1 STAFF REEPORT 2 123 OLD COLCHESTER ROAD, ESSEX, VT 3 CONDITIONAL USE AMENDMENT 4 5 BACKGROUND: 6 7 On March 5, 2015, the Zoning Board of Adjustment granted Conditional Use approval 8 for an earth extraction project to remove 90,000 cubic yards of ledge, including blasting 9 and crushing, to accommodate a contractor’s yard. The excavation was done over a 5- 10 year period. 11 12 The applicant also received site plan approval from the Planning Commission on 13 November 13, 2014, to operate a contractor’s yard and to construct a 20,000 s.f. building. 14 The building is not yet constructed. An application for a site plan amendment is also 15 under review with the Planning Commission. 16 17 FINDINGS: 18 19 1. The following plans were submitted for both the ZBA & PC applications: 20 Plan Sheet #1, “Overall Plan, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old Colchester 21 Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC, 22 dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 23 Plan Sheet #2, “Site Plan, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old Colchester Road, 24 Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC, dated 25 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 26 Plan Sheet #3, “Landscaping Plan, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old 27 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 28 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 29 Plan Sheet #4, “Lighting Plan, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old Colchester 30 Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC, 31 dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 32 Plan Sheet #5, “Road Way Details, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old 33 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 34 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 35 Plan Sheet #6, “Water Details, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old Colchester 36 Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC, 37 dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 38 Plan Sheet #7, “Sewer Details, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old Colchester 39 Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil Associates, PLC, 40 dated 9/18/2014; last revised 1/20/21; 41 Plan Sheet #8, “Pump Station Details, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old 42 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 43 Associates, PLC, dated 1/20/21; 44 Plan Sheet #E1, “EPSC Plan, Pre-Construction, Greystone, 123 Old 45 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 46 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; Al Senecal d/b/a A&C Realty, LLC ZBA Staff Report March 4, 2021 47 Plan Sheet #E2, “EPSC Plan, Construction Phase, Greystone, 123 Old 48 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 49 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, Plan Sheet #2, “Site Plan, A + C Realty, 50 Greystone, 123 Old Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary- 51 Burke Civil Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 52 Plan Sheet #E3, “EPSC Plan, Construction Phase, Greystone, 123 Old 53 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 54 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14; Plan Sheet #2, “Site Plan, A + C Realty, 55 Greystone, 123 Old Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary- 56 Burke Civil Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 57 Plan Sheet #E4, “EPSC Plan, Post Construction, Greystone, 123 Old 58 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 59 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 60 Plan Sheet #E5, “EPSC Plan, Erosion Control Details, Greystone, 123 Old 61 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 62 Associates, PLC, dated 9/18/14, last revised 1/20/21; 63 Miscellaneous Plans & Reports, including “Traffic Evaluation” dated 3/31/14; 64 November 30, 2020; “Processing Plan – Greystone,” date-stamped received 65 by the Community Development Department on Feb. 3, 2021 “Powerscreen 66 1000 Maxtrak Cone Crusher” Blasting Plan dated January 2016; and Brent J. 67 Tardif, PG, President/Senior Geologist “Area of Expertise” document, date- 68 stamped received by the Community Development Department Feb 3, 2021. 69 These reports will be kept in the application file located in the Community 70 Development Department. 71 Plan Sheet #ST1, “Storm Management, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old 72 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 73 Associates, PLC, dated 1/20/21; and 74 Plan Sheet #ST1, “Storm Water Details, A + C Realty, Greystone, 123 Old 75 Colchester Road, Essex, Vermont,” prepared by O’Leary-Burke Civil 76 Associates, PLC, dated 1/20/21. 77 78 2. The applicant/landowner is Al Senecal d/b/a A & C Realty, LLC. The E-911 address 79 is 123 Old Colchester Road. This 57.8-acre parcel runs through two Zoning Districts 80 and the parcel is identified with 48 Upper Main Street (Tax Map 6, Parcel 21). The 81 parcel is located in the Industrial (I1) Zoe consisting of approximately 21.2 acres and 82 the Agriculture-Residential (AR) Zoning District (approximately 36.6 acres). All site 83 improvements have and will continue to occur in the I1 Zone, located at 123 Old 84 Colchester Road. 85 86 3. PROPOSAL: The applicant is proposing ‘Extraction of Earth’s Resources’ to extract 87 approximately 150,000 cubic yards of ledge. The overburden soil will be reused as fill 88 onsite and blasted ledge will be crushed and removed from the site. An application is 89 before the Planning Commission for a site plan amendment to add two 20,000 s.f. 90 buildings. This would bring a total of 3 buildings on the site. 2 Al Senecal d/b/a A&C Realty, LLC ZBA Staff Report March 4, 2021 91 It is noted that the ZBA’s 2015 approval was for 90,000 cy of ledge removal. The 92 actual amount of ledge removed was 105,000 cubic yards. As with this application 93 the total removal of ledge is an estimate. If approved the total excavation removal for 94 this site will be 255,000 +/- cubic yards. 95 96 The applicant’s narrative stated, in part, 97 98 The stormwater pond, building site, and contractor’s yard which were part of the 99 original approval have been constructed. During construction these areas will be 100 used as staging areas and temporary stockpile locations for the rock processing 101 activities associated with this next phase of construction. 102 103 Available space onsite limits the amount of crushed rock which can be stockpiled 104 at any one time so rock crushing occurs as space allows. Based on data from the 105 past four years Omega Excavation has processed an average of 20,000 cubic 106 yards of rock per year which was the result of three to four rock crushing 107 sessions, each lasting approximately two-weeks. 108 109 With this next phase of construction Omega Excavation expects to be able to 110 process an additional 10,000 cubic yards of material per year, or 30,000 cubic 111 yards total, because more space has been created that can be used stock pile 112 material. 113 114 If approved by the ZBA & PC, the proposal will require an amendment to the 115 following State permits: 116 117 Act 250 118 Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply 119 Public Water System Construction Permit 120 Stormwater Discharge Permit 121 Construction General Permit (erosion control) 122 Multi-Sector General Permit 123 124 4. The abutting property owners were notified by certified mail by the Community 125 Development Office. A courtesy copy was sent to the Village of Essex Junction 126 Planning Department. 127 128 5. The applicant has submitted the following responses in connection with Zoning 129 Regulation Section 4.6-Extraction of Earth Resources, as follows: 130 131 (a) Application Materials. In addition to the application materials required for 132 conditional use review, the following shall be submitted with any application for 133 extraction operations, and shall be prepared by a licensed engineer or other 134 qualified person: 3 Al Senecal d/b/a A&C Realty, LLC ZBA Staff Report March 4, 2021 135 (i) Cross – sections of the extraction area showing depth of extraction, 136 temporary slope of extraction faces, elevation of pit floor, and other areas 137 affected by the extraction operation; 138 139 Please refer to SH 2 – Site Plan showing the 4 acre blasting boundary 140 associated with the two additional buildings proposed as part of the 141 Industrial Park. In addition, please refer to SH 9 - Cross Section Plan, which 142 has been created to show existing and finished grades running north/south 143 and east/west through the project site. As stated on the plan, the ledge 144 face transitions on the east and south ends of the site will be dependent on 145 the amount of overburden discovered during the pre-blast drilling process. 146 If the amount of overburden discovered on the southern end of the site is 147 minimal, the tallest ledge face will be about 52’ high. 148 149 (ii) A description of all equipment to be operated on the site, and the proposed 150 location for such equipment; 151 152 The project will require the use of typical heavy excavation equipment 153 including; excavators, bulldozers, loaders, rollers, graders, and dump trucks.