Industrial complex proposed for 3 Arrowhead Drive
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
One of the island's few remaining sand pits is likely to become an industrial park at 3 Arrowhead Drive if the Planning Board so chooses.

Developers Gary Winn and John Brazilian, principles of WB Holdings, LLC, will be at the Planning Board's regular meeting tomorrow night, presenting their plan to develop the 9.5-acre lot near the northeast end of the airport's 240 runway owned by Kenneth C. Coffin, Inc. into 65 lots with a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet.

Winn said he and Brazilian want to sell the lots in groups for commercial, not residential, development.

"This is going to be industrial [with] commercial shops," said Winn. "I think what we're thinking of doing is if there are dwellings, they would be ancillary to the commercial uses.

"On the front, right on Arrowhead Drive, there would some sort of retail. It's not going to be a housing development; it's going to definitely be industrial."

Winn said he is already taking deposits from people for buying blocks of these lots and has commitments for three groupings of lots. He added that the individual lots would range in price from $575,000 for the interior lots to more than $2 million for the front lots along Arrowhead Drive. The entire property is valued at $4,931,900.

Although the Planning Board staff is recommending that the board approve the application based on the conditions of the board's Nov. 13, 2006 preliminary plan approval for the property, Winn's and Brazilian's ride through tomorrow night's hearing process might not be a smooth one.

Winn and Brazilian chose this land for an industrial park because it is zoned Residential-Commercial and it is currently outside of the aquifer protection zone.

"It's one of the last places you can do things like dry cleaners, boatyards, spray-painting, car washes, gas stations, car dealerships, auto repair, boat repair; it's the last big commercial piece outside of the aquifer zone that's out of development," said Winn.

However, the existing aquifer protection zone could expand south and east to support the new well that Wannacomet Water Company is drilling for its new water storage facility at 38 Polpis Road. While WB Holding's development gained immunity from any new zoning bylaw changes the moment Winn and Brazilian filed their application with the Planning Board, Planning Director Andrew Vorce is hoping the developers will work with the Planning Board to make the development's uses fit in with its surroundings.

"If we hear testimony from [Wannacomet manager] Bob Gardner that he would prefer these uses be limited, Gary Winn can certainly voluntarily limit these uses if he wants to," Vorce said.

Vorce also noted that commercial uses on the lots would have to comply with best management practices.

"I know that the airport is very concerned about residential construction on these lots, so I'm sure we'll have a discussion about it," he said. "We have Nobadeer Meetinghouse up the street and that gives you the idea of the density in that area."

But Vorce said that he and the Planning Board want to see commercial development in this area, as Special Town Meeting voters in October 2006 adopted Article 2, which enacted the language for four new commercial districts, including Commercial Industrial (CI), which encompasses 3 Arrowhead Drive. Voters will be asked to endorse maps of these zones at Town Meeting in April.

The Planning Board meets tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

in the garage at 2 Fairgrounds Road. I