Large Milford Wholesaling Warehouse On Route 16: Public Hearing

MILFORD, MA — The developer behind a large proposed warehouse along Route 16 will go before the Milford Planning Board Tuesday for a public hearing, an event that has been postponed since the plan became public earlier this year.

The proposed 192,000 square-foot building would be constructed at 460 East Main Street, a wooded parcel between Whispering Pine Drive and Milford Stone Co. An LLC tied to Imperial Cars owner Kevin Meehan purchased the 6-1/2 acre site in late 2021 for $1 million, according to Worcester County property records. The property has been eyed for other key developments before, including a 2013 Foxwood's casino proposal rejected by voters.

The Milford Planning Board public hearing on Tuesday will focus on the developer request for a special permit to build a "wholesaling with storage" facility in a business park zoning district. In a January report to the board, Town Planner Larry Dunkin noted the absence of a specific use so far.

“The actual proposed use has not been specified beyond the general ‘wholesaling with storage’ reference. A specific business or enterprise should be identified to assure the Planning Board is able to make the necessary findings to grant the special permit,” he wrote.

A traffic study has been completed for the proposed development, with an anticipated 200 parking spaces on site. The traffic study estimated the facility would add about 16 trips per morning and 19 per evening to the East Main Street area, plus four truck traffic trips per day. The area has a daily volume of close to 13,000 trips, according to the study. The study examined the area between Rockland Boulevard and Fortune Boulevard/Beaver Street.

The town commissioned another firm to do a peer review of the developer's traffic study. The firm, Green International Affiliates of Tewksbury, largely agreed with the developer's study, but did make some recommendations — including that the developer provide a more detailed description of what the development will be, because that might change the land-use code for the site, and thus the estimated trips generated from it.

Tuesday's planning board meeting begins at 7 p.m. with an option for viewers to watch via Zoom.