Hamilton Planning Board Elects Crouch Chair, Hears 133 Essex Construction Plan

HAMILTON — April 21, 2022 — Hamilton's Planning Board elected Marny Crouch as its new chair and took extended testimony on the construction plan for the contested 133 Essex Street senior housing project at its April 21 meeting. Crouch, the board's former clerk, was unanimously elected after a motion to retain outgoing Chair Rick Mitchell through the end of the 133 Essex hearing failed four votes to two. Emil Dalquist was elected clerk in her place. The board also heard a challenge from licensed professional geologist Thomas Nielsen of Ransom Consulting, who argued the applicant's estimate of roughly 3,600 truck loads to remove approximately 100,000 cubic yards of blasted granite could be nearly double that figure when granite density and legal load limits are properly applied — a point site contractor John Durkin of Onyx Corporation agreed to recheck. In a separate matter, the board voted unanimously to allow Summit Partners to withdraw a stormwater management permit application for a Bridge Street parcel after member Bill Wheaton reported site clearing appeared to have already exceeded the one-acre disturbance threshold required to trigger the permit.