On December 12, 2022, the Town Council voted 6-0 to grant conditional municipal approval of two separate parcels of land that are proposed to be donated to the Town by Andrew Carr and Ena Hanson, relating to the proposed Carr Woods condominium development project.  In a December 1 letter on behalf of the applicants, William Gerrirish of Northeast Civil Solutions writes, “The first parcel consists of a 10-foot-wide easement located along the west side of Shore Road at the easterly limits of the proposed development …  The second parcel consists of approximately 1.55 acres to be conveyed in fee located in the westerly portion of the proposed development.”

Town Planner Maureen O’Meara informed the council that the project is in between preliminary and final approval.  In order for the project to be submitted for final subdivision review, conditional municipal approval is required.  “This is basically the point where you check if the Planning Board is moving in the direction that is consistent with what the council would want, without making any commitment; the ‘condition’ is that you haven’t given final approval.”

Chair Jeremy Gabrielson noticed that one of the proposed parcels, “Comes very close to or abuts the end of the road for the condominiums.”  O’Meara said that this spot was chosen intentionally, “There is a proposed public access easement that would run on the private road from Shore Road and connect to that proposed open space; from there it would connect with the existing Loveitt Woods open space trails.”  The project falls under the Open Space Zoning subdivision ordinance which requires that 45 percent of gross land area has to be designated as open space.  According to O’Meara, the Town requires that the space be permanently preserved and accessible to owners within the development and that while that Town can't require the land be donate, “there is a strong preference to convey the land to the town.”

Councilor Nicole Boucher asked O’Meara if there has been discussion about parking as it relates to accessing the proposed open space and commented, “We already know that there are parking issues in other areas of town where we have assets like that.”  O’Meara replied that typically the Conservation Committee makes a recommendation to the Planning Board to consider adding some parking set aside, “And that is definitely something that could be tossed out there.”  Since this project is between preliminary and final approval, O’Meara said, “This is a really good opportunity for the council to provide these kinds of comments.”