Rice Pond Village

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Revised Site Plans v2

Marked up of engineer's plan v2.

At the July 21, 2021 Millbury Planning Board Meeting, the engineer for the proposed Rice Pond Village project located at 17 Rice Road in Millbury, Massachusetts, James Tetreault of Azimuth Land Design, LLC, submitted revised proposed Rice Pond Village Site Plan of Land (v2) that contain the following changes:

  • The Millbury Planning Board and neighbors requested an additional point of entry and egress on either South Main Street, Jackie Drive or over the Providence & Worcester Railroad to Providence Street (Route 122A) rather than just the single point of entry or egress on Rice Road opposite Thomas Hill Road. Instead of delivering upon what was requested of them, the developer, Steven F. Venincasa of Whitney Street Home Builders, LLC, and his engineer, James Tetreault of Azimuth Land Design, LLC revised the proposed Rice Pond Village Site Plan of Land (v2) to include a second private road (or driveway) on Rice Road between Thomas Hill Road and Aldrich Avenue, opposite 20 Rice Road's driveway.

  • The duplex containing Units 9 and 10 on the original proposed Rice Pond Village Site Plan of Land (v1) was relocated elsewhere on the property, but not eliminated. The total number of units remains unchanged at 52 units plus a single-family or multifamily lot, identified on the site plans as Lot 1, next to 11 Rice Road. The Millbury Planning Board had requested that all units within the 100-foot wetlands buffer zone be removed, thus reducing the total number of units.

  • A single-family or multifamily lot identified on the site plans as Lot 4 was consolidation into the condominium lot to continue to maximize every square inch of land for their development with 52 condominium units plus a single-family or multifamily lot, identified on the site plans as Lot 1, next to 11 Rice Road.

  • A cluster of mailboxes was added at the new entrance opposite 20 Rice Road's driveway. There were concerns raised about this location impeding normal vehicular traffic on Rice Road in both directions, due to people waiting in line in vehicles to pick up their mail upon arriving home.

  • The main underground infiltration drainage system was increased in size due to an error in drainage calculations.

  • The 52 condominium units were redistributed around the property to accommodate the revised private road (or driveway) configuration and to remove one duplex out of the 100 foot wetlands buffer zone.

  • Five additional "visitor" parking spaces were added to the site plan. However, the ratio of the total number of "visitor" parking spaces to units is far less than other recent condominium developments (i.e., Wyman Farm, 935 Main Street in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts) by the same developer; and other recent condominium developments in Millbury, Massachusetts. Having sufficient parking is the number 1 problem for multifamily communities, such as: condominiums and apartments, and can adversely impact the surrounding neighborhood and cause significant conflicts.

Noise Study

The Millbury Planning Board instructed the developer, Steven F. Venincasa of Whitney Street Builders, LLC and his engineer, James Tetreault of Azimuth Land Design, LLC to retain a noise consultant to perform a noise study due to the significant concerns of increased noise from the Providence & Worcester Railroad, if the proposed project should be approved, since their proposed plans are to basically clearcut the undeveloped property of existing trees and natural vegetation and modify the existing terrain thus eliminating the existing natural noise buffer to the well established neighborhood of 43 existing single-family households on Rice Road, Thomas Hill Road, Aldrich Avenue and Captain Peter Simpson Road as well as the other 30± surrounding residences on South Main Street, Curve Street, Jackie Drive and Providence Street (Route 122A).

Our Conclusion

There is an ever growing list of significant issues that have been raised by the Millbury Planning Board and the neighborhood that have not yet been addressed by the developer, Steven F. Venincasa of Whitney Street Builders, and his engineer, James Tetreault of Azimuth Land Design, LLC, but are being carefully tracked.