Nora Grace-Flood photo
The Townshend Mansion: New road, new houses en route?
Eleven new single-family homes are one step closer to coming to the historic Townshend mansion property in the East Shore — now that the City Plan Commission has approved a plan to build a private road to those residences to-be.
Commissioners approved that private road-construction plan Wednesday night during their latest online meeting.
They voted unanimously in support of a site plan and inland wetland review for the construction of a private road, concrete sidewalk, and underground utilities at 745 Townsend Ave.
The planned new 460-foot private road would serve 11 new single-family houses slated for the property of the former Townshend family home. Those 11 houses to-be represent a fifth of the roughly 50 residential units eyed for the property.
The project came about thanks to Chuck and Marcella Mascola, two of the three property owners who co-own a company that purchased the estate for $2.6 million in 2021 and hope to build up the area with respect to its historical significance. They have already converted the Townshend mansion into a luxury weddings and events venue.
The Mascolas earlier this year won a key zoning approval to redevelop the 26.56-acre parcel as a mixed-used site. Since then, the project’s stormwater management and soil plans have been revised to meet the commission’s standards of minimal impact on the area’s inland wetlands.
The application approved at Wednesday night’s City Plan Commission (CPC) meeting only sought approval for the road’s construction and a concrete sidewalk that will line the road from the curb of its entrance through half of the cul-de-sac, as well as underground utilities to be used by the 11 houses.
Attorney Robert M. Fleischer represented abutting property owners Fitzroy and Maureen McLeggon of 757 Townsend Ave. He expressed concerns about the road’s wetland review, which does not account for the 11 residential units’ potential driveways and other hardscape installations that can hinder stormwater drainage.
“I don’t think you need a crystal ball to know that 11 homes that are on the street are going to be connected to the road with driveways. I don’t think there’s anything speculative about that at all. And the engineer is basically saying he’s only accounting for the road,” said Fleischer.
Fleischer: There's more asphalt coming.
Commissioner Adam Marchand expressed sympathy for the abutting property owners, but ultimately deferred to the resources available to the commission: As a neighbor, he said, “I would prefer to know what the whole plan is … in one go rather than piecemeal. But I don’t think we have the ability as a commission to require the applicant to do that. They’ve applied for this piece of what they plan to do, and then they’ll apply for the other pieces.”
After discussing the McLeggons’ concerns, the commission voted against holding a public hearing. A City Plan staff report did recommend the Mascolas “conduct outreach in the community due to the future impacts on neighbors in this residential district.”
Michael Ott, an engineer and land surveyor, presented an overview of the project. He said the road will serve the 11 proposed residences and “provide driveway access to Mr. and Mrs. Leggon’s property, as well as utility service connections from the new roadway to their property.”
All telephone and TV wires, gas pipes, and power lines will run underground.
“The topography of the site is such that today it rises up from Townsend Avenue as you head east. It rises up to a high point in the approximate middle of the site, and then it falls again down towards the inland wetland,” where the cul-de-sac is located, he said.
The plan for the project, which features where the private road lines the eleven houses and the McLeggons' property.
The road features low, five-inch curbing and a catch basins at either end of the road, where the land declines. To compensate for the road’s impermeable surface, two infiltration systems will be installed on either side of the road’s entrance to store stormwater and allow it to drain into the soil. Water that runs off the other side of the road’s midpoint will either drain through a catch basin or collect in the wetlands.
Additionally, the Mascolas will “provide a plan for planting native vegetation in the Stormwater Management Basin, including appropriate specifications and native plants recommended in the Wetlands Evaluation and Impact Assessment,” as per the CPC staff report. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the wetlands review along with the sit plan..