Review of a proposed gravel pit on Brookline Road in Mason was continued last week, after another meeting where the Planning Board reviewed concerns about a vernal pool on the property, dust control measures, and screening from neighbors.
The 67-acre property at 1524 Brookline Road would be excavated by Onyx Corporation. The application has undergone several revisions during months of Planning Board review, including a reduction in the overall scope. Onyx is expected to return to the board with a plan for the remainder of the property once the initial phase is complete. The company also reduced the area it plans to excavate at any one time from five acres — the state maximum — to three acres, as allowed under Mason’s regulations.
Traffic concerns have been a high priority for residents of both Mason and neighboring communities, but on Wednesday, the majority of the conversation centered around environmental concerns, after recent site walks by both the Planning Board and Conservation Commission.
Mason Conservation Commission Chair Bob Larochelle said the top concern for them was a vernal pool on the property. The pool is at the center of the planned excavation operations, though it is planned to be left untouched, with at least a 50-foot buffer around it.
Larochelle said he didn’t think that was sufficient to preserve the pool.
“Cut those trees down, and it becomes a warm spot, and will probably dry out and not be useful again,” Larochelle said. “We’re going to strongly recommend at least a 100-foot or more buffer to protect that vernal pool. It’s shaded all the time; pure sunlight doesn’t really touch it. Once those trees are gone, warm water kills all the eggs in those pools.”
Jeffrey Brem, an engineer representing Onyx, said that the 50-foot buffer was a minimum, and indicated on the plan that the buffer around the pool already exceeded that in multiple areas due to the terrain around the pool. He said he could review expanding those boundaries where possible.
Larochelle also said he had concerns about the possible use of calcium chloride as a dust control, and its entering groundwater, and also suggested leaving wildlife corridors.
Dust control was a topic of conversation at the meeting as well, with Onyx adding a portion of paved driveway at the entrance to the site, which was both a dust and debris control measure. The plan also indicated better entrance security, with boulders and a gate blocking vehicular access to the site when not in operation.
The site is also proposed to have a water pond created, which will provide water to dampen the earth and control dust.
Tanya Roberts, one of the owners of Parker’s Maple Barn, said she was worried that dust from the operation would impact her business.
“Our restaurant is not air-conditioned, and never will be,” Roberts said, saying the windows are often open. She questioned how the operation would reduce dust if the pond went dry.
Onyx Operations Manager John Durkin said the pond would be deep enough to access groundwater and was unlikely to run dry.
Alan Rosenberg, co-chair of the Brookline Planning Board, who in previous meetings has expressed concern for the traffic generated by the trucks from the site, said those concerns still stood, as well as concerns about a lack of detail about the proposed operation and environmental concerns.
The board is still waiting on one major piece to the application, a requested traffic study, which has not yet been submitted but is being compiled. The majority of the board agreed, with Onyx’s assent, to continue the hearing until the results of the traffic study were submitted.
The board agreed in a 4-1 vote to continue the hearing until June 24 at 7:10 p.m. at the Mason Elementary School.