Concerns for proposed apartment building center around rock blasting, aquifer district

During a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23, residents shared their concerns for a newly proposed 56-unit apartment building that would be built near 808 State Road west of Cask and Pig.

Concerns ranged from an increase in traffic on what is already a busy street, a loss of privacy and how rock blasting would disturb the integrity of the neighboring homes.

There were also some environmental concerns, including the fact that the apartment would be built in an aquifer district.

The proposed building would be built on a 270,153 square foot lot, which exceeds the 2,500 square feet that are allowed in the aquifer district. Petitioner Kevin Medeiros would need to obtain a special permit from the town to do so.

Aquifer districts are meant to protect existing and potential groundwater supplies and recharge areas. These are often areas that could potentially contribute to the public water supply.

“I think that the variance request specifically for the aquifer is way over the legal limits. I think that’s pretty insane to request that much from the town,” said resident Christine Donnelly.

She added, “I believe that this project should either run in its limits all by itself, or not run at all because there’s too much at stake.”

Donnelly also noted that the entire plot of land is surrounded by homes and questioned how it would be possible to avoid the apartment building’s runoff system from going into a neighbor’s property.

Other concerns surrounded the need for rock blasting, with multiple people who neighbor the property worried that it would disturb their home’s cinderblock bases, many of which date back to the early 1900s..

“I’m not going to have a rock blast take out my house and potentially kill me and my daughter,” said Donnelly, who explained that she and her daughter are often home for home schooling.

Julia Ross-Golen took concerns about rock blasting one step further, asking how they could be sure blasts done today wouldn’t have consequences in a few years.

“Five years down the road, 10 years down the road, some movement that was done by this, now it’s causing a problem. Who’s going to take care of that?” She said. “I worry about the homeowners because they’re not going to have any recourse.”

Randall Medeiros spoke in favor of the project, saying that one way or another the land is going to be developed, whether for residential or commercial use.

“We’re talking about something for human habitat,” he said.

He said, “I have five kids. They live in Dartmouth. We grew up in Dartmouth. They can’t buy a house. We need housing for people.”