By Angeljean Chiaramida
Staff writer
Mon, May 12 2008 When Planning Board members approved the plan to bring a Target department store to Seabrook, they put 17 conditions on the project that its developer must follow in order to open. r There are a number of the usual completion bonds to be posted by Developers Diversified Realty of Ohio - Target's developer - to ensure the town is protected should DDR not follow through on its plans. r In addition, DDR must reimburse the town the costs it incurs hiring consultants - engineers and traffic experts - to review the plans. r Seabrook will hire an engineer to oversee construction of the Target store and other on- and off-site improvements to ensure DDR does the job right. DDR will cover the cost of that expense as well. r There are also other conditions required of DDR that are unique. For example, DDR must give $50,000 in cash to the Seabrook Conservation Fund. The money covers the damage done to the freshwater wetland areas committed on behalf of DDR by Unitil to bring its utility lines into Target. r DDR will also post $100,000 in security to ensure it will line up Target's Provident Way entry with a business across the road belonging to Arleigh Greene. r After Target is open for 12 months, DDR must re-examine Provident Way to ensure its traffic mitigation improvements are sufficient and that the traffic it draws to the road does not hinder the businesses located there. If more mitigation is needed, DDR will be required to retime the traffic signals and possibly reconfigure the lanes of traffic. They will not, however, be made to widen the road, even if problems are found that go beyond lights and lanes. r DDR will pay the town $686,000 in cash to cover a portion of the cost of widening the Route 107 bridge some time in the future. The figure represents 17 percent of an estimated $4.1 million it would cost today to add a lane to the bridge. r The town will also write to the state Department of Transportation recommending the accident-ridden Spur Road intersection be adjusted. The board will recommend Spur Road's entrance to Route 107 have a "right in/right out" only turn pattern, something DOT has wanted since 2005. If DOT approves the recommendation, DDR must configure the change into its road improvements on the eastern section of Route 107. nnn The money Seabrook gets from DDR is intended to improve the town's major roadways in the future, according to the Planning Board. Town officials will put that money in an escrow account along with the $800,000 it received from Kohl's developer last year. Plans are to add to the account over the coming years from other developers whose projects add traffic to the Route 107 bridge and Route 1. With the money, town officials hope to entice the state, which owns Routes 1 and 107, to widen them. Planning Board Chairwoman Susan Foote believes that's the only way to get the state to build a five-lane bridge with sidewalks and possibly work with local authorities to widen Seabrook's section of Route 1 to five lanes. nnn The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will discuss the results of its annual safety performance assessment for the Seabrook nuclear plant in Seabrook, at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25. The session will take place at Seabrook Town Hall on Lafayette Road. Current performance information for the FPL Seabrook Station is available at the NRC Web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SEAB1/seab1_chart.html. nnn James L. Lentz, a Marine private and the son of Elaine and Robert Lentz of Seabrook, recently completed boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. Lentz and other recruits spent 12 weeks improving their physical conditioning and acquiring military skills and Marine Corps values. nnn If all goes as planned, newly elected Selectman Aboul Khan will attend his first selectmen's meeting on Wednesday morning, March 26. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. in the Selectmen's Room of Town Hall. It is also broadcast live over the town's cable access channel. Angeljean Chiaramida covers Seabrook for The Daily News. She can be reached at 978-462-6666, ext. 3271, or by e-mail at achiaramida@newburyportnews. com.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.