STURBRIDGE - The legality of a sewer allocation vote selectmen made this summer was challenged at the board’s Monday meeting.
This past August, the board voted 3-1 against allocating 607 gallons per day for a proposed service station on Route 131. At that same meeting the board voted unanimously to allocate 2,867 gallons to Pioneer Brewery, which plans to redevelop the former Basketville building into a micro-brew and restaurant.
“You have discretion, you just have to utilize that discretion in a fair consistent fashion. When my client is turned down for 600 gallons and somebody else in the same position is granted 2,900 gallons, we suggest that that’s unfair,” said Attorney Mark Donahue, counsel for the service station developer, JCJ Realty Trust.
Donahue cited case law when he said JCJ Realty should have been awarded the allocation, arguing that the board should not have taken into account what type of development the gallons would have been used for. Based on the minutes from the August meeting, Donahue said some board members voted against the allocation because it would have gone towards a gas station.
He said the request was in compliance with the town’s zoning bylaws. Also, the net impact of the development is a reduction of utilization of wastewater capacity as the site’s previous occupant, Rom’s Restaurant, was permitted for more gallons than the members of the JCJ Realty Trust had requested.
Partners in the JCJ Realty had planned to build a convenience store and gas station at 173 Main St., which would be in the eastern portion of the Carmen Del Playa Restaurant’s parking lot.
Donahue asked board members to reconsider their vote.
Interim Town Administrator Michael Racicot said he asked the town’s counsel Kopleman and Paige P.C. for an opinion. As of Monday he had not received a response.
Board of Selectmen Chair Mary Blanchard noted the regulations governing sewer allocations in Sturbridge could be a cause for confusion.
“Sewer connections have never been the easiest things to approve or deny,” she said.
The board expects to hear from town counsel in time for their March 15 meeting.