Martel Gets Go Ahead to Build New Bus Facility

Martel Transportation has the go-ahead to build an updated bus shelter and maintenance facility on Powder Mill Road and in January the zoning commission will consider an amendment to allow the company to repair vehicles it owns, leases or rents.

A public hearing on the company’s plans began in November. At that meeting, Chairman Jay Weintraub pointed out that the town’s zoning regulations do not specifically allow companies to repair commercial vehicles in the Light Industrial Zone, including their own.

Prior to the commission’s December meeting, Phil Doyle of Landscape Architectural Design Associates in Simsbury filed a proposed amendment that would allow the use, one that is widely practiced in the area. Martel holds the Canton Board of Education's transporation contract and repairs and maintains the buses, vans and other vehicles as part of its business, Doyle said. Several other companies in the area work on their own vehicles as well.

“We applaud the applicant’s effort to try and correct this issue,” Town Planner Neil Pade said.

Martel plans to build an 8,000-square-foot facility on the 2-acre site on 140 Powder Mill Road. On the first floor would be a six-bay garage and on the second, office space. It is located between Martel’s current site and Sack Oil.

The company included many flood contingencies in its plans and this month the commission approved the application, with some conditions that included items such as responsibility for erosion and sediment control and completition of the project within five years.

The amendment to allow companies to repair their own vehicles has been referred to the Planning Commission for Jan. 9, 2012, and will likely go to a zoning commission public hearing on Feb. 15, 2012.