Another Look Tonight at Possible Change for Littleton Road Automotive Business

Tonight, the Chelmsford Planning Board will revisit a proposed special permit to change a car wash and automotive facility at 295 Littleton Road into retail use following concerns at their last meeting over a lack of measurements provided on what the building would look like.

In addition to measurements for what would be changed, members of the board also provided suggestions and requested additional details from petitioner Ted Boschetto regarding the locations of parking spots in the new plan, whether access onto Littleton Road should be two-way, and possible landscaping improvements.

Boschetto was happy to follow requests of the board, but was reticent to wait until today due to a possible client for the proposed retail space who cannot move forward with the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission before getting approval for the permit.

While there were views from the board that conditional approval should be given once Boschetto met requirements set by the board and Chelmsford Community Development director Evan Belansky, chairwoman Anne McGuigan felt the board could not move forward without following procedure.

"The proper way to handle it is to have proper plans in place before we give any approvals," said McGuigan. "I just don’t like it, we’re peddling backwards, putting the cart before the horse."

Boschetto voiced concerns over requirements for an entirely new plan due to the engineering costs associated with a new plan as well as delays with his client.

Belansky clarified after discussing with the board that only measurements of changes would be needed, with the old plan being sufficient otherwise.

An agenda of tonight's meeting is available on the town website.