Conservation commission asks for riverfront mitigation and stormwater review on 1 Church Street redevelopment

A proposal to build three mixed-use buildings at 1 Church Street — each with ground-floor commercial space and residential units above — drew detailed questioning from the Northborough Conservation Commission on March 9 because the site sits within a regulatory floodway, AE floodplain and riverfront buffer.

Daniel Sheehan of Haley Ward described the project layout and a StormTech subsurface infiltration system sized to manage runoff, saying the design was conservative and modeled permeable pavers as impervious to ensure the system accommodates worst-case runoff. "The system is designed to handle the hundred-year storm event," Sheehan said.

Glenda Williamson recommended the commission treat the site as a redevelopment under the Riverfront Act and asked the applicant to provide a mitigation plan that would improve existing degraded riverfront conditions — for example, wildlife‑friendly shrub plantings near the bank — and to add a brief maintenance plan for permeable pavers. "I would probably say that this could be qualified as a redevelopment in the riverfront area," Williamson said, and asked for plantings and an O&M plan for porous surfaces.

The applicants said they would provide a planting/mitigation plan and revise maintenance details for the pavers; the commission opted to continue the matter while awaiting a Tetra Tech third‑party stormwater review and the additional mitigation and maintenance details.

No decision was made at the March meeting; the commission asked the team to return with those details at the April meeting or after Tetra Tech completes its review.