DRB OKs Application
Of Rochester Publisher
By Sandy Vondrasek

The Randolph Development Review Board has given local Act 250 and site plan approval to a Rochester publisher’s application for a 42,500-square-foot building on a 7.6-acre parcel off Route 66 in Randolph.

The permit, issued last week to Inner Traditions International (ITI), came with conditions forbidding ITI to plow snow into the two streams adjoining the property (The Third Branch and Chandler or Adams Brook), and requiring it to maintain adequate access at all times for emergency vehicles.

The DRB also "encouraged" ITI to implement a set of detailed fire safety measures suggested by Fire Chief Jay Collette. His recommendations include an on-campus hydrant; a fire panel in the front entrance; a four-inch sprinkler connection; a placard to be placed on the building indicating it is a truss building; and an invitation for a site review.

In its local Act 250 approval for the project, the DRB determined that the project would not unduly impact local educational and municipal services and that it was in compliance with the Town Plan. The proposed project is in the Commercial district.

Information on the application was presented by ITI publisher Ehud Sperling and two other officers of the firm, at a Nov. 27 DRB hearing. Sperling said the new structure, if built, would house data processing, accounting, inventory and shipping activities for ITI. The new facility would employ 15 people.

ITI would construct an energy-efficient structure, Sperling added, built of "green" building materials and meeting the rigorous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

In an earlier interview with The Herald, Sperling said if ITI goes ahead with the Randolph project, construction would likely not occur until 2010. ITI has not yet purchased the land, which is owned by the Thomas Mowatt Revocable Trust, and the project still needs full Act 250 review.

The Randolph building would replace rented t space elsewhere, Sperling noted, and the publishing house would keep its editorial offices in Rochester, where it currently employs 44 people.

Back in November, the DRB approved a lot-line adjustment requested by the Mowatt Revocable Trust, for the undeveloped parcel that ITI is considering for its expansion. That adjustment added 1.5 acres to what was a 6.1-acre lot. The DRB’s decision notes that ITI would also purchase the contiguous 22.2-acre parcel, which is also undeveloped and owned by the Mowatt trust.