Changes to Bedford Marketplace’s 2008 Plan Have Been Approved by the Planning Board

By Marya Dantzer

At its August 12 meeting the Planning Board reviewed a Request for Modification to Site Plan Approval at the Bedford Marketplace. Click here to see an 8.5×11 PDF showing both plans.

Plans submitted under prior ownership of the site were approved in 2008 but the project did not move forward due to the recession. Since then, the property has been sold to Hamlin Development LLC, of the BSC Group, Inc., of Andover. Hamlin/BSC is seeking a number of modifications to the scale, structural design, and aesthetics of the redevelopment.

Following a 90-minute developer presentation and discussion with the Board, the Planning Board unanimously improved the plan revisions.

According to documents provided to the Planning Board, the revised plan includes, broadly speaking:

• An addition to the west (Marshall’s) end of the main building, for retail use. The 2008 plan called for this to be constructed, in part, on two stories; the modified proposal reduces the size of this addition and limits it to once story. An addition at the Whole Foods end of the site, proposed in 2008, has been eliminated from the new plan.
• Removal of the US Postal Service sorting office in what is known as Building B. This function is slated for relocation, potentially to the other side of the Great Road.
• Construction of a new Building B on land adjacent to the current structure. A small patio originally designed for part of the building has been eliminated in the new plan.
• Demolition of the structure known as Building C, and construction of an enlarged building on the same site. The new Building C, like the new Building B., will have frontage at the sidewalk of the Great Road. All parking will be relocated to the rear.
• Offsite roadway improvements and sidewalk easements approved by the Board of Selectmen in June, as well as reduction of curb cuts from four to three. As shoppers doubtless are aware, work on the parking lot has commenced in recent weeks to address storm water drainage and other issues.
• Improvements to traffic circulation, made possible, in part, by landscaping features including creation of a central green strip in the widened space between the new Buildings B and C, and islands within the parking lot.
• Landscaping and lighting improvements throughout the site approved in 2008 have been retained, with modifications.

Perhaps the most striking changes from the 2008 plan are elimination of architectural niceties, such as towers and fenestration (window design), as seen in 2008 artistic depictions.

Watch the Citizen for detailed updates on the Bedford Marketplace project.