The owner of a lot on Willard Road in New Ipswich has proposed a sand- and gravel-excavation operation that would run for the next three to five years, causing concerns among neighbors about noise, dust and impacts to the road during a Planning Board hearing Wednesday.
SJL Holdings, represented by owner Kenny Lehtonen and Jon Rokeh of Rokeh Consulting, outlined a plan remove about 30,000 cubic yards from the site over the next several years.
“In terms of traffic on Willard, it will be spread out over time,” said Lehtonen, who added there may be days when the pit is busy, with trucks making multiple trips in a single day, followed by days or weeks of total inactivity. He said the main route for the dump trucks transporting material would be from Main Street to Route 123.
James Regan, who lives across the street from the proposed pit, said he had “great concerns that our quiet residential street is about to be changed, possibly forever.” He said he was concerned about dust, noise and road deterioration, saying the excavation would “impact every resident on the street, and not for the better.”
Willard Road resident Meredith Lund said she understood the right of people to use their properties as they please, but that it should not come at the expense of abutting property owners. She suggested that if the board does approve the application, there could be guardrails put in place, such as limiting the hours of the operation to the middle of the day when traffic on the road is low, reducing the posted speed limit on the road and placing truck-entering signs, limiting the weight of the trucks, putting dust-abatement plans in place and to not run trucks during mud season. She suggested steep financial penalties for violations.
Carl Rowell, another Willard Road resident, said he has young children, and is concerned for their safety with trucks going by, and about whether the trucks would impact the road.
Planning Board member Craig Smeeth voiced concerns about the impacts to the road, citing that residential roads should be used for residential traffic, and the potential safety concerns of having large vehicles going back and forth. He said the town’s master plan calls for retaining its bucolic, rural, quiet nature.
“If abutters are here standing on their own two feet, saying, ‘Don’t do this,’ we have to listen,” Smeeth said.
The Planning Board and applicant answered some questions from residents, including that there would be no blasting and no processing of material on the site, and that there were no known wetland concerns.
Lehtonen offered a tour of existing similar-sized pits, to see how one would operate, to anyone who wanted to see one.
After hearing from abutters, the board continued the hearing to its meeting on Dec. 18 at 7:15 p.m. at the New Ipswich town offices, with an option to attend by Zoom.
