SMOC to submit plan for future development

SMOC to submit plan for future development Tuesday, January 8, 2008
D. Craig MacCormack 508-626-4429 Metrowest Daily News
FRAMINGHAM - SMOC officials this week will submit a plan showing as many as five lots on the 1.9-acre parcel that now houses Sage House, a program for recovering drug addicts and their families at 517 Winter St.

There are no plans to develop the property at this time, said Executive Director Jim Cuddy, but the move to submit the plans preserves the social service agency's right to subdivide the parcel in the future.

South Middlesex Opportunity Council posted the community notice in front of the property last week and must wait at least five days before submitting the plans to town officials, said attorney Jim Hanrahan.

"There's no plan to do anything with the property at this point," he said.

The previous owner of the property, who sold the land and building to SMOC in 2005, had drafted a plan with as many as 11 lots, said Hanrahan, but never submitted it for town review.  The building was the home of Framingham Nursing Home.

If Town Engineer Bill Sedewitz rules that SMOC's plan has at least 65 feet of frontage from a public way and adequate access from the street, it would go to the Planning Board for an endorsement, said Planning Board Administrator Jay Grande.

If the frontage or access is insufficient, SMOC can appeal the ruling or go through the subdivision approval process, he said.

The parcel is 1.9 acres, according to the town assessor's office.  The Sage House building is 10,152 square feet.

Lots in the R-1 residential zone must be at least 8,000 square feet, or almost one-fifth of an acre, which is 43,560 feet, said Zoning Board Administrator Eugene Kennedy.

Ardmore Road resident Larry Hendry, Winter Street residents Kenneth and Pamela Doiron and Crest Road resident Raj Jhaveri have appealed Building Commissioner Michael Foley's Nov. 13 decision to issue a permanent occupancy permit to SMOC, which moved Sage House from 61 Clinton St.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will open its hearing of the appeal Jan. 22.

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