Westwood Board focuses on Wildstar safety

The Planning Board again examined fire safety as it inched toward a decision on Wildstar Farm last night, working to set conditions that would protect public safety, as best as possible, without imposing a sprinkler system.

Town Counsel Tom McCusker said the Planning Board does not have the jurisdiction to require sprinklers as part of a site plan review. The board is conducting an environmental impact and design review, part of a site plan review, for the elite horse dressage barn planned for 401 Sandy Valley Road.

Chairman Rob Malster said Fire Chief William Scoble has made clear that the best way to provide higher fire protection would be to sprinkler the barn.

But Daniel Hill, an attorney for applicants Polly Kornblith and Michael Newman, said last night "we're at an impasse with the chief."

"We don't believe, actually, that sprinklers are the best solution here," he said, referring to experts who say that sprinklers do not save barns, which burn quickly and immediately are filled with much smoke. "There really isn't a strong benefit of sprinklers for saving horses or saving the barn."

He added that installing sprinklers at Wildstar would cost "in excess of $100,000," which does not make financial sense for its owners.

Hill also argued that the state has exempted barns, as agricultural buildings, from its mandatory sprinkler law.

Finally, he said that Wildstar has put together a fire protection and prevention plan that includes various provisions, including a fire wall separating the barn and indoor arena.

"If there is an unfortunate event or fire, we're not at all concerned about human safety," he said.

Having an on-site barn manager is probably the best preventative measure, he added.

Luke Legere, an attorney for Sandy Valley Road neighbors, totally disagreed, saying sprinklers "are a reasonable condition" given public safety. If the board does not agree with him that it is authorized to require sprinklers, its only other option is to deny the project, he said.

Neighbors again stated their concerns about a fire possibly spreading from the horse barn. Tom Soltys said he thinks a firefighter's life is worth $100,000.

"What happens in the winter? What happens when the truck can't make the turn (into the Wildstar driveway)? What happens when the hydrants freeze?" he said.

Meantime, Planning Board member Steven Rafsky said he did not think either side had helped the board get to what he called a "safety zone" in terms of public safety information on the project.

"I do not believe for a second that we have imminent danger coming our way. But I don't think all the options have been laid out in a thoughtful way to preserve safety," he said. The concern is not the horse barn, it's the neighborhood and town property like the adjacent Lowell Woods, Rafsky said.

Malster, the chairman, presented his board with three options: deny the application, ask for more information, or set conditions that would improve the project. The group decided to start working on conditions, and began reviewing a set of written draft conditions.

By 10:05 p.m. the board had reviewed the first several. For one important condition, it essentially agreed to require the farm owners to widen their driveway to 18 feet on all sections of the road that do not infringe on the 35-foot wetlands buffer zone. That is the width necessary for two fire trucks to pass each other.

Curently, the compacted gravel portion of the driveway is 12 feet wide, Newman said.

The board completed its review of draft conditions before adjourning last night. Town Planner Nora Loughnane said a revised draft would be circulated to members for their consideration at their next Wildstar meeting, on July 14.

Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.