Prestige Auto, Westport

The Planning Board last week granted Prestige Auto’s request to use crushed stone rather than asphalt for a 111-vehicle parking lot it proposed off Forge Road around the corner from its 1175 State Road headquarters.

The request is part of a larger plan to consolidate several of the used car dealership’s facilities, some of which are now located on leased lots elsewhere on Route 6, onto property next to its headquarters.

The company’s engineer, Dan Aguiar, said Prestige wants to buy two lots off Forge Road. A house on one of the lots would be converted to office space. On other parts of the property, a 4,000 square foot building would be constructed to house auto repairs, auto body and detailing work. Some of the parking area would be paved but the rest, which would be used to park just-arrived cars to be prepared for sale, would be crushed stone.

Mr. Aguiar said they need that decision made first before proceeding with the rest of the process.

In voting to allow the crushed stone, the board went against the advice of Town Planner James Hartnett.

“The size of this business, the intensity of their business — I would support paving,” he said. “It’s a substantial project, not a small business that wants gravel on the back.”

Several board members voiced concern that oil and fuel from new-arrival cars would drip onto the crushed stone and wind up in nearby waterways.

Approval could come back to bite the board, member John Bullard said.

“Someone is going to say this was a single family home and now there are 111 cars (on property) that drains into the East Branch.” Testimony indicated that the property drains eventually into an unnamed stream that drains into the Westport River’s upper East Branch.

In a letter to the Planning Board, the Board of Selectmen also sound a note of caution, saying that it is concerned about flooding in the area.

Mr. Aguiar, however, said he is unaware of any flooding issues there, and said steps would be taken to prevent leaked oil and fuel from flowing away. These would include a retention pond and berms where any oil could be captured. He said the risk of contaminants flowing off and away from an impermeable asphalt surface could be worse.

But while Prestige might be diligent about the sort of vehicles it brings in and their care, some future owner might be less so, others said.

“There is safety in that we know who these people are right now, but if it is sold next week …” board Chairman James Whitin said.

Speaker noise

In another matter, Mr. Bullard pointed to a letter from neighbors who are unhappy about noise from the existing facility, specifically speakers out by the parking lots that are used by employees to communicate with one another — loudly and “very frequently.”

“Is there some way the business could communicate without these large speakers?” he asked.

A Prestige spokesman doubted that it was all that loud given the distance to the neighbors’ property.

Given today’s communications technology, “there are other ways to do that,” Mr. Whitin said.

The parking lot issue decided, the board continued the application to August 13.