Traffic and road concerns remain top of the list among neighbors during the review of a proposed gravel pit in Mason.
On Wednesday, the Mason Planning Board met to continue the hearing on a proposed pit on a 67-acre property off Brookline Road, operated by Onyx Corporation/1524 Brookline Road, LLC.
The presentation included a major update to plans presented by project engineer Jeffrey Brem, based on feedback from the board and the public. The changes include reducing the scope of the entire project, leaving a portion of the property that was previously planned to be excavated now off the plan, with Brem stating that if Onyx decides to excavate that portion of the property, they will return to the Planning Board with a new plan.
In addition, the original plan called for up to five acres of property to be excavated at a time, which was the state standard. Mason’s regulations only allow three acres to be excavated at a time, and the new plans comply with that standard.
Brem also explained that a third-party traffic study has been commissioned and will be conducted between Wednesday’s meeting and the board’s next scheduled hearing on the gravel proposal at the end of May. The study will include both traffic counts and accounting for the size and class of vehicles traveling on the roads that are expected to be the main routes of trucks transporting gravel.
Onyx has also submitted an ecological survey review and a draft of an emergency action plan to the board.
Road conditions and traffic were the top concern for neighboring communities, who were invited to participate in the hearing after it was determined the gravel pit could have impacts on their communities.
Alan Rosenberg, chair of the Brookline Planning Board, said that he was happy to see that the size of vehicles would be recorded in the traffic study, but said one thing a traffic study would not show was the scope of the impact on the roads.
“We feel this will cause an effect, and level of service should be analyzed,” Rosenberg said. He said that he also had concerns about significant pedestrian and bike traffic on roads that already have limited shoulder.
Valerie Goodrich, chair of the Townsend, Mass. Select Board agreed, saying, “Our biggest concern at this point is road impact, and it doesn’t seem like it’s really being addressed.”
Mason Planning Board Chair Dane Rota asked for further information to be provided.
The board held a site walk Saturday morning.
The Mason Planning Board is scheduled to meet next on May 27 at 7 p.m. in the Mason Elementary School.