Symes Associates and Dave and Busters Return to Planning Board

Burlington residents may have experienced a sense of déjà vu this past Thursday as the Planning Board welcomed representatives from Dave and Busters and Symes Associates. Symes presented a new plan for cluster housing off of and ’s fielded questions about traffic and parking.

Symes presented its new plan for 42 cluster housing units at the Muller Road site commonly referred to as the Thorstenson property. The company also confirmed that it intends to close on the sale of the fifteen acre parcel on March 25, 2011.

Town Meeting Members (TMMs) Paul Valleli and Christine Warren cautioned the Board against approving the Planned Development district (PDD).

Vallelli expressed his concern and that of neighbors that the traffic situation on Muller road cannot withstand the pressure of another multi-unit housing development.

“The measures that have been proposed will not improve the very bad situation that already exists.  Things are going to get worse,” predicted Valleli.

Warren explained that many TMMs are uncomfortable with PDDs due to the complex nature of the legal documents.

“I am really nervous about a PDD right now,” said Warren. “I am not a lawyer. I am a regular citizen.  I would have to hire a lawyer to understand [the PDD],” added Warren.

Jeff Rhuda, Business Development Manager for Symes, acknowledged the sense of unease that many residents and TMMs have regarding PDDs and offered to hire an independent consultant to insure that the PDD documents deliver what is being presented.

Muller Road resident Steven Meyers voiced his support for the project, stating his belief that an industrial use on the property would put greater stress on the neighborhood than the Symes plan.

“My personal preference is for nothing to happen but that’s not going to happen. The current zoning allows for 2/3 industrial,” stated Meyers.  “My biggest concern is we end up getting an industrial building or complex back there. If an industrial building goes back there, I will unfortunately consider leaving the town of Burlington,” he added.

Eugene Road residents Pat Shinopulos and Judy Parker spoke against the proposal siting concerns about traffic and flooding.

Rhuda maintained that the land where the condos would be built sits about ten feet lower than houses on Eugene Road.

“Do you think there is any chance of water getting up there?” Rhuda questioned the Board. “It would have to travel ten feet up to get to the Parker or Shinopulos houses.”

“The water does not have to come up ten feet to get into my basement, retorted Shinopulos.

The Planning Board voted to continue discussions until the April 7th 2011 meeting.

The Planning Board then moved on to wrangle with the representative of Dave and Busters over traffic, parking and the size of the proposed entertainment center. Dave and Busters is seeking a special permit to build a facility at 90 Middlesex Turnpike. 

Town Planner Tony Fields said that the proposed Dave and Busters is larger than the average Dave and Busters.  According to Fields, the average Dave and Busters boasts 365 seats in 35,000 square feet of space. The proposal Burlington includes 675 seats in 40,000 square feet.

Member Roth stated “I think you need to scale back,”

Member Impemba concurred, stating “Knowing all the traffic issues, I thought you might come in with a scaled back plan. I am still struggling with the fact that this is the biggest Dave and Busters in the country and it’s in one of the worst locations. Why won’t you scale back?”

The applicant did not directly answer the question and instead explained that most new Dave and Busters will be larger.

Under the PDD requirements, a 675 seat facility would be expected to have 270 parking spaces. The current proposal calls for 400 spaces and Dave and Buster’ representative maintained that they will need that many spaces to accommodate their clientele.

Impemba stated his preference for a scaled down version.

“I anticipate both traffic and parking problems. My plea is to make this one conform to the lower side of your establishments, not the high side,” Impemba said. “If I was given a dime for every time a traffic analyst came here in and told me that the traffic was going to be fine and it wasn’t, I’d be a rich person right now."

Member Roth again questioned the applicant’s legal counsel Robert Buckley of Reimer and Braunstein about the shared driveway which was described in the original PDD. Roth maintained that there is nothing in the file that indicates that a shared driveway is not possible.

“I don’t believe there has been a concerted effort on that matter,” he maintained.

The Planning Board voted to continue this matter to the April 7, 2011 meeting.