Bold Steps Behavioral Health has been granted a zoning variance, which will enable the organization to move forward with a proposal to operate a residential drug and alcohol treatment facility at 468 Greenfield Road in Peterborough.
The variance was granted on the conditions that the proposed conservation easement remain as outlined in the application, that the operations and size of the facility remain as proposed, and that any signage meet the approval of the board.
Four members of the ZBA, Jonah Wheeler, chair Christopher DiLoreto, Leah Seymour and Christopher Maidment voted in favor of granting the variance, with Don Selby voting against.
Alternates Daron Janis and Dan Latini recused themselves, as they are both abutters to the property.
The 168-acre property, formerly the Shadow Fox farm equestrian facility, includes lots on both Greenfield Road (Route 136) and Burke Road.
The hearing for the variance was continued from the April 7 meeting of the ZBA after the board requested Bold Steps come back to the board with a detailed map of the site.
“We had requested that the applicant come back with a plan to show us the parts of the property that will be put into easement or other restrictions,” DiLoreto said.
Attorney William Baker, speaking on behalf of Bold Steps, presented an amended site map to the ZBA at Monday night’s meeting, indicating an increased amount of land going into a conservation easement.
“The conservation land will now buffer the entire property,” Baker said. “About half of the 163-acre property will now be put into easement, and it will provide the surrounding property with a buffer all the way around.”
Bold Steps had previously proposed that 60 acres go into a conservation easement.
Baker went on to address concerns raised at the public comment session in the previous hearing.
“There were questions about how and when patients could come and go. These patients are not court-ordered, but they can’t just walk out the door in the middle of the night and wander around the neighborhood. We have protocols they would need to go through,” Baker said. “If people decide to leave, we would escort them to the airport, or to their home, or to a waiting family member.”
Baker added that “there is no indication that this type of facility has an adverse effect on property values.”
“We see this around the country–property values are just going up and up and up,” Baker said.
Francie Von Mertens, speaking on behalf of the Peterborough Conservation Commission, said the commission recommended the project in light of the proposed 80 acres of new conservation land.
“This corridor has been identified as the highest priority for conservation land in our community,” Von Mertens said. “Having this land go into conservation makes a multi-lot subdivision unlikely. Conservation easement deeds limit future development; it is iron-clad. There can be no houses on the conserved land.”
Bold Steps CEO Chaim Berger addressed the meeting by video link.
“Based on my conversations with the owner, this property is not going to remain empty. Option one for this property is development, and option two is what we are proposing … we are not developers, and we are not looking to develop, and the conservation would be forever,” Berger said. “We want people in Peterborough to choose what works for you.”
Sharon Monahan, a water treatment professional, spoke in favor of the project, saying that the impact of Bold Steps using the existing facilities would be far less than the impact of 30 or 40 new wells on the property, which would be the potential impact of a housing development on the 168 acres.
DiLoreto said that the traffic, water usage, and sewer impacts of the proposal are “minimal when compared to the potential impact of a housing development on the same site.”
“Although this is not a specifically permitted use, I think it preserves the spirit of the ordinance more than some of the actually permitted uses,” DiLoreto said.
In the board’s deliberations, members discussed the impact of the inpatient treatment facility compared to other potential uses.
“Compared to anything else that might happen to this property, this project is meeting the spirit of the ordinance to a T,” said ZBA member Jonah Wheeler.
DiLoreto said that were the board to deny the variance, “it would not protect the abutters from the things they are worried about.”
“The land is not going to remain as-is,” he said.
Board member Leah Seymour said the Berger seemed “very heartfelt” about working with the neighbors and addressing their concerns.
“Another owner might not care,” Seymour said.