
A site plan for a day-care facility on North Street was approved at a Bath Planning Board meeting on Tuesday night.
The request had been tabled for two weeks after it was reviewed at an Aug. 4 meeting.
Applicant Danielle Green plans to use the existing building on 57 North St., which has been used as a church in past years, as a daycare that would serve 12-20 area children from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
At a previous meeting, Green proposed a fence on the east side of the building for a play area, away from Willow Street, and a pathway on the west side of the building that would be porous due to flooding issues on Willow Street.
The board requested several changes from Green’s application, which were addressed Tuesday night.
Attorney David King, who represented local neighbors living on North Street, pointed out additional concerns and code laws that needed to be followed for the property site to be approved.
North Street residents were still concerned that noise level and traffic in the neighborhood would increase because of the daycare, and the likelihood of parents violating the street’s no parking zone would become an issue.
Resident Sharon Drake, who lives directly across the street, said she was especially concerned about the level of noise.
“I’m also very concerned about it (at) 6:30 in the morning, (with) lights shining, car doors slamming and kids crying. I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to put in a residential neighborhood,” she said.
Green said that not all parents would be dropping off their children at six in the morning, adding that she had implemented early hours to accommodate parents who work an early shift at Bath Iron Works.
Regarding noise from the playground, chairman Bob Oxton also pointed out that children would not be outside playing all day.
“They’re not out there all day. They’ll be out there at a reasonable time,” he said.
Green added that children will be outside for only three hours and after 9 a.m., according to state requirements.
King suggested that Green provide extra buffer in addition to the existing landscaping on the property in order to block noise off from the neighborhood.
He also felt that the plants proposed for buffering — wintergreen boxwoods — would not be tall enough or grow fast enough to provide a decent buffer for the neighborhood. Green said the proposed plants on her application were suggested by a local greenhouse.
At the recommendation of the board, Green said she would review the matter with the city arborist to ensure that the plants or trees used for landscaping would satisfy buffering in necessary areas of the property.
The board laid out several conditions for Green’s proposal, which required Green to use only the first floor of the building, shield some of the lighting on the property and provide full screening and landscaping conditions with regard to the northwest corner of the property by the entrance of parking lot, along the North Street side of the property and along the east side of the property line.
After laying out these conditions, the board unanimously approved Green’s request.
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