closed during the meeting in October.

 

The board approved requiring that the permit be renewed on Dec. 18 of next year. 

 

Resident comments can be found from our articles in October and November.