Planning Board approves Kia at Sky

The Norwood Planning Board met on Monday, April 27. Its main order of business concerned the continuance of a public hearing regarding a major project special permit application for the McGovern Auto Group to relocate its Norwood Kia dealership to 1325-1369 Boston-Providence Highway, the site of the now-shuttered Sky restaurant and the former site of Furlong’s Candies.

Sky closed in 2020 and Furlong’s relocated to 23 Cottage St. in 2023, and both buildings would be torn down to make room for the dealership. A residential property located at 112 Sumner St. is also included in the site plan and would be torn down to make way for a dealership driveway.

The public hearing had been continued from March 23 to give Town Planner Sarah Dixon and Town Engineer Mark Ryan the chance to review application changes that had been submitted just prior. Most notable of them was the reconfiguration of that proposed Sumner Street driveway to make it a one lane, one-way site entrance.

The hearing picked up with Matt Smith, the project engineer, going into detail regarding the driveway’s design. “The applicant has had many discussions with the Town departments, and what we ended up with is a right-turn-in only from Sumner Street, and there will be no cars or any vehicles allowed to go out onto Sumner Street.” He also made clear that the entrance would be marked to that effect, and that there would also be dealership access from Route 1. Prompted by Board member Joseph Sheehan asking about cars taking left turns into the dealership, he went on. “To be coming towards Route 1, they wouldn’t be able to make a left-hand turn because we’ve designed the curbing as a curb that is only to allow for the right-hand in.”

That single lane driveway is slated to cut through where 112 Sumner St. is now and would be wide enough for entering car carriers to negotiate the turn into the dealership. When leaving, they – and all other vehicles – would then exit using the dealership’s Route 1 driveway.

The only part of the application in question had to do with the height of the dealership sign. The applicant had requested permission for a 20-foot tall sign standard to Kia dealerships, but the car lot’s design had prevented it from being 40 feet back from Route 1 – a requirement in the Boston-Providence Highway (BPH) zoning district. As a compromise, it had been moved in the design plans from 20 feet back to 30 feet back, leading to the applicant’s request for a waiver.

“I’m fine with that,” Board member Ernie Paciorkowski said. “The auto dealers, they all have the same signs so they’re recognizable to everybody, and I’m okay with the waiver on the sign.”

Board member Debbie Holmwood came down on the opposite side, citing the time and effort that had gone into the BPH’s zoning bylaws. “I understand that Kia has a standard, but… the Town has a standard: sometimes they [businesses] can’t have the exact sign they want.”

Acknowledging those bylaws, Smith brought up the fact that they allow the Board to grant a case-by-case waiver on sign heights. “I do appreciate that you did try to set some things in, but there’s a reason why the Board has discretion in this,” he put forward, reiterating the request.

Chairman Brian Hachey noted that the BPH district had been only recently implemented, and that “part of its intent and its purpose was to refine, a bit, what is being developed on Route 1.”

Holmwood followed. “We’re not trying to penalize anybody or not let you have your sign. It’s just – we wanted to accomplish something that was different than what we had.”

At the hearing’s close, Paciorkowski motioned to approve the waiver, but it was not seconded so no vote was taken. The special permit was unanimously approved, with a condition that the sign not exceed 15 feet in height. The site plan review was also approved unanimously.

The other major agenda item concerned the Norwood Comprehensive Plan. Designed to serve as a multi-faceted 10-year policy guide, it has been a work in progress since August 2024, and a steering committee and a consulting firm have been managing it with the Planning Department.

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Prior to last Monday’s vote, there had been a special Planning Board meeting on March 30 dedicated to the presentation of the plan’s final draft. Consequently, the matter came down to Board members offering comments followed by a vote to endorse it and adopt it.

Before the vote, Holmwood chose to substantively weigh in on the final draft and options for it moving forward. “It’s all great – a wish list – but a lot of it… we just can’t do,” she said of what she was about to vote on. She also made a suggestion. “I would like to see if we can somehow get a mechanism in order – that we get a citizens group and they shepherd this forward.”

Dixon – in her response to a pre-vote question from Hachey regarding putting the plan into action – clarified that its implementation falls more to the Board of Selectmen, in that it would be responsible for choosing strategies from it as part of their annual work agenda. “So, really, the Planning Board’s job is to adopt this plan, and then – from there – the Board of Selectmen kind of pick up the torch and keep the implementation part of this moving forward.”

There was no public hearing prior to the vote – which raised a slight bit of confusion among the 20 or so who were in attendance – and it was unanimous in favor of the plan’s adoption.

The Planning Board’s next scheduled meeting is on Monday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in the main hall of the Senior Center (275 Prospect St.). For more Planning information, visit the Town website (www.norwoodma.gov) or give Town Hall a call at 781-762-1240.