Ayer Planning Board Clears Pharmacy Waivers, Backs 14-Lot Subdivision Plan

AYER -- November 27, 2018, Ayer Planning Board approves waivers and preliminary subdivision plan at packed November session. The board unanimously approved four site plan waivers for the proposed Ayer Family Pharmacy at 1315 Park Street, covering water and wastewater study, traffic impact analysis, photometric lighting plan, and building elevations, while continuing the full site plan review and a related parking special permit to a December 12 hearing pending DPW sign-off. The board also unanimously approved a preliminary open space residential development plan for a proposed 14-lot subdivision at 54, 56, and 64 Littleton Road, filed by engineer Cal Goldsmith of GPR Engineering Solutions, with town planner Mark noting the definitive plan and Conservation Commission review would follow in spring 2019. Town Planner Mark separately announced a recreational marijuana bylaw is the top zoning priority for Spring Town Meeting, with a drafting process involving police, fire, DPW, and the town manager's office set to begin before year's end. Planning consultant Alan Monoyan presented the conceptual framework for a new form-based zoning code along the Park Street and Main Street corridor, identifying their intersection as the town's highest-intensity development core and describing a code that would require minimum two-story buildings and regulate lot widths to encourage small-scale, mixed ownership downtown development.