WATERTOWN — The town planning board on Monday took no action on a new 50,000-square-foot DICK’s Sporting Goods store proposed for Towne Center, the sprawling retail center on Route 3 with Target as the anchor store.
The planning board discussed the project on Monday afternoon, with the zoning board of appeals still having to sort out whether DICK’s needs to obtain a variance for a setback for the new store.
Tim Freitag, project manager for Bohler Engineering, Albany, argued that the project doesn’t need the variance.
The entrance to the store would face Route 3.
But the two boards have decided that the side of the building that faces Target requires a setback because a road leads to Beaver Meadows apartments, located behind the Target store.
The appeals board must interpret whether the setback should be from the center of the public but privately-owned road or whether the setback should be from the side of the road.
Mr. Freitag contended that future development would be financially impacted if faced with the same situation.
“You make a good argument,” planning board co-chair Thomas E. Boxberger told him.
At the request of the planning board, the developer now plans a two-color motif to that side of the building.
The engineering firm also would add some trees, green space and a sidewalk, with a crosswalk and a handicapped ramp between Target and the new DICK’s store.
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