Framingham Concrete Plant Winds Its Way Through Court, Zoning
For nearly four years, Framingham's Paulini Loam LLC has been trying to construct a concrete manufacturing plant in town near the Massachusetts Turnpike. Now, after two applications to the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals, two appeals cases with the Massachusetts Land Court, and countless ZBA meetings, a decision could be coming soon.
Paulini Loam makes and stores mulch, loam and other lawn care products at its 2.7-acre Old Connecticut Path property in Framingham. In 2005, the company applied for a special permit to begin creating concrete on the site, which would require the construction of a mixing plant, outdoor conveyor belts, holding silos and a depository for trucks.
Eugene Kennedy, zoning board of appeals administrator for Framingham, said the project was initially denied in 2006 becuase the three-member Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals had concerns about noise, traffic and air quality from the mixing plant. Paulini appealed the denial to the Massachusetts Land Court in Boston.
In the meantime, Paulini designers and engineers made revisions to their application and in January of this year filed a new, amended application with the town to construct the plant.
Framingham's building inspector ruled the project would require a special permit to be issued by the ZBA. Paulini appealed that decision to the state Land Court, the second piece of litigation filed in relation to the application.
Nonetheless, Paulini filed a second special permit application with the ZBA in February to allow the plant's construction.
In the second application, Paulini addressed many of the concerns the ZBA raised when denying the project the first time.
Changes include:
• Enclosure of concrete manufacturing and transfer to trucks to an indoor location.
• Implementation of a dust-management system to decrease amount of sand and particles released into the air from the plant.
• Installation of a noise-reducing berm to contain noise associated with the plant.
The ZBA has since hired an independent engineering firm, ESS Group of Wellesley, to study the project and the proposed changes.
Jeffrey Roelofs, a lawyer for Paulini, said the company has tried to take into account concerns raised by the ZBA.
"Paulini has designed this concrete plant in a manner that is sensitive to and fully protective of the surrounding neighborhoods, including their use of the nearby rail trail and Reardon park," Roelofs wrote in an e-mail.
ZBA members and Paulini officials both declined to comment for the story.
The ZBA was set to meet on Wednesday night to discuss reports from ESS Group, but a decision on the special permit isn't expected until January.
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