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Trevor Bonilla assigned this issue to Liz Murphy

Liz Murphy | Verified Official
Internal Comment (edited)
John, We are trying to understand where this condition might have come from. We have no record of Planning Board of Conservation Commission having an "order" to keep a buffer zone. Could you please give us any info you have on where the conditions might have come from? We're happy to enforce the condition.

Thank you, Liz Murphy 978-829-1897

I believe it was the Zoning Board. Had nothing to do with Conservation Dept.

According to the City of Fitchburg web site....zoning ordinance......
181.543 Landscaping Requirements for Property Lines. Residential districts shall be screened from nonresidential uses by means of plantings or maintenance of trees of a species hardy to the area and appropriate for screening, spaced to minimize visual intrusion, and providing an opaque year-round visual buffer between uses. Such plantings shall be provided and maintained by the owner of the property used for nonresidential purposes. The buffer area may contain walks, sewerage, and wells, but no part of any building structure, or paved space intended for or used a parking area may be located within the buffer area. Planted buffer areas along property lines with residential districts shall be of the following minimum depth in each district, which may be reduced by special permit issued by the Planning Board upon a finding that such reduction will not detract from the objectives of this Section:

181.544 Landscaping Requirements for Street Frontage of Nonresidential Uses. A landscaped buffer area, except for approved access ways, at least twenty feet in width as measured from the layout of the roadway providing frontage, shall be established. The buffer area shall be planted with grass, medium height shrubs, and shade trees. Shade trees shall be planted at least every 35 feet along the road frontage.

181.545 Planted Area Requirements. Planted Areas shall contain an appropriate mix of the following types of plants. Plant species shall be appropriate to proposed use, siting, soils, and other environmental conditions. Where the Planning Board determines that the planting of trees is impractical, the permit applicant may substitute shrubbery for trees.

181.5451. Shrubs and hedges shall be at least 2½ feet in height at the time of planting, and have a spread of at least 18 inches.

181.5452. Grass is preferable to mulch where practical.

Also they (gas station) had to receive a variance because there is not 10 feet between the top of the wall and the street.

I want this issue fixed.
I have never sat in my dinning room and living room and had to look at this building and the equipment on the roof of their building.
My home was here way before this gas station was built.

I don't understand why I have to do this research, you people have more resources for this type of research than what I am able to research.

This was started because they proceeded to cut down trees back in May....It is now the end of July.
I will have to start court proceeding if this is not rectified soon.

Still waiting for trees to be planted.

I don't understand why this is taking so long.

Mr. Dumas,
I apologize for the delayed response but no neither Liz Murphy or I noticed that you replied back on July 27th. We are not sure what happened with this applications notifications last month but we did get a notice of your response today and will try and find a resolution for you ASAP.

Issue still not resolved. Getting sick and tired of being woken up during the night from all the noise coming from this area. Now that leaves are falling off the weeds that have grown during the summer we will have more spot lights aimed at our house.
Certain that whatever zoning requirements were on the records at the time the building was built and were granted variances should be grandfathered in.
Also, if they wanted to cut down these required trees why didn't they cut them ALL down, why stop half way and leave the trees where there are no houses???????????????
This issue was opened the day AFTER they cut down the green shrubs/tree which was April 30, I do not understand what is taking so long.

Mr Dumas,

Thank you for reporting this issue on SeeClick Fix. We have looked through our records and found the Special Permit that was issued to this property in 1997 (document number 148-97). Unfortunately, it appears as though there were no permit conditions placed on the property to prohibit the clearing that you have indicated. So there is not a zoning fix for this problem, we would recommend one of two options.

For one, if you haven’t already, I would contact the property owner directly to discuss the matter. If that does not work, I would contact AL Prime Corporate Offices directly.

Secondly, given that noise is a concern, I would consult the City’s noise ordinance: https://ecode360.com/13232341. If you feel as though this business is violating elements of the City’s noise ordinance, I would suggest reporting this to the Fitchburg Police Department.

We apologize that this problem has taken so long to reach a resolution, but hope one of the two steps below can help address your concerns.

Tom Skwierawski
Executive Director, Planning and Community Development

Your issue has been assigned to a DPW employee for inspection. Once the scope and extent of the issue is determined, it will be scheduled for maintenance or repair as needed.

Mike East unassigned this issue.

I am closing this ticket. I hope that this issue got resolved between the two property owners.
Best of luck Mr. Dumas