Flood Ford Proposal Gets Cool Reception From Planning Board

Flood Ford may yet wow the Planning Board with its plan to build a “quick tire change and auto center” at the corner of Frenchtown Road and South County Trail, but the panel’s initial review Wednesday night showed that the applicant has its work cut out for it.

It didn’t help that no applicant attended the meeting on behalf of Flood. Instead, there were two ill-at-ease engineers who told Planning Board members several times that they had just been given the job and did not have all the information.

Michael Flood, owner of Flood Ford, submitted the application to the Planning Department in early October. According to the application, Flood is looking to open a 7-bay shop across the street from their main auto showroom and repair center. Flood could not be reached for comment.

Wednesday night was a “pre-application” hearing, where the applicant typically gets feedback from the board before finalizing a plan.

Several members of the board had questions about the application as it was submitted, including concerns about the overall size of the project.

“It appears that the building is about the biggest building you could put on the property,” said Planning Board President Brad Bishop. “It’s our job to determine if that makes good sense or not.”

Member Jack Simpson took exception to the “Coming Soon” sign that’s up on the property, and said that he’d received also a mailer announcing that the center would open in January.

“I think that it’s a little bit out of sequence,” Bishop said, referring to Flood advertising so widely before appearing before the Planning Board, which must give its approval to the proposal.

Simpson and member Nino Granitiero expressed concerns about possible traffic problems, and Simpson suggested that a traffic survey would be required. The plan calls for entrance-exits on both Frenchtown and South County Trail roads.

In addition, as submitted, the plan would require a parking variance from the Zoning Board because all of the parking spaces are in the setback area. Member Jen Cervenka had questions about drainage, since the proposal bumps right up against a wetlands area.

One after another, members voiced their concerns, with Bishop concluding, “My general sense is that the applicant is trying to maximize the property.... I think you’ve got a bit of work ahead of you.” He suggested that the engineers carry back a message to the applicant: “They need to put together a better plan if they want to have a chance before the Planning Board.”

Board seeks new members

At the end of the meeting, two-term member Jen Cervenka announced that she was stepping down at the end of the year. That prompted a discussion about filling her sit and one other that is vacant. Bishop said that while the board would really benefit from new members with a background in environmental matters, engineering or land use, he encouraged all those interested to apply. Typically, the board meets twice a month, on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Contact the Planning Department for more information.