ITI Asks DRB
For Site Plan Change
By Sandy Vondrasek

Rochester’s successful publishing company, Inner Traditions/
Bear & Co., (ITI) will return to the Randolph Development Review Board next Tuesday with a revised site plan for the 42,500-square-foot office/warehouse building it proposes to build off Route 66 in Randolph.

According to Randolph Zoning Administrator Mardee Sanchez, ITI is seeking minor adjustments to its approved site plan, including the addition of a small, detached garage, and relocation of the loading area.

The changes would also require the DRB to amend the local Act 250 permit it granted for the project.

The May 27 hearing, at the Langevin House Conference Center at the end of Furnace Road in Randolph Center, will begin at 7 p.m.

In January, the DRB issued ITI both site plan and local Act 250 approval for the proposed construction, on a 7.6-acre parcel owned by the Thomas Mowatt Revocable Trust. At a hearing in November, publisher Ehud Sperling advised the DRB that he planned to build an energy-efficient facility to house the publishing company’s data processing, accounting, inventory, and shipping and receiving activities.

The building would, for the most part, not be visible from Route 66, because of the large setback, and landscaped screening planned. The property is in the commercial district.

The project also needs full Act 250 review before construction can go forward. Sperling has indicated that construction would likely be in 2010.

Parking Lot

Also on the DRB’s May 27 agenda is a request from the East Randolph Baptist Church to build a parking lot at 52 Route 14 North, across the street from the church. The property is in the East Valley and flood plain districts.

Quarry

Zoning Administrator Sanchez said this week that she has not seen, to date, any indication that either the applicant for a ledge extraction quarry, or the Ridge Road neighbors who oppose it, will appeal the permit the DRB granted for its operation.

On May 8, the DRB issued site plan, local Act 250, conditional use, and use approval for the 17-acre quarry, but with a long list of limiting conditions.

When contacted last week by The Herald, both Williamstown engineer Rob Townsend, who presented the application to the DRB on behalf of landowner Gordon Sprague, and Ridge Road resident Phil Angell indicated they were considering whether to appeal the permit to the Environmental Court.

Appeals must be filed within 30 days of the DRB’s May 8 ruling.