15-lot subdivision proposed for Burnell Street in 'Sconset
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Developer John A. Keane received unanimous Planning Board approval of his preliminary plan for a 17-lot residential subdivision on a portion of 36 Burnell St. in 'Sconset on Monday night.

The rectangular 8.5-acre lot extending westward from Burnell Street, just south of Plainfield Road, would be broken up into 17 lots, 15 of them buildable at roughly 20,000 square feet each, Keane's attorney Kevin Dale told the Planning Board this week.

The land is owned by the Estate of Anita C. Dammin, which has yet to sell the land to Keane. The two lots to be left alone, which are on either side of the access road and abut Burnell Street, would remain under the estate's ownership. Portions of Lots 9 and 10 would not be built on because of endangered species areas identified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program.

Of the few issues the Planning Board raised were the access road, which is 20 feet wide and around 1,000 feet in length from Burnell Street ending in a cul-de-sac and the improvement of Burnell Street to accommodate the increase in traffic. The Planning Board's regulations require that subdivisions with access roads longer than 1,000 feet provide secondary access to the development for emergency rescue vehicle access.

Although Burnell Street is currently a dirt road, part of the Planning Board's mission is to improve roads and infrastructure in the vicinity of new developments.

"Burnell Street, that's not paved and with this intensity, one of my concerns would be that it should be of normal width and paved up to Plainfield Road," said Acting Planning Board Chairman Frank Spriggs.

Dale said his client would be asking for waivers from streetlights and sidewalks, that he would install septic systems for each lot and would like to tie into town water. Secondary dwellings, although not a definite part of this early plan, would likely not be on every lot, said Dale.

Dale and Keane did not say when they would return to the board with a definitive subdivision plan, but he indicated that his client would like to proceed with this development.

"We'd like to get started as soon we get final approval to build the road and subdivision infrastructure," said Dale. "He is certainly going to be sensitive to the neighborhood."

By going the preliminary approval route with the Planning Board, Keane is afforded early advice on his development from the board without having to present costly definitive plans. This method is one step up in formality from a sketch plan that allows Keane seven months the date of filing with the Planning Board to submit his definitive plan, and protects him from any zoning

changes during that period. I Back up against land being developed into a 19-lot cluster subdivision to the southwest by Gary Winn as Sconset Hydrangeas, the above cul-de-sac proposed by developer John A. Keane, if approved, would have 15 lots at around 20,000 square feet each. An undetermined number of these lots could have secondary dwellings on them.