By Holly Crocco
Brewster residents who live near Fields Lane expressed concerns last month over a proposed change to the hours of operation for a commercial property that is being developed, saying they don’t want to hear or see tractor-trailers at 6 a.m.
Alfacor, LLC, located at 16-18 Fields Lane, is being developed at the old Glickenhaus site. Property owner Robert Alfredo is seeking to construct three commercial buildings with associated parking and loading areas and driveways.
Since the tenant is a moving and storage company, the buyer is seeking approval for expanded operating hours beyond what were originally requested.
During the public hearing, Michael Liguori of Hogan, Rossi & Liguori Attorneys at Law explained that the originally-approved hours of operation were 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and they are now seeking 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, and “incidental usage” on Sundays for those looking to access the warehouse.
Office hours would be weekdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Liguori also stated that, while the traffic study that was completed as part of the site plan and environmental review indicated that 40 tractor-trailers would be making morning and afternoon trips, that study was completed when there was no tenant, so trip guides were used to generate the greatest possible impact.
“The proposed tenant has generally a third less than what was approved by the planning board,” he said.
That would mean 28 trucks leaving the property, and 28 returning, for a total of 56 passes throughout the day.
Residents in the neighborhood are not happy about the request.
“My house abuts the exact road that they’re on,” said Dawn Curran of North Salem Road. “That all these trucks are going to go by at potentially 6 a.m. Saturday, I don’t think that’s OK. I think that’s completely unacceptable. I think that’s horrible.”
A Fields Lane resident said the disruption on the street is already unpleasant.
“Since all the construction on Fields Lane, the construction trucks – between the dump trucks and everybody else – they still drive through at 5:30 in the morning with their J-brakes on, which, if you’re asleep or you have kids or grandkids sleeping over, it wakes them right up,” he said.
A Sherrys Lane resident said the concerns are not just about traffic, but also noise and light pollution.
“I have a really, serious problem with the fact that this is even being considered at 6 a.m.,” he said. “When you put a warehouse with 50, 60 trucks going back and forth up that narrow road, up past the Hardscrabble Club and so on, it makes noise. It makes that area less pleasant than what it has been.”
Sally Corsaro of North Salem Road said having trucks leaving the property at 7 a.m. is much more acceptable than them leaving at 6 a.m.
“I do not begrudge Mr. Alfredo the opportunity to run his business at all in any way shape or form,” she said. “I do think, however, that when the board has the opportunity to make some decisions about hours, it would be very helpful to everyone in this community if you were to consider the other side of the spectrum.”
Further, she said entertaining Sunday hours simply is not fair. “I think that asking for Sundays in addition to everything else is really a reach,” said Corsaro. “Having 56 trucks coming in and out of there every day is a lot.”
Also during last week’s public hearing, Planning Board Chairman Tom LaPerch took a moment to address concerns about trees that were recently removed from the property, and apologized to neighbors who were caught off guard by the disturbance.
“It was a learning situation for this board in that, I think we cut the trees down without proper notice to the neighbors that it was happening,” he said. “What (the applicant) should have done, and we should have done, is make sure there was proper notice. That was our bad.”
Further, he explained that an “emergency access” drive on Dean’s Corners Road is for the sole purpose of providing emergency access, not for the tractor-trailers to use. There will never be a curb cut, and it will only be paved for the first 100 feet, he said.
“It’s going to look like a driveway disappearing into the woods,” added Alfredo.
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