Planning panel approves Wharf at Handy's Point boat-storage plan with MDE permit condition

Carla Gerber, the planning director, presented the staff report for The Wharf at Handy's Point, describing a proposed 2.837-acre gravel out-of-water boat storage area on a 39-acre parcel at the end of Greenpoint Road. Gerber said the storage area would separate vehicle parking from boat parking and provide space for at least 124 boats, and that the parcel is zoned marine with nearby residential and agricultural uses.

The application meets setback requirements (25 feet from Greenpoint Road; 500 feet from Wharton Creek) and calls for an 8-foot chain-link security fence with barbed wire. Gerber said no new lighting is planned in the boat-storage area and staff found no unreasonable demands on public services; the project met the 10% water-quality improvement standard for intensive development areas. Staff recommended granting preliminary and final approval, conditioned on MDE approval of a general permit for construction-related stormwater discharges and on submission of required sureties for sediment control and stormwater management.

Buck Nickerson, the applicant, confirmed the board saw the concept over a year ago and said the major outstanding item had been a hydrologic analysis to confirm the existing pond can store the runoff. He told the commission the stormwater-plan submittal and the MDE notification of intent are pending and that the marina already maintains a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP). Commissioners asked about on-site security, and Nickerson said there is an on-site manager and cameras.

A commissioner moved to grant preliminary and final site-plan approval subject to MDE approval of the general permit and submission of sediment-control sureties. The commission voted in favor and the motion carried.

The plan will not be signed until the MDE permit and the required sureties are submitted; the commission recorded no additional correspondence on the application.