By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — There will soon be a new daycare facility in town after the Zoning Board of Appeals granted the necessary permits for the Marden Group, LLC. While the address for the new daycare is officially 607 North Ave. in the Lakeside Office Park, the entrance to the facility will be on Quannapowitt Parkway.
Attorney Brian McGrail represented the applicant at a ZBA hearing this week seeking the required Special Permit for daycare use as well as site plan approval.
He explained that the facility will be in an existing building on the northern side of the office park. The first-floor entrance on Quannapowitt Parkway that will be used by the daycare facility has a circular driveway to facilitate easy drop-off and pickup of children, McGrail said. The location is also close to Route 95, he added, making it convenient for working parents. The daycare will serve a maximum of 50 children.
McGrail noted that there is already an existing daycare facility in the building. The new facility will feature an outdoor play area along the edge of Lake Quannapowitt. The play area will be protected by a six-foot chain-link fence. A fabric will be laid on the surface of the play area and covered with pine mulch. McGrail said that he had already been to the Conservation Commission, which issued a favorable Order of Conditions for the outdoor play area work. He said there will be no significant environmental disturbance to the area.
ZBA Chairman Tom Lucey read into the record correspondence from Conservation Agent Elaine Vreeland, who endorsed the play area design and said that it would not impact lakeside vegetation.
In response to a question from the board about signage, McGrail promised that any sign would comply with the Sign Bylaw.
The new daycare facility will provide a much-needed service, McGrail argued, and meets all the criteria for the Special Permit as it will not impact the character of the neighborhood, create undue traffic congestion or overburden any municipal services.
There was no public testimony offered at the hearing on the proposal.
The ZBA vote to approve the Special Permit and the site plan for the new daycare facility was unanimous.
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In other business this week, the ZBA:
• Approved a minor modification to plans to make a previously approved courtyard at 141 Montrose slightly larger.
• Endorsed a plan to replace a couple of trees that had to be taken down on a Hickory Hill Road property.
Several other hearings scheduled for this week’s ZBA meeting were continued to a later date at the request of the applicants.