Inland Wetlands Commission signs off on Wake Robin expansion

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted to approve, with conditions, ARADEV LLC’s application to expand the Wake Robin Inn at the Nov. 26 special meeting.

The decision comes after two consecutive nights of back and forth between the IWWC and the applicant, with Landscape Architect Mark Arigoni of SLR Consulting fielding the majority of the Commission’s questions.

At the Nov. 25 IWWC regular meeting, Arigoni stated that he did not have a new presentation for the Commission, but rather reviewed updated plans that included adaptations responding to the project third party engineer Tom Grimaldi’s review and previous comments from the IWWC.

The conversation resumed the next night, with attorney Josh Mackey, who represented the applicant, appealing to the “spirit of the holidays.” “We hope to get your vote tonight,” he said.

The final comments from the IWWC centered mostly around invasive species management, as the group requested that an Invasive Species Management Plan be a condition to their approval of the application. IWWC Secretary Sally Spillane cautioned the applicant to be aware of soil moving into and out of the project site on the wheels of trucks and equipment during construction, as invasive plants spread quickly that way, especially on disturbed terrain. “We’ll monitor it,” replied Arigoni.

IWWC member Maria Grace drew attention to a condition already in place that prohibits cultivar species from being included in the planting plan, noting that several cultivar species were still present in the list. Arigoni replied that the applicant’s team had tried to remove them, but had possibly missed a few and will ensure the final plan is cultivar free.

With these issues settled, the IWWC voted unanimously to approve the application with the conditions accumulated from previous meetings.

While ARADEV LLC’s project now possesses the approval of the IWWC, whose purview is restricted to direct impacts on wetlands, watercourses, and their immediately surrounding upland review areas, the application is still embroiled in a long and tenuous public hearing with the Planning and Zoning Commission. The first four P&Z hearings were met with strong public resistance to the Inn’s expansion, citing outsized impacts to the village’s traffic patterns, noise levels and general character, with many residents decrying the development as inappropriate for Lakeville.

The P&Z public hearing resumed on Dec. 2. (Full coverage of the fifth public hearing here.)

The Wake Robin public hearing was continued to Dec. 10 for the sixth and final installment.

Between the Lakes Road public hearing continued

The Nov. 25 meetings saw an addition to Salisbury’s already busy schedule of public hearings this season, opening discussion on the relocation of a section of Between the Lakes Road.

The applicant plans to shift the road slightly inland at 280 Between the Lakes Road to account for erosion issues experienced at the site in the past.

The project includes bending the road away from the lake for a stretch of approximately 50 feet and digging a basin on either side of the roadway to collect storm water before discharging it into the lake.

After discussion between the IWWC and representatives of the applicant, and a lengthy public comment session, the hearing was continued to Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.

SWSA withdraws application for snow pond

One public hearing that was absent this week was that of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association’s proposal to construct a snowmaking pond near the base of the ski jump.

After two sessions of the public hearing for the project, a continuation was set for the Nov. 26 special meeting of the IWWC. However, it was announced at the meeting that SWSA had withdrawn the application without prejudice.

SWSA President Ken Barker said in a follow up interview that the application was withdrawn so that the applicant can reorganize its plans.

“We’ll be back once we’ve sorted through all the new info,” Barker said of the decision, citing the comments they had received from the IWWC in the previous public hearing rounds.

“We’re going to keep moving along with this as soon as we can,” he said.